88 4WD IFS, Recently got a Trailmaster Lift For the truck, cant get the Lower Control Arms off because the bolts arent moving
Alright im out of ideas. Because the Bolt side is on the inners of the LCA, I cant get the impact wrench on them, and Ive even tried getting it from the nut side, nothing. Ive hit it with a weak torch for a few, still nothing. Im going to see if i cant get an acetylene torch and hit it with that.

Im really out of ideas

 

You can't get the nut off?

Or the bolt out after the nut is off?

If it's the first, penetrating oil, soaking for a day, and then some heat and leverage.

If it's the bolt that is seized (which I've come accross a few times), penetrating oil, then a hammer. new concentric bolts are available at the dealership.

 

The bolt side is for making adjustments to caster/camber(and/or for holding still with a socket/wrench while removing the nut). It's NOT supposed to move AT ALL if the nut is tight. The nut needs removed FIRST before the bolt can be removed. With the nut off, just pound the bolt out with BFH and an appropriate size pin/punch. Careful not to mess the bolt up in the process. Not very complicated and/or difficult.

BTW, you will ruin the bushings buy using a torch(for more than a very short period of time atleast). Maybe that's not a concern...I don't know.

 

I'm just having an extreme difficulty getting the nut off, its not even budging, heated it, soaked it, then hit it with the impact gun. (About to try that again with the gun connected to my Diesel Air Compressor from work, show that sunofabitch ;P) I guess ill have to try soaking it daily for a week in pen. oil to get it out, if not, ill look at getting new ones.

 

heat it up spray pb and repeat process. You want the oil to be soaked into the threads, not just evaporate(so dont heat it too much). I found out that when i did mine, a breaker bar with a pipe was more affective than the impact gun(atleast to get it turning). My guess is that if the nuts are THAT stuck, the bolt will probably be seized inside the steel sleeve,in which case you'll have to torch the whole thing off.

 

As bandit says - a breaker bar with a 3-4 foot pipe might work better.

 

If it's that seized then a breaker bar will do the trick. As I've learned (more than once!) go back and forth on the nut. I've twisted more off than I've got loose by getting in a hurry with a breaker bar.

 

the nut will probably be the easier piece to get off. If you get it started, keep heating it as you back it off(if you plan on reusing the bolts. The bolt will probably be seized inside the steel sleeve thats inside the actual bushing in which case you can spin the bolt and it will be spinning the sleeve inside the bushing, and most likely it wont come out. You can try soaking it with penetrating oil and using an air chisel, but if they've never been off before you will probably have to cut them off and get new bolts at the dealership. Just a heads up i purchased 4 lower control arm bolts, 4 nuts and 4 washers and it was 130 bucks from the dealer.

 

Breaker bar and some extra wheaties for breakfast.
If you're having trouble with the nut, you can bet that the bolt is seized in the sleeve as well.
Good luck.
You might as well just cut it off.

 

Thanks EXACLTY why I want to try and save them first

 

Why exactly are you needing to take off the lower control arm in the first place? If your putting in a bracket lift, the LCA do not need to come off. In fact, i can't think of a single lift that the LCA needs to come off for except for long travel.

 

Wut?

Pretty sure the LCA has to come off, the kit works by lowering the mounts for the LCA by 4 inches with bracketry that uses the stock LCA holes, lowering the diff 4 inches, and new steering knuckle that is 4 in longer near the top to account for the 4 in drop.

 

Bracket lift

 

Nevermind...Carry on.

 

Cut the bolts off,there cheap

 

RE: Impact gun..
This is why they invented air ratchets they fit where a gun doesn't.

Use a block and jack might get some of the load off of them, they might be bound up from the weight.

Don't do to much back and forth or BFH/W at once it'll heat fatigue them and snap them.

Remeber to heat and cool them to bust up the rust/bind. If you go too hot you ruin the temper and weaken them.

 

and if you heat them and back them off some and then they cool and get harder to turn reheat them otherwise you can damage the threads.

 

What type of penetrating oil have you used? I just ran across this in another forum...and wondering if it works better than other types. You might be a good candidate to see if it helps any....wanna give it a shot? Be careful not to get it anywhere you don't want paint removed or on plastic stuff...and wherever else this mixture can do harm. Probably use the same method as other penetrating oils...soak it a few times and let it sit for 24hrs.

" "Machinist's Workshop" recently published information on various penetrating
oils. The magazine reports they tested these products for "break out
"torque" on rusted nuts and bolts. A subjective test was made of popular
penetrating oils, with the unit of merit being the torque required to
remove the nut from a "scientifically rusted" bolt.

Average torque load to loosen nut:
No Oil used ........................516 foot pounds
WD-40 ..................... ........238 foot pounds
PB Blaster .........................214 foot pounds
Liquid Wrench ......................127 foot pounds
Kano Kroil .........................106 foot pounds
ATF/Acetone mix...................... 53 foot pounds

The ATF/Acetone mix is a "home brew" mix of 50/50 automatic transmission
fluid and acetone. Note this "home brew" released bolts better than any
commercial product in this one particular test."

 

I keep tellin' these guys that Liquid Wrench is way better than PB Blaster(and that WD-40 is just as good). So far nobody's listened. But there's my proof!

 

I had a similar problem on my MKIII Supra. LCA cam bolts would not come out, soaked them in various penetrants for weeks, torched them, beat on them with a BFH, tried everything. I wasn't even trying to save them as I had brand new ones sitting on the workbench.

I ended up using a sawzall on one of them, but it took FOREVER. Finally I just torched them out with the O/A torch. If I had to do it again, I have a plasma cutter now so I'd just gouge the head off the bolt and the threads off the other side and pry it out once it's flush. That job sucked.