Front suspension rebuild - Bolt out help...

morgan · Post by **morgan** » Fri Dec 14, 12 6:08 pm

Had a whole day on this today.
Gone really well - whole of one side pretty much off APART from one little bit... as usual, 10% of the job takes 90% of the time.

Spent 2 solid hours on this.
Stupid problem. Cant get the bolt out of the rearmost top a-arm.
It turns (the cam) stiffly. The bush look shot to bits - suspect binding inside or something.

Tried levering it, supporting a-arm, whacking the bolt, levering it. Just Cant shif the bolt. Its the last piece and its driving me nuts.

Front one came out fine. This one though. Grrrr...
Worst case scenario I suppose I will just cut the bolt in half and start over with a new one. Seems daft though.

So. QUick and silly question. Any hot tips ? Any trick-of-the-ttrade type advice before I get medievil with it ?

Mick70RR · Post by **Mick70RR** » Fri Dec 14, 12 6:16 pm

I had to use an oxy/acetylene torch on mine. Burned the rubber out then heated the inner bush until it was glowing red. I don't see any other way to free it if you want to reuse the bolt.

Pete · Post by **Pete** » Fri Dec 14, 12 6:17 pm

Firstly, it's not a bolt. Not in the usual sense, they are specific and have 1 of the cams welded on and a flat for the other cam.

Gareth and Stu can tell you chapter and verse on this, not sue if their thread is still intact.

The inner part of the UCA bush has rusted onto the cam bolt.

Try the usual - heat, put the nut on an try to hammer it out.
Worst case is to saw BOTH sides of the bush/cam bolt - great in situ....

God luck..

morgan · Post by **morgan** » Fri Dec 14, 12 6:19 pm

The blowtorch was next. Thanks chaps - confirmed my fears.
Extinguisher at the ready

shovelheadrob · Post by **shovelheadrob** » Fri Dec 14, 12 7:10 pm

As Pete says, bit of heat stick a nut back on then a good whack should start it moving. New adjuster cam bolts are available from moog anyway http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinf ... cc=1078444 it would be best to replace them anyway if you are overhauling the rest. When you put it back together use some copperslip on the new bolts then you won't get the same problem 40 years down the line!!!

Bryan S · Post by **Bryan S** » Fri Dec 14, 12 9:16 pm

Bananarama! job!! Here's the thread.I even ended up cutting a slot above one of the boltholes in the chassis

http://www.moparuk.com/forums/viewtopic ... &start=150

drewcrane · Post by **drewcrane** » Fri Dec 14, 12 9:29 pm

That is a PIA for sure I have used a sawzall with a thin flexible blade and managed to cut it out,

but yours doesnt look that bad give it a whack and buy new ones as mentioned ,

and lots of anti sieze and also silicone lube where the rubber slides on the steel shaft

Gareth · Post by **Gareth** » Sat Dec 15, 12 12:32 pm

Yep, been through that nightmare. We eventually resorted to a heavy duty recip saw with diamond grit edged blades. It was a bit of a rodeo ride hanging onto the thing in that confined space but it got the job done where all else had failed.

Here's a quote from Stu pulled from our workshop thread which gives a taste of an earlier attempt to shift 'em.

T'other side? Well, arrange these words in any order you like. Just end the sentence with Bananarama!!

Heat, grazed knuckles, big hammer, Bananarama!, more heat, bigger hammer, Bananarama!, burny burny, Bananarama!, massive bar and massive hammer, Bananarama! knackered, hit it, twat it, burn it, kick it swear at it, bang your head on the inner wing as many times as is humanly possible, take off rest of knuckles, get out recip saw, Bananarama!, mangle it, lean head forward onto inner wing and gently start to weep...

Back up tomorrow with a better recip saw and the Billy Bad Ass Blades...

MilesnMiles · Post by **MilesnMiles** » Sat Dec 15, 12 1:17 pm

Might seem excessive, but I took the wing off my Dart to get in there. Only took 30 mins to get it off and lots of space to work in

steveo · Post by **steveo** » Sun Dec 16, 12 1:15 pm

cam bolts prolly bent , thats why its not coming out , read all kind of horror storys just before i done mine , & was prepared for all kinds of grief , but could pull them out by hand

think i would get a saber saw in there , cut through the shell torch out the rubber , cut the bolt

AllKiller · Post by **AllKiller** » Sun Dec 16, 12 1:21 pm

Brace a Bottle jack in there some how and try to Bananarama! out ??
depending on how bent it is...might get you a start with constant hydraulic pressure on it

morgan · Post by **morgan** » Mon Dec 17, 12 10:44 am

Blimey.

Will try to get out there and get some heat on it and find out...

To be honest, I am feeling that cutting the bush and the bolt might be easier - new bolts available, and probably easier/cheaper than some of the pain described on the thread.

Will try and get another go !!

Charger · Post by **Charger** » Mon Dec 17, 12 12:42 pm

crikey, didn’t realise these could be a problem

sorry Morgan, this doesn’t help, but all 4 of mine came out no problem

I did have trouble getting the old bushes out of the A arms though, because they were completely shagged, they no longer lined up to come thro the hole in the A arm, carefully cut the bushes so not to damage the A arm, sounds a lot easier doing that on the bench than it is trying to get them bolts out from under the car

good luck

autofetish · Post by **autofetish** » Mon Dec 17, 12 1:30 pm

hit it you tart

jokes aside

heat it up with oxy kit. Forget a blow torch or lighter

good thinking on the bottle jack killer

Stu · Post by **Stu** » Mon Dec 31, 12 1:47 pm

Oh God, this lark. Good luck!

The problems can arise as the bolt is sleeved and the bolt can rust into the sleeve, in which case you can hit it as hard as you like and it won't budge.

Oh I miss this job. Yeah right. I'd rather shove wasps up my arse.