Help with siezed shock bolt!

[bowyer2002]

HELP!!!

I still have a lower shock bolt siezed in my front passenger side of my Tacoma.
I have heated it, sprayed solvent on it, hammered it (with a 9# sledge hammer!) and even taken it to a shop to have it removed and THEY couldn't get it out!
Any other suggestions to remove it? I think I can saws-all the bolt but only on the front, I need suggestions in getting it to turn or getting the bolt head off.

I will sacrifice the shock, I am not trying to salvage it.

A cutting torch could/would burn the CV boot, I haven't found anyone with a plasma cutter (yet) and a saws-all may not fit.

AND is it hard to remove the axle? If it is pretty simple I may do that (no FSM for my truck) to gain me some room to work.

Thanks for your suggestions!

 

[apalmer1]

ive had this problem a lot with my coilovers because toyota puts the bolts in from the CV side so its difficult to get them to come back out. If you can get a strong impact or a breaker bar on the front of the bolt i would put a wrench on the back and see if you can just shear the head off of the bolt, then compress the suspension on that side to get the CV out of the way and pound the bolt out of the coilover with a punch.

worst case scenario you can bring it to any welding shop and they can just cut the lower coilover mount tabs off and weld on new ones, they are really thin and simple to make.

i wish my tacoma was at my house right now so i could go look and be of more belp.

 

[bowyer2002]

apalmer1
thanks for the info, that is the route that I am contemplating - cutting off the tabs and welding on new ones.
I am trying to get a line on a plasma cutter right now but work won't start until next week as the weekend is already filled with activities other than 'play mechanic under the truck'!

 

[Duane]

I've had luck with a left handed drill bit in that it is made to drill counterclockwise.
Sort of the same approach as the drill out the rusted bolt and using an easy out when you get enough material out.
With some penetrating fluid while you are drilling out counterclockwise it's not uncommon for the drill bit to bite enough and with the heat to just spin out the seized bolt.

 

[cooper4x4]

the cv is easy to remove. hold the brakes and remove the 35mm axle nut. remove the 4 lower ball joint bolts. pry the cv out of the diff. swing the spindle up and remove the cv. it will give you a lot of room.

 

[bowyer2002]

Thanks for the suggestions, maybe this weekend I can get it done...

 

[scottm]

Dremel? Saved my butt many times. Cutting torch, with sheet metal over the CV boot to protect it?

 

[Blue77FJ40]

It wouldn't hurt to use some Kroil, the best penetrant I've found. Made by Kano Labs. It may even resolve your problem.

 

[scottm]

PB Blaster is my favorite penetrating fluid, but it has harsh solvents, can damage rubber parts.

 

[bowyer2002]

After several dousings with PB blaster and application of the hot wrench - I finally succumbed to my angle grinder and cutoff wheel to remove the front tab of the shock mount.
The heat from the torch melted the rubber bushing enough that I could pry off the shock from the still seized bolt.
10 minutes of constant grinding finally got the bolt cut in half so I could remove the head of it from the rear shock mount.
The outer CV boot was a casualty though and actually caught on fire (always exciting in a wheel well!)
I wish I would have removed the axle - but that outer cv boot already had a hole in it.
So I have that to replace - which brings me to my next project of CV boot replacement.
to be continued......

 

[bowyer2002]

Why replace CV boots when you can get a whole new axle assembly for $75?
So since I have 145K miles both axles were replaced and I kept one (that I haven't disassembled) for a spare as I hope to do some real 4 wheeling soon!

The picture is of the final installed shock with the fabbed shock mount welded and painted.

While I was under the truck I also changed the front Differential fluid so that should be all good for a while.

I did find my brake spring thingy that the bail wire was a temporary fix for.

Thanks for looking (laughing?) at my story!