[speeddaddy]

Hello everyone. I want to start by saying it is with all of your help that I have made it this far with my car. I have started tearing down the rear suspension to send my trailing arms off. By the way I used a puller to get the shock mounts out with ease (got that idea from another post). Anyway I am down to removing the half shafts from the arm and I mean to tell you the bolts won't budge. I even bought a 1/2 inch breaker bar to use with a 5/8" socket and I can't move them. (Why are they turning even with my car in park?). I am now soaking the bolts with Liquid Wrench, but they are not really rusty unless it's on the inside of the bolts. Open for ideas. Longer breaker bar? I lodged an extension in the rotor vanes to press against the caliper to keep it from rotating. Still don't understand why it's rotating. Thanks as always. I have come too far to turn back.

 

[72SBVet]

Put some Fluid Flim (available at John Deere) on the frozen bolt and let it set for a few hours and retry unscrewing it. I have had great success with this lubricant as it acts fast and will not run off or dry up and it's water proof so water won't rinse it away.

 

[ourfirstone]

good penatrating oil, tap the bolt dead a few times if you can some times this helps , if you hav eair tie a good impact wrench, or i usednansnap on 3/8 dr battery powered on mine,last but not least thrownsome heat on then with a tourch

 

[car_dude427]

If you trust your ratchet as being strong you can stick a long pipe on the end of it. But first spray it with penetrating lube and try then, if that doesnt work use the flame. An impact wrench may prove to be useful

 

[speeddaddy]

Thanks fellas. After another dose of Liquid Wrench and some hours of soaking, I just took a break from the Superbowl and put the breaker bar back on them. With some muscle behind them they finally broke free:cheers: Much thanks.

 

[car_dude427]

Thanks fellas. After another dose of Liquid Wrench and some hours of soaking, I just took a break from the Superbowl and put the breaker bar back on them. With some muscle behind them they finally broke free:cheers: Much thanks.

:cheers: Thats good news.

 

[Slow & Leaky]

FWIW penetrating oils don't really do anything for breakaway torque in most cases, their purpose is more to keep dirty/corroded threads from binding as the bolt is removed.

In the future, a good trick for anything stuck is to apply torque with the bar and try to ring the part like a bell using a metal hammer. Not a deadblow hammer. Often the strength of the hit is not as important as the quantity of hits so you're not screwing up the surface too bad.

good luck with the rest of your project!

 

[speeddaddy]

Hey thanks man. As it turns out I started celebrating too soon. I have gotten all of the bolts loose except for one freaking bolt(grrrrrrrrrr!). I will let it soak with the penetrating oil for another day and then I will go to plan B which will be to try some of the methods that you and others have suggested. Thanks for the advice. :thumbsup:

 

[macx]

Oftentimes heating just a small strip of the metal alongside the bolt, lengthwise with the bolt & not around it, will expand the bolt hole enuf to loosen it enuf to get it started. That method of heating works better than heating all the metal around the bolt.

If it's still real tight after you break it loose, you can help avoid thread damage by turning it out a little, then back in, etc etc, continuing to spray a little penetrant on the exposed threads as they come out before you screw it back in, helping the penetrant to get into the threads.

A good impact wrench can also work wonders in conjunction with the above procedures.