tried to change the shocks on my wifes 95 4runner this morning. the bottom mounting bolt on the fronts are frozen in there good. i already tried multiple coats of pb blaster and even took some heat to it. all i managed to do is get a good sweat going and snap my breaker bar in half.

any suggestions would be appreciated

thanks

 

Did you get the nut off?


If so, maybe try using a brass punch, hitting the bolt right in the middle to drive it out.


Just be carefull. I had the same problem, and ended up breaking the shock tab off and had to have it welded back on.

 

Assuming that you're still trying to get the nut off, I'd give it a couple of days, go out and give it a shot of PB blaster in the morning and night, and give it a while to work its way into the threads, might just need some time. I did that with frozen tie rods and after a week they worked right off.

 

When you take them off, have the A-arm pressed down a considerable amount. Otherwise you'll have no chance of getting it out because there will be pressure on the bolt. Some people use a bottle jack pushed up against the fender well. I'd reccomend putting a block of wood between the jack and the fender well though so you don't bend it as much. If ya have the A-arm down, then you will alleviate pressure on that bottom mount and might be able to tap it out with a screwdriver and hammer. It worked for me, but then again mine's a '01.

Zach

 

i cant get the nut or the bolt to budge at all.........kinda wish i had an air wrench, but anyway.........

mines a little different from your '01 4runner. i dont have struts in the front..........its torsion bar sprung with a seperate shock

 

if you can find someone with a pneumatic hammer that should do the trick...otherwise get a 3' long piece of pipe

 

i've been thinking of asking for some air tools as an early xmas present.......


btw i was using a piece of pipe with the breaker bar..............snapped the bar right off

 

If you get too frustrated with it, just put it back together and take it to a shop. They'll probably charge you around $20-$50 to switch the shocks. They might strip the bolt though if they use an air tool on it, so maybe you'd want to pick up some aircraft grade bolts in the correct length and just tell them to air-wrench the old ones out.

Zach

 

i think i might just do that...........i know a guy thats a toyota mechanic who does work on the side........


it just sucks to have to pay someone else to do something you can usually do yourself.........

oh well

 

Living in the rust belt, I usually start the PB Blaster applications a week before I intend to work on a part and keep doing it every day between here and there.

I now own an impact wrench for problems like this.

 

The shop is who snapped my lower shock mount off. What happened was, the bolt was seized in the sleeve in the shock bushing. Nothing would take it out. Not a air chisel, no air tools, air hammer, nothing. The only way out was to snap the shock tab off and reweld it.