My car defeated me

Shemp · Post by **Shemp** » 07 Aug 2011, 15:31

I've given up, my car won.
I was changing the struts on my car, and the passenger's side went fine yestereday, all the bolts came off with no trouble, went back together, no problems. Started on the driver's side, and the bolt for the sway bar link... ahhh. Sprayed PB blaster like crazy and let it sit overnight, once the downpours stopped, tried againg. The little torx or allen fitting on the end stripped right away, couldn't grab onto anything in back with the little flat wrench, the nut and bolt just spin together. So after mangling the top, bought a new link, and figured I would remove the old one from the sway bar, since I was replacing the strut the top could stay attached and get tossed with the old strut. The bottom bolt won't budge at all, tried more penetrating spray, even some that is supposed to freeze bolts/nuts to free them, even tried a nut splitter to break the nut apart. The nut is split, but still won't budge. I give up, no more time to fix it today, nor during the week, so it will have to go to my mechanic in the morning.
I just had to vent, those lousy, rusty bolts really ticked me off.
I would assume it is not a good idea to drive it with the bottom sway bar link bolt all mangled up? I can have the car towed with AAA for free, so it's not a big deal if it would be safer to tow it as it would have to be driven about 5-10 miles to get to his shop. It was going there tomorrow anyway to have new tires put on.
Kevin

zhenya · Post by **zhenya** » 07 Aug 2011, 16:36

Welcome to the hidden costs of all that salt that's poured on our roads!

Did you try heat? That's the only real sure fire trick.

beewerks · Post by **beewerks** » 07 Aug 2011, 16:56

^What he said. Get a blow torch and get the stud nice and hot. I've had tons of trouble with the same part. Blow torches will get a lot of things moving. Good luck!

Post by **burnout8488** » 08 Aug 2011, 01:26

Use vise grip pliers on the BACK of the stud, over the rubber boot for the link balljoint. There is metal on the link to grab onto and you can crack the bolts that way without having to use a torx bit. Once there's some rust in there, it's basically not worth even trying to use the Torx-hole.

You'll likely need a new sway bar link, but at least you'll have it off.

Post by **JRL** » 08 Aug 2011, 05:18

PB blaster
Let sit for TWO days
Then heat the area with a small blowtorch if necessary, tap with hammer
Usually this will finally loosen everything
You need to let it really soak a few times over a couple of days and be very patient

Post by **Red-Arrow** » 08 Aug 2011, 05:32

Good quality vice grips never fail!

Shemp · Post by **Shemp** » 08 Aug 2011, 08:42

I tried vice grips on the back, even cut part of the boot away, still couldn't get it to budge. Whacking the wrench with a small sledge hammer did nothing either. I don't have a torch, and thought breaking the nut would definitely work , but no luck. No time to work on it during the week, and it needs to get finishede, so I have to take it in. Stinks not being able to finish it.

Post by **JDS60R** » 08 Aug 2011, 09:52

A grinder with a thin wheel will cut these off. Try harbor freight. My last grinder from them was under $15

Post by **phat78ta** » 08 Aug 2011, 20:38

A long time ago, I bought a small Berzomatic propane/oxygen torch kit. It has a pencil tip, and is small enough to get into tights spots. It uses oxygen like a fiend, but works well for small jobs. I had to use it to actually cut thru the nut on my drivers side. I have also used it to heat up and loosen the bolts for my caliper mounts. Well worth the investment. Probably could still find it or something like it at Lowes or Home Depot. It looks like a full size torch set, and takes the small torch size cylinders.

Post by **JimBee** » 08 Aug 2011, 20:58

My experience was the same the first time. I buckled early and took it to a local indy. The young mechanic put it up, looked at it, grabbed a pair of SKINNY vice grips and with them grabbed the stud right behind the plate it bolts to. Then put his impact wrench on the bolt and it spun right off.

Next time, I prepped the bolt threads that were showing by hitting them with a circular wire brush in my drill; cleaned them up as well as I could. Then doused them with PB Blaster. Then grabbed the SKINNY vice grip I bought from Harbor Freight for this purpose and they came right off.

Wherever I can get the drill in I use the wire brush. It usually helps.

Good luck.