*#$@&ing Control Arm Bolts!

[Shiroelex]

I cannot for the life of me get the lower control arm bolts out! I have everything removed but those! I've bashed them with my BFH for an hour and haven't even gotten a millimeter of movement out of them. What in god's name do I have to do to get these bastards out? I really don't want to have to start cutting stuff, so if anyone has any other secrets or ideas, please let me know before I lose my mind!

 

[Dragstr05]

Are they loose and you are trying to get them to slide out of the hole? You didnt specify front or rear, but is there any weight/push/pull on the control arm? If so, try moving it around to take any pressure off the bolt. If you have done everything and it just wont move, you'll need to heat it up with a torch.

 

[mustang50v8]

righty tighty lefty loosey?


i only say it cause i was dumb enough to do that once.

 

[Shiroelex]

Sorry, I forgot to specify in my rage last night. These are the rear lowers, and I have the nuts off of them already. The bolts just won't slide out of the arms themselves.

 

[paintballpyro1]

Good luck, i spent 2 days trying to get mine off. I used a impact gun and just zip the bolt back and forth hoping the would snag on something and then spraying the crap outta the bolt from every angle possible and even between the rubber to get to the metal sleeve that most likely rusted. Then i just kept beating the bolt back and forth for a couple hours, hit the bolt like 10-15times on one side and then 10-15 on the other side and just keep going back and forth and at some point it will start moving hopefully, just takes ALOT of time. Again good luck it is not fun at all

o yea make sure you buy new bolts afterwards.

 

[Flghtmstr1]

I remember these were a PITA when I did my control arms, but there are two tricks that make the job a lot easier. One is to make sure the bolt doesn't have any shear stresses that would make hang up on anything. In other words, use a jack to take pressure off that joint so that the bolt can move around more easily. The second trick is to rotate the bolt with a ratchet as you hammer it out. It's not really that hard, now that I think about it. The first bolt I tried took an hour, but once I figured out the tricks, the second bolt only took 5 minutes or so. Good luck!

 

[paintballpyro1]

Thing is he is from michigan like i am and with how they salt the roads and everything they get pretty rusted. When you finally get them off make sure you use some anti-seize on the sleeve so hopefully it doesnt happen again.

Actually i could have given you hand since im going to be somewhat in the area this weekend except im kinda busy this weekend with some stuff going on.

 

[96SCstang]

yea living in the salt belt sucks!! i have to deal with that kind of crap every day at my shop.

 

[darkside03gt]

Try using a big c-clamp and maybe a spring compressor, I say that because you want to make sure you dont have any shear pressure on the bolt. Get yourself 1 either a deep well socket that is larger then the bolt head or a piece of metal pipe. Use the c-clamp to press the bolt out. I recomend you get one that has a squared off end where the handle is so you can use a wrench on it since the handles that come with most clamps will bend over time. Once you get it moving it should come right out. If the clamp bottoms out before the bolt is willing to come out on its own use a 3/8 or 1/2in 3in long extension to push it the rest of the way out. Pressing out bolts usually results in less damage then beating the crap out of a bolt with a hammer.

 

[Flghtmstr1]

I live in the rust belt too...our winters are just as bad as yours.

 

[Shiroelex]

So I gave it another crack tonight....

I drowned the thing in PB'laster for a while, then torched it until it was glowing red. I bashed at it with a 12lb sledge hammer for a while, and got about a quarter of an inch out of it. About fed up with smashing on it, I went up to Harbor Freight and bought a reciprocating saw and a pack of extra blades. 5 blades later, I have a chopped up bolt, and no progress. I ended up gashing the hell out of my hand and giving up. This is really starting to piss me off. I haven't even got one end of one arm off yet! I'm really worried, since the front bolts on the body have like no room to mess with.

There's no tension on the arms at all, because the springs are out, the shocks are off, and the axle is on a big jack. I'm quickly approaching my wit's end...

 

[deftsound]

oh its nice living in texas

 

[evil281]

no salt here no rust either, just a harsh 70 degree chill in the winter, oh to be rust free

 

[superstang01]

i had this same prblm while doing my friends....i ended up just getting a screw driver and hit the **** out of it until it pushed the bolt through......use lots of wd40 lol

 

[mijo_latino]

cut-off wheels are your friend. I had to cut my struts off because the nut was seized. My front control arms had to be cut off too for the same problem your having, the bolt just bonds with that dumb sleeve. Michigan sucks for cars.

 

[paintballpyro1]

I wouldnt have cut the bolt, yea you only got 1/4in but you just keep working it back and forth for awhile and it would start to break free. Try getting a longer saw blade and cutting between the frame and the control arm and just cut the bolt off there if you can.

 

[SVT32VDOHC]

I have gotten really really lucky with that last few Mustangs I've had. They came right out. I feel your pain though. I've had parts cars, that I could NOT get them out of. So, I just cut the upper and lowers to get the axles out.

 

[squeak93]

I had to cut the bolts off in my 92. It was horrible. Took us 2 days to get the susp installed in the rear b/c we couldn't get the old chit uninstalled. Take ur time and they will come out. If u get ticked, walk away for a bit.

 

[Mustang5L5]

I'm dealing with that right now. I took the rear axle out of my car but couldn't get these two bolts out. The bolts are rusted inside the sleeve solid. I've bashed it with a 10-pound sledge and soaked it in PB and nothing. The axle is out of the car so i have room to work.

I'm replacing the control arms so i'm just gonna hack them off. Thing is, the sleeve is HARD to cut. I've already burned through a pack of blades and haven't gotten them off.

Next is the grinder. If i were to be reusing these arms i'd need new bushings as i've trashed them and they are still attached to the axle.

BTW, bashing it with a 10pound slede only proceeded to start to distort the metal on the housing, so i stopped.


PS. I'm doing this on my '88. 21 years of rusting sucks!

 

[squeak93]

Mine were rusted weird. They would spin, but not come out. We basked on them for a long time till we resorted to cutting. I too went through two things of blade, (12 each) So yea... Good luck.