Who has removed their control arms??????

[88GT17MA]

Ive been tackling all the rusted and stuck bolts in the rearend of my car for new springs, shocks, and upper and lower control arms.

So far every bolt has been a complete pain in the ass but Ive managed to keep at it and get them all out. Except the control arm bolts.

I managed to get the nut off the control arm to diff. end on one of my lowers, but the bolt wont come out for the life of me. All the other bolts/nuts wont even budge.

What would be the best way to get these out? It would be kinda hard to get a cut off tool into where the lower control arms mate to the car.

Will a torch help? I dont even know if I could get an air gun in there.

What should I do? My project is at a halt because of these damn bolts. Thanks

 

[7-UP BILL]

Where do you have the jack stands, under the axle or the frame? I placed them under the frame and used pump jack under rear to take weight off the bolts. Came right out.

 

[Grn92LX]

I did my rear lower control arms in my driveway with my friend helping. One of the bolts was rusted to the sleeve. I had to sawzall it off. Kind of a pain in the ass for no gain. I also did a set of 'battle boxes' at the same time which are good.

 

[88GT17MA]

Ive got the jackstands under the frame. I have my jacks under the rear and have moved it up and down in several diferent positions to try and take the pressure off the bolts. When you cut it off, how do you get the broken bolt out of the rusted sleve?

 

[93GTosu]

torch those suckers off



....thats what we did, just keep a water hose handy

 

[88GT17MA]

How should I go about torching them off. Should I just use one of those portable gas torches you see at home depot?

Ive always used cut off tools and never had to resort to torching it. But I think I need to torch these ones off.

 

[Grn92LX]

When you cut it off, how do you get the broken bolt out of the rusted sleve?

It was a while ago so I don't remember fully. I think I cut the bolt twice and after that I was able to hammer the arm off. Make sense? basically I think I cut each end of the bolt off and then when I banged the arm I was able to slip it out of the rear end bracket.

 

[Shakerhood]

An Air Hammer with a Pointed Chisel will knock it right out.

 

[92BlackGT]

when i did mine, put the jack on the control arm and jack to the point there is no pressure whatsoever on the bolt and it will slide right out. At least for me since I don't have to worry about rust here
If you torch it, just get a propane torch from vatozone....$15

 

[Biggeley]

I second the air hammer... Works like a charm.

 

[NosPony]

Yup air hammer makes short work of them bolts. Takes like 10 seconds. Wear ear protection or you wont beable to hear for days.

 

[9350coupe]

Heating it with the torch will help quite a bit....good luck

 

[88GT17MA]

thakns guys, im gunna load up for this weekend (air hammer, torch, sawzall) and go get these suckers out.

 

[90bronconate]

vatozone....$15

haha vatozone.... sad but true...

 

[Shakerhood]

thakns guys, im gunna load up for this weekend (air hammer, torch, sawzall) and go get these suckers out.

You wont have to bother with the Sawzall if you use the Air Hammer, it will knock your bolts right out!

 

[horseplay91]

the reason the bolt wont come out after the nut is off is because its rusted within the bushing.

this is what i did which worked for me.

rather than tackling the nut first, put the nut back on and tighten it really good. then i used a breaker bar, with the help of a jack, on the bolt end. and if i remember correctly i think i had another wrench on the nut. by turning the bolt end, and with the nut spinning along with it, eventualy the wrench on the nut side came in contact with the axle tube therefore no longer allowing it to spin. from there keep jacking up that breaker bar, and .....TADA!

what your trying to accomplish by doing it this way is turning the bolt within the rusted bushing while the torque from the nut applies the necessary clamping force on the bushing itself so that it wont have the tendency to spin while you loosen the bolt. and once that happens and the bolt is broke free, its cake from there. goodluck!

 

[95GTAODE]

Another vote for the air hammer. Does it every time!

 

[jerry beach]

I used a 17 lb steel tamper bar to hammer on the nut while it was loose. When I had it 1/8" out I cut the head off with a sawzall. Then I beat it the other way with a punch and hammer. Then I cut the other end off. I beat it back towards the center of the car and the control arm fell out. this was the drivers side. edit:make sure there is a jack under the control arm, or the spring may fly out.

I dont think a propane torch will do much good. If I had the oxygen/acetylene then, I would have used that to cut it off.

Use a jack under the dog bone to twist the rear end so there is no tension on the bolt. Its tough to tell where the tesion is gone with the bolt rusted inside the bushing sleeve.