That damn front lower control arm bolt!
#31
Evolved Member
iTrader: (25)
"snaps back to where it was"
The bolt goes back if you rotate it? That does not sound like a broken nut.
That sounds like you broke some adhesion between the bushing sleeve and the bolt but its not loose, so when you rotate it, the bushing is forcing it back to were it was (elastic deformation of the bushing)
A pop that loud would not be from the nut breaking in my experience.
I personally thought I broke my nut inside the subframe, but really, I broke the bolt free from the bushing sleeve. It just required about a billion more rotations before the bolt backed out.
I think you just need to keep going, you need like 130 deg of rotation so you can get past the bushing deformation to back the bolt out.
Just my opinion from my own experience.
The bolt goes back if you rotate it? That does not sound like a broken nut.
That sounds like you broke some adhesion between the bushing sleeve and the bolt but its not loose, so when you rotate it, the bushing is forcing it back to were it was (elastic deformation of the bushing)
A pop that loud would not be from the nut breaking in my experience.
I personally thought I broke my nut inside the subframe, but really, I broke the bolt free from the bushing sleeve. It just required about a billion more rotations before the bolt backed out.
I think you just need to keep going, you need like 130 deg of rotation so you can get past the bushing deformation to back the bolt out.
Just my opinion from my own experience.
#32
Evolving Member
iTrader: (1)
On the drivers side I was able to turn the bolt no problem with a 1/2" ratchet but it was pushing the nut out (I cut a hole to look) so I think the inner sleeve was rusted to the bolt but let go of the rubber.
the other side however I was not able to get enough leverage to get it to break. I ended up just cutting the arms off since I have spares with the Perrin bushings already in them ready to go. Waiting on my new bolts and I still need to get the bolts out at this point. Ran out of cutting discs for the Dremel and I was too tired from being ill this past week to keep going.
burning the bushing out to be able to cut the steel inner sleeve off the bolt.
the other side however I was not able to get enough leverage to get it to break. I ended up just cutting the arms off since I have spares with the Perrin bushings already in them ready to go. Waiting on my new bolts and I still need to get the bolts out at this point. Ran out of cutting discs for the Dremel and I was too tired from being ill this past week to keep going.
burning the bushing out to be able to cut the steel inner sleeve off the bolt.
#43
Evolving Member
iTrader: (6)
Edit: Fast forward to the evening. I removed the passenger side LCA with little effort, 25" breaker bar did the trick. Now the driver's side is another story, it's been soaking in PB since yesterday, and I've dumped almost 1/2 of the can on it to attempt to loosen the bolt. I can turn the bolt left maybe 1/8 of a turn and that's it, it seizes up and wants to strip the bolt. I've actually already done a bit of damage to the bolt head, so I'm afraid to torque it really hard. I'm thinking the bolt is rusted to the bushing sleeve, as I can move the breaker bar 1/8 a turn left or right and that's it. Loosening the bolt raises the control arm, it's annoying. Any recommendations? Should I torch the bolt head hoping to break it loose? Sucks I've got one side out, don't want to give up on the driver's side.
Last edited by SW20Mike; Apr 11, 2016 at 04:54 PM.
#45
Evolved Member
iTrader: (33)
I pulled mine out after soaking the bolts in PB Blaster. But my car was a southern car most of its life. It has spent the last 2 years in England with 1 full winter on the road. But now she is garaged during the winter so hopefully I can keep the rust at bay.
Mine came out pretty easy but I could not remove the rear arms. Funny thing is I removed the front arms and inspected the bushing and everything was still like new (72k miles). I'll change the bushings out whenever I get back stateside as I'm looking at possibly doing tubular subframes so we'll see.
Mine came out pretty easy but I could not remove the rear arms. Funny thing is I removed the front arms and inspected the bushing and everything was still like new (72k miles). I'll change the bushings out whenever I get back stateside as I'm looking at possibly doing tubular subframes so we'll see.