Lower control arm frame pivot bolt won't come out...

[FordFestiva]

Hello, I am trying to replace the lower control arm, but the frame pivot bolt spins and will not come out. I have the sway bar and control bar end nut off, but cannot get the frame pivot bolt out. The nut on the inside is stable/secure and I feel the bolt spinning when I stick my finger through the little hole. Any ideas? Thanks, Al

[sc72]

Al sounds like the bolt has stripped the nut, can you get something like a cold chisel or maybe a pickle fork to get behind the bolt head so you can pry out when you spin the bolt. I hope this helps Good luck

[Gomez]

The nut you speak of has a small cage around it. That is probably what you are thinking is the secured nut. And what you are thinking is the bolt spinning is the actual nut. You will have to get very crafty to get that thing out of there. In the past I have had to cut the frame horn out below the bolt, vise grip the nut (and cage), and break it all loose. THEN had to tackweld a new nut back in, and reweld the fame horn closed again. Had to do that twice now. It sucks but is the only way I have found to do it. Would love to hear of any ideas others have had.

[william]

It's a square nut so some times a pry bay on one side will hold the nut while you impact it out.
Or reach in there with a welder and tack the nut .
But make sure it's not striped like Karl said, try to look threw that hole with a light and have someone spin the bolt.

[johnmt]

I've done a couple by using a 4-1/2" cutoff wheel. It takes some care. If I recall, I cut the control arm off right at the inside end leaving just the round section with the bushing. I split the round section carefully with the wheel, far enough to cut and remove the outer half of the bolt. You don't want to get into the sub-frame, obviously. Take your time. Once the bolt section with the head is cut and removed, I put a drift in through the bushing and drive the half with the nut into the frame rail. The cage has moved on the ones I've done. When you put a new bolt in, you can fish a lockwasher and nut in through the access hole on the bottom. I pry it a little with a screwdriver to hold it and snug it with an impact. It's a little tedious but it works.

[crazyrog17]

I taped a drywall screw to my finger, wedged it into the cage and hit the bolt with the impact. Reinstalled the same way.

[FordFestiva]

Ah yes, was the caged surround not moving and nut was spinning within. I resolved the issue and appreciate all your input/suggestions/comments. Thank you!

[Hot_Wheels]

How did you fix?

[FordFestiva]

First you need light. When I was first working on it - it was night time and could not see inside the little hole to understand there was a cage surrounding the square 16mm nut. I used Blaster to spray nut and let it sit over night. The next day I had to puncture through the side of the support rail, bent cage out of way, and used a long pry bar to secure nut in place. I then used an impact gun to remove bolt. I anticipate welding the support rail and spot welding the square nut in place in the near future.

[SWRT]

I'd like to know that as well.

*edit* And of course as I post this your post pops up right before mine.