Seized bolt on lower control arm... help

Matt Chang said:

So I ordered a rancho quick lift suspension kit, only 1.2-2" so that my new tires won't rub (I'm getting either 33s, 34s, or 35s) and as I tried installing the front shocks, I got stuck because the passenger side bolt that connects the strut to the lower control arm is seized up in the bushing. I spent maybe thirty minutes hitting it with a rubber mallet and metal hammer, caked it in b'laster, tried using my blowtorch to heat up the head of the bolt to hit it out after. I have a Dewalt impact wrench and tried getting the bolt to rotate within the bushing with that, but it won't budge even on its highest torque setting. Just kind of stuck with what to do at this point.. Should I just buy some new bushings and bolt and just cut the old one out? Am I supposed to disconnect the sway bar or is there something connected to the lower control arm that is putting pressure on the strut? Please help!!

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Matt Chang said:

So I ordered a rancho quick lift suspension kit, only 1.2-2" so that my new tires won't rub (I'm getting either 33s, 34s, or 35s) and as I tried installing the front shocks, I got stuck because the passenger side bolt that connects the strut to the lower control arm is seized up in the bushing. I spent maybe thirty minutes hitting it with a rubber mallet and metal hammer, caked it in b'laster, tried using my blowtorch to heat up the head of the bolt to hit it out after. I have a Dewalt impact wrench and tried getting the bolt to rotate within the bushing with that, but it won't budge even on its highest torque setting. Just kind of stuck with what to do at this point.. Should I just buy some new bushings and bolt and just cut the old one out? Am I supposed to disconnect the sway bar or is there something connected to the lower control arm that is putting pressure on the strut? Please help!!

Click to expand...

RamOutdoorsman12 said:

I've had luck with a 1:1 mix of ATF and acetone as a penetrant instead of using store bought stuff (keep any torch away from the acetone if you try this) Be careful with heat around the bushing if you are not planning on replacing because of the rubber. Keep the nut on the end of the bolt and try to use a large hammer to hit it (Like a 4lb mini sledge or bigger if you have one) after you let it soak. Even if you mess up the bolt but get it out it's easier to replace a bolt than it is to replace the bushing. If nothing works than your options are to replace that bushing or replace the entire lower control arm with one complete with new bushings. Like daveray said, the lower control arm cam bolts could be frozen too, these bolts are about $45.00 per pair for just the bolts if you need to cut them. I just did LCAs in my 2012 and used cutting torches to cut through the bushing, burn all of the rubber, and then get the sleeve red hot before hitting the bolt out with a mini sledge as I did not want to pay $90.00 for 4 bolts. These bolts will need to be free for alignment adjustment.

Good luck

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madtrucker2016 said:

I would just cut it out and get new bolt and bushing. But if you like rolling around your garage floor for hours bashing your knuckles trying to remove it. Repair shop would just cut that sucker out faster and less stress on you

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madtrucker2016 said:

I would just cut it out and get new bolt and bushing. But if you like rolling around your garage floor for hours bashing your knuckles trying to remove it. Repair shop would just cut that sucker out faster and less stress on you

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Matt Chang said:

Dewalt impact wrench

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Matt Chang said:

So I ordered a rancho quick lift suspension kit, only 1.2-2" so that my new tires won't rub (I'm getting either 33s, 34s, or 35s) and as I tried installing the front shocks, I got stuck because the passenger side bolt that connects the strut to the lower control arm is seized up in the bushing. I spent maybe thirty minutes hitting it with a rubber mallet and metal hammer, caked it in b'laster, tried using my blowtorch to heat up the head of the bolt to hit it out after. I have a Dewalt impact wrench and tried getting the bolt to rotate within the bushing with that, but it won't budge even on its highest torque setting. Just kind of stuck with what to do at this point.. Should I just buy some new bushings and bolt and just cut the old one out? Am I supposed to disconnect the sway bar or is there something connected to the lower control arm that is putting pressure on the strut? Please help!!

Click to expand...

Matt Chang said:

So I ordered a rancho quick lift suspension kit, only 1.2-2" so that my new tires won't rub (I'm getting either 33s, 34s, or 35s) and as I tried installing the front shocks, I got stuck because the passenger side bolt that connects the strut to the lower control arm is seized up in the bushing. I spent maybe thirty minutes hitting it with a rubber mallet and metal hammer, caked it in b'laster, tried using my blowtorch to heat up the head of the bolt to hit it out after. I have a Dewalt impact wrench and tried getting the bolt to rotate within the bushing with that, but it won't budge even on its highest torque setting. Just kind of stuck with what to do at this point.. Should I just buy some new bushings and bolt and just cut the old one out? Am I supposed to disconnect the sway bar or is there something connected to the lower control arm that is putting pressure on the strut? Please help!!

Click to expand...

Tim Garceau said:

Found your problem, get a Milwaukee for impacts.


Dewalt makes a decent 18V drill however.

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T_Unit114 said:

I had this the first time I tried to level my truck. After 3 hours and various tools (even my 36" breaker bar couldn't budge the bolt. It just spun the rubber inside the bushing sleeve [emoji1787]) I took a cutoff wheel to the sumbitch. I then burned out the rubber bushing enough to drive the bolt and center sleeve out with my air hammer and that allowed me to deform the hell out of the outer sleeve enough to drive it out. After finding my struts and coils both being shot and rusted, I ditched the pre load spacer kit and currently have bilsteins on order. I'm planning on doing both strut lower bushings and bolts and both camber bolts and bushings on each side. I'm gonna need more map gas [emoji1787] and some extra sanity.

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

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