Front control arms stuck

Begizzle said:

I've got both of the rear bolts and nuts removed and I got both front nuts removed, but the front bolts just twist inside the bushings.

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HUH? There are:
o two rear bolts and nuts
o the sway bar
o the front ball joint

And,
Where do you live???

It sounds like you have mutant FCAs. Maybe putting on Ford OEM FCAs would be a good idea?


Last: GOOD Sawsall, $50 for NAME BRAND blades per cut (10-12 teeth/in), 1-3 hours per cut.

After you and the others play "what are we talking about", you'll understand the above sentence. Also, Home Depot ~$100 for Dewalt - nice! A file can be used to start a grove.

stang&2Birds said:

WHERE DO YOU LIVE?????????????

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Looking at Begizzle's pics, I'm guessing East Coast above North Carolina? Looks like it could be Philly, NY, Mass, Conn, Vermont, etc??

I went through $200 in blades doing 3 cuts. So, I can say about:

Begizzle said:

but the front bolts just twist inside the bushings.

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HA, HA, HA, HA!!!
HA, HA, HA, HA!!!
HA, HA, HA, HA!!!
HA, HA, HA, HA!!!

A glimpse into your future:
http://www.veryuseful.com/mustang/tech/tmp/stang-fcs-12-06-tn.jpg
HA, HA, HA, HA!!!

If you can get someone to help you do this. Put the nut back on the bolt about half way on and have a helper put a wrench on that nut and push the wrench while on the nut towards the front of the car while you turn the bolt side with a ratchet. It should start to move its way out. If it moves about a inch then put a wrench between the bolt and the control arm and repeat steps with helper. A lot of WD-40 or PB blaster will go a long way.

Begizzle said:

I live in Mapleton Depot, PA (central PA).

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I RULE!

Note: Do NOT try to torch the bolts off. NEVER! Who ever suggested that NEVER tried it. Well, I did. You do NOT want to do that!

TRY to bang the bolts out. It will take you a LONG time to cut through the hardened sleeve and the grade 8 bolt. Plus, you have to make SURE you don't start cutting into the k-frame.

If you could do the cuts from underneath, it would be a LOT better. But, unless you have a lift, you're able to use only a SMALL portion of the blade. So, you go through a LOT of blades VERY quickly. ~70% of the blade is still good, but you can't use any of that portion because of space limitations.

Also, get GOOD blades. Those cheap *ss blades do NOTHING! The cheap Sears blades snap very easily. WEAR GOGGLES and PROTECTIVE clothing. Blades WILL snap!!! The blades WILL bind. Pieces of metal WILL FLY EVERYWHERE *WHEN* the blades break.

I had to cut 3 out of the 4 bolts. Yea, MAJOR SUCKO!!! You'll need to do *2* cuts per bolt. Once you get the FCA out, you'll likely see that the bolts and sleeve are *one forever*. People that don't live in snow states can't fully comprehend the effects of rust and what it means for to be "rusted together FOREVER"!

My driver's side spring rusted to the FCA and broke. The passenger side spring wouldn't come out even with a torch and a huge pry bar. (I just wanted to get the spring out to see the length) One of the *12* Springs that I have is also a broken Fox GT spring. Just imagine the force needed to *break* a spring. THAT is what I mean by "rusted forever".

Good Luck. I found that the Demo blades worked the best. Expensive, but they work the best. Buy them in the multi pack at Home Depot. Sears & Craftsman blades are a joke. Sears blades are junk. Do NOT use them. They grenade like crazy! Craftsman blades are just poor and wear quickly. But, at least they "kinda work" for a short time before they get dull. On Sunday night, Sears was open and Home Depot was closed. Oh well, I went through at least twice as many Craftsman blades per cut. But, I did get the bolt cut.


GOOD LUCK!

Ahhhhh.. I went through exactly the same thing. I used a combination of an air hammer, lots of rust eater, but the winner was the air cut off tool. Had to cut the bolt in half and hammer it out the other way.

Had to do the same thing with the rear control arm bolts.

This pic is on the rear, but same idea.


View attachment 408891

Look how rusty the one bolt that I didn't have to cut-off was.

View attachment 408893

Here is a place to buy replacement bolts if you don't have any. This place has most of the suspension bolts, 5-lug little pieces, and misc stuff for a mustang.

http://www.breezeautomotive.com/home.php?cat_id=34

Snikt89GT said:

but the winner was the air cut off tool.

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I didn't think I had room to get an air cut-off tool in to the bolts for the FCA. But, if I went from fully underneath the FCA, I now wonder. That would have been a LOT better. I knew that I couldn't get my Dremel in there. Plus, I would have went through Dremel disks like mad!

I banged around on those damn bolts for hours with a regular hammer. Don't even waste time. Air tools are the best way

Be sure to coat the new bolt shank and inside of the bushing sleeve with antisieze so they don't rust together again.

I made sure to do that too. Also, make sure that you torque the control arm bolts when the arms are at ride height. This is kind of a pain to do

Forget about sawzalls and cut off tools. An impact gun and somone pushing on the other side will take it right off. Don't make it into more of a project then it needs to be by cutting stuff. The get a bigger hammer approach is really not needed

greg251 said:

Forget about sawzalls and cut off tools. An impact gun and somone pushing on the other side will take it right off. Don't make it into more of a project then it needs to be by cutting stuff. The get a bigger hammer approach is really not needed

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I tried that method as well, as a no go for me