Help! I've got my front suspension apart for new poly bushings but can't get the bolts out for the lower A-Arms! The front one spins in the hole but when I whale on it i think the rubber is taking all the force out of it. The rear bolt is simply frozen in there and I can't even get a turn on the head of it.
Does anyone have any wisdom to share with me on how to get these suckers out? Its getting too nice out here in upstate New York to be sitting in the garage...
OK It aint pretty but what I do is cut the heads off with a saws-all. Sometimes you have to cut both ends off. Be careful not to cut your sub-frame. If you can get the blade between the sub and arm that works good too. What's happening is the inner bushing is rusted right to the bolt.
Adam, I had to take mine out in pieces with an angle grinder. Obviously that required new ones. I had no luck with any other method and since one was shot anyway I just destroyed them to get them out. I got new ones from Tamraz on e-bay for about $170 each which came with bushings and ball joints installed.
Well you guys are just full of good news aren't you? The real irony here is that all the other bolts came off without any fight. There's absolutely no rust up there except for those stupid bolts. I'm thinking its going back together for the time being.
Well the original reason I tore them apart was because I took it in for alignment and the mechanic pointed out that they were in rough shape. His primary concern was the bent tie rod on the drivers side however. Due to other projects (house and wedding) it'll have to wait till late July before anything gets done. The good news is I really don't drive the thing all that much so I'm not real concerned about it right now. Thanks for the input guys, you saved me alot of cursing and bloody knuckles.
