Frozen rear lower shock bolt

[mpetz]

Hey guys, i am replacing the shocks and struts on my 93 festiva. The front struts are done but the back lower shock bolts are seized big time.
Ive tried heat and penetrating oil with no luck. One bolt head is rounded off. Whats my best bet for getting those suckers off in one piece?

[sasquatch]

grind the head off the bolt. it always works for me

[jglutz]

Suprised the head rounded and the bolt did not brake... that would have been a better result...Are you using a six point or nice box wrench?
Try to spray some penetrating oil in from the end of the trailing arm onto the nut.

[sasquatch]

try to take a vicegrip and lock it on there HARD and then tap it with a hamer, that might help to.

[88festiva1.3l]

pb blast and leave it over night or pb blast every 30 min or torch the nut off home depot and loews sell oxy and map gass braser kit for $50.00 it out to do the trick or buy the better one for $120.00

[skeeters_keeper]

I had that happen on one side of my aspire swap. I acutally broke the weld that holds the nut inside the LCA loose, and the bolt was so rusted to the bushing inside the strut that i had to cut the bolt off on both sides of the strut bushing!!! it was a major pain, but i finally got it.

I then replaced the bolt and the nut with new ones, and just used a wrench to hold the nut inside the arm while i was tightening the bolt down. once it was tight i couldn't get the wrench out, so i just left it! it finally rattled loose after a while i guess b/c its gone now, but the bolt is still holding tight. I'm not looking forward to replacing my rear struts just because of that, i'm not sure how to go about getting that bolt out and then back in again, but sometimes little setbacks like that happen! good luck!

[WmWatt]

Another reason to get the oil underspray done every year or so.

[worfdog]

when i replaced the rear struts and also the front control arms, i noticed the un- threaded part of the bolts were frozen to the metal sleeve. this was my problem more than the bolt being frozen to the caged nut. any way when i put it all back together, i put some silicone grease on the shanks of the bolts and anti-sieze compound on the threads.never had problems again when removing them.

[Damkid]

I had that happen on one side of my aspire swap. I acutally broke the weld that holds the nut inside the LCA loose, and the bolt was so rusted to the bushing inside the strut that i had to cut the bolt off on both sides of the strut bushing!!! it was a major pain, but i finally got it.

exact same happened to me, the weld-nut broke loose and the bolt seized inside the strut bushing, extremely ignorant to get apart!!

[mpetz]

Frozen rear lower shock bolt

thanks for all your answers, i won't get back to it for a couple of days in the meantime i will keep hitting it with the penetrating oil. I have a cutting torch and grinder but when i take the head off the rest of the bolt will still be stuck. Some how i have to cut the nut off inside the channel then push the bolt out. I will let u know how it goes. thanks

[mattswabb]

The bolt is stuck to the sleeve in the strut end. Cut the strut end away, remove the rubber then cut the bolt length down. Cut about half of it off. Then turn out with vise grips or small pipe wrench. This way will save the captive nut and the support that goes around the strut end.

[jglutz]

Another reason to get the oil underspray done every year or so.

:

New one to me :idea: More info please......

[1990new]

I know this thread is eight years old but this just shows another way you might want to try to get your frozen shock bolts out.
I drilled a hole through it, sprayed some pb blaster in and it didn't take but a couple burst with my impact wrench to spin the bolt out.
Here is a pictures. Also is the 14mm Proto socket I picked up along with 4 other sockets for $2 at a local pawn shop ( I had lost my 14mm impact socket).

[william]

Great idea I've had a few stuck ones that I ended up cutting off.
The turned out by hand then I replaced the bolt .
If you where really good one could probably save the bolt. With your method

[TominMO]

thanks for all your answers, i won't get back to it for a couple of days in the meantime i will keep hitting it with the penetrating oil. I have a cutting torch and grinder but when i take the head off the rest of the bolt will still be stuck. Some how i have to cut the nut off inside the channel then push the bolt out. I will let u know how it goes. thanks

Since you're replacing the strut anyway, just sawzall it off at the skinny part right above the lower mount (cover the brake line to protect it!). That will make it easier to get a sawzall or hacksaw in there to remove the rest of the bolt. To use a hacksaw inside the mount area, you will need to disassemble the hacksaw, then re-assemble it with the blade inside. You might have to hacksaw/sawzalll both sides of the strut where the bolt goes thru. I've had to deal with this on both Festy lower rear strut bolts, and one each on my two Aspires.

On Festivas, I used a nut with a 17mm head to replace the tack-welded captured nut. They should have welded the captured nut all around, not just spot-welded it at three points. So I put the nut on a 17mm box wrench, with a little tape on the outside to hold it in place, then inserted it thru the rear of the trailing arm. Oh, I blue-locktited the threads first. Then insert whatever bolt you are using. No prob getting the wrench back out.

On Aspires, you can't do this because the arm is manufactured with a little wall there, probably for more rigidity. To get a new nut in there, you have to use a cutoff wheel to create a hole on the bottom of the arm.

@ 1990new: That's an innovative idea. I don't think it will work all the time with bolts welded to the sleeve, but certainly worth a try.