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f***ing rusted bolts

MarcusB

Accelerating Away
Just spent most of the day trying to undo 1 god damn bolt...... the others where stiff, but came off eventually...

All i'm trying todo is replace the front shocks and springs. But 1 of the 2 bottom bolts on the bottom of the passenger side shock won't bugde. It's even broken my nut spliter! :eek: Space is too small for my angle grinder... my last resort has been to drill it out, when my bit eventually snaped :( and I couldn't find my chuck I gave up for the day.

It all started so well with all the correct parts turning up ontime!

Ugh need to be off on Saturday for 3 months, looks like I'll be traveling by train then.
 
They are bstards, one side was ok as I gripped the shock body with a plumbers stilson wedged against the chassis, the other I hacksawed them off as the shocks go in the bin anyway.
 
Can't quite remember, but may have sawed off above the mount at the bottom of the shock body, or through the middle of the rubber bushes????I'm old and it was 2 years ago!
 
Soaked mine in Wd for about 3 days ...still wouldnt budge, went straight for the drill , and gave them a good whack with a chisel , had each nut off in about 10 min......making sure i keep my new ones greased up as i cant afford to damage the thread on the pro comps in case i need to exchange a faulty unit.

Didnt bother with the top nut at all ,as i was throwing away the mount too, so i left it all together and pulled the lot out.
 
Soaked mine in Wd for about 3 days ...still wouldnt budge, went straight for the drill , and gave them a good whack with a chisel , had each nut off in about 10 min......making sure i keep my new ones greased up as i cant afford to damage the thread on the pro comps in case i need to exchange a faulty unit.

Didnt bother with the top nut at all ,as i was throwing away the mount too, so i left it all together and pulled the lot out.

I don't know where my big "hit the hell out of it" chisel has gone. Might have to buy a new one tomorrow.
 
I don't know where my big "hit the hell out of it" chisel has gone. Might have to buy a new one tomorrow.

Used my drill and chisel today as it happens , fitting an allisport intercooler...........had to remove the egr, bolts were again rounded and siezed ..........good chisel and some titatium coated drill bits well worth the money !

......good luck :D !
 
Today seems to be the day of the chisel.

I used mine for most of the day to knock spot welds out.

I know it costs more, but I only fit stainless nuts and bolts. It makes life so much easier when you have to undo them one day.

We get an aerosol product out here called Me Kenik Penetrating Fluid. It seems to be better than Q20 and WD40 when it comes to penetration, but like you guys over there, we still have to revert to the tried and trusted hammer and chisel technique on old rusted bolts.

I'm going to start using the D2 to tow a boat to the ocean, so next week I've got to get the tow hitch setup removed and sent down to the galvy people. One bolt looks dodgey and will probably take longer than the others together.
 
I bless the man who invented Bosch powerdrills, and 4mm jobbing drills - never in creation has a nut beaten that combination in my garage :D
 
You are wasting your time using WD40 as a penetrant. It isn't a penetrant it's a lubricant. :eek:

Get some Plus Gas if you want to soak stuff. That is a penetrating oil.

Front shocks lower nut.
I use a Machine Mart nut splitter on those.
Well I KNOW that the nut splitter is too thick to fit in the gap. Mine has a groove/lump ground out to clear the end of the shocker thread.
I crack one side of the nut. Turn the shocker 180deg the crack the other side.
It so far hasn't failed me.

Now should you want to make life easy when you come to replace the shocks :D :D use some thread sealant. Thread sealant helps stop the threads rusting together.
 
Gonna do the shocks and springs on my 110 in a couple of weeks, think I'll allow a bit more time for it now having read this thread!!
 
When you mention drilling a nut, in what way do you mean? I know about drilling bolts so you can snap a stud extractor off in the hole...
 
Eat Death, Nut!
 

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Pak I wouldn't grease the nuts, as they will work loose!
Instead apply threadlock as this keeps moisture out and doesn't permanently weld them together like people seem to think, then apply waxoyl or simmilar over the whole lot to the thread end. When you come to disemble, clean the waxoyl off with paraffin and away you go.
 
When you mention drilling a nut, in what way do you mean? I know about drilling bolts so you can snap a stud extractor off in the hole...


Drilling a nut means converting the overtight / rusted / inaccesible fastener into a neat pile of swarf, which never again will be able to cause you grief :D .

It is a technique for the DIY chap, which can be used in place of the usual nut-splitter tools, or the more "professional" approach of oxy-acetylene, to either loosen or remove stubborn nuts, or ones which are inaccesible by other means.

Simply drill a line of holes , close together, down one of the Flats of the nut. This may be enough to allow the nut to "expand" and release itself from the rusted bolt, failing which a couple of light taps with a chisel, is usually enough to acheive separation.

It may be necessary to drill out some holes on the other side of the nut [180degrees round from the original holes] to complete the job, or continue drilling until the nut has totally disintegrated :D .
 
Pak I wouldn't grease the nuts, as they will work loose!
Instead apply threadlock as this keeps moisture out and doesn't permanently weld them together like people seem to think, then apply waxoyl or simmilar over the whole lot to the thread end. When you come to disemble, clean the waxoyl off with paraffin and away you go.

Might give threadlock a go then, though i am always working on the truck doing somthing ,and check the condition of the shocks regularly, every time i go laning or off roading , have remained tight so far !
 
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