HELP! Control Arm Bolt

[firebush357]

So in the process of replacing a bunch of steering and suspension parts I went to take the Lower Control Arm off and the bolt that holds it up to the frame just spins but wont come out... I can stick my finger in there and feel the bolt spinning inside the weld nut but it will not back out. Any ideas on what to do?

The only two option I can think of include having to cut open the frame or Drilling it out and having to Retap the weld nut wich will probably be a pain in the ass.

[FestYboy]

Ok, for clarification: the caged nut is stationary and the bolt is spinning? If that is the case, a pry bar pushing on the tip from inside the torque box while spinning the bolt should get things moving, then from there you can pry via the bolt head once there is a gap.

[firebush357]

Yeah, the nut is spinning and the Nut is stationary. I tried applying pressure with my finger from inside the frame while it was spinning but its not this easiest space to work in. I will try to get a pry bar in there to see if that works. Hopefully the threads in the nut aren't dead and its just the bolt but I doubt it.

[WmWatt]

Do you mean the bolt is spinning and the nut is stationary?
Often the nut breaks free of the frame and the usual fixes in that situation are to cut a hole in the frame to hold the nut or to cut off the head of the bolt with an electric reciprocating saw.
Nice photo.

[firebush357]

The only thing I feel spinning in there is the bolt but I will double check next time I work on it. This car supposedly only has 107k miles on it but I think It was towed behind an RV for many more than that because the Suspension is shot, the Control arms and Tie rod ends are all shot, alot of the stuff has a decent amount of surface rust on it making everything super difficult to remove, and a bad CV axle. Then I think it sat in a swampy yard for a while before we bought it for my little brother. It looks like it blew a head gasket at one point but has been fixed but we only pain $300 for it so there is that. By the time we are done with it half of the car will be brand new...

[1990new]

I had this problem several years ago but I don't remember exactly what I did to solve it.
If the nut is still welded to the frame and nut threads are ruined, you could just spin that bolt around with an electric or air torque drive and wedge a screwdriver behind the head until you ream out the thread enough for the bolts to come out. Then just use a longer bolt and put a new nut up
through the hole and put it behind the weld nut. iirc, that is what I did. (you may have to drill out the nut some more once you get the bolt out).
If the nut is spinning, you may be able to get a wedge in there (large screw driver or tire iron) through the hole and hold the nut against the frame enough to get it loose.

[jimdigs]

I drilled a hole in the frame part, big enough to get a box end wrench in there to hold the "new" nut I was to put on the "new bolt I bought. I first used a reciprocating saw to cut the bolt head off right next to the frame (there is enough room without hurting anything). You will also have to knock down and bend the cage nut holder out of the way and you can do that via the hole you made. I just left the hole there didn't weld anything back together.

[firebush357]

I twisted my ankle pretty bad on Thanksgiving and have had troubles getting around so I haven't had a chance to try any of these but thanks for the advice. I will update when I get a chance to get the bolt out.

[denguy]

I used a 1'' hole saw to cut a hole [using lots of oil and turning it slow] in the side of the frame next to the internal welded nut. I drilled a hole thru the nut from the front of the frame, big enough to pass a new bolt. Then I put a nut on the bolt, inserting it and a wrench thru the 1'' hole.

[Flw Sock]

I had this same problem. I cut a hole in the frame looking thing. The spot weld on the nut broke inside the "frame". Not a big deal. Cut a little hole to put a wrench on.

[firebush357]

I ended up cutting a hole in the bottom of the frame to make the previous hole bigger and found out the the Nut had broke loose and was spinning like some of you assumed. Cut the old bolt off and bought a new one at Homedepot and just bent the cage out of the way and put a wrench on the new nut.

Thanks for the Help

[1990new]

Today Theo (eviljimchicken) and I were changing the clutch and control arms in Sams 91 and ran into this problem with the right one.
The nut had escaped it's cage and was roaming free. Tried to wedge it with a screw driver and tire wrench end with no luck.
Was able to pry the remnants of the cage away so we could put a 14 mm socket on it through the bottom hole and then were trying to think of a way to hold it.
Theo had the idea to grind flat two sides of a short extension so an open end wrench would fit on it and that's what we did. The extension had a wiggle head and that made it easier to get the socket on the nut and put a 15 mm open end wrench on the ground off part. It worked great. We will use the same set up when we put the new one on to tighten the uncaged nut. No metal cutting needed.
Possibly someone has used this method before but I haven't seen it on the forum.
[IMG][/IMG]

[TominMO]

Today Theo (eviljimchicken) and I were changing the clutch and control arms in Sams 91 and ran into this problem with the right one.
The nut had escaped it's cage and was roaming free. Tried to wedge it with a screw driver and tire wrench end with no luck.
Was able to pry the remnants of the cage away so we could put a 14 mm socket on it through the bottom hole and then were trying to think of a way to hold it.
Theo had the idea to grind flat two sides of a short extension so an open end wrench would fit on it and that's what we did. The extension had a wiggle head and that made it easier to get the socket on the nut and put a 15 mm open end wrench on the ground off part. It worked great. We will use the same set up when we put the new one on to tighten the uncaged nut. No metal cutting needed.
Possibly someone has used this method before but I haven't seen it on the forum.

Very clever. I think this is a first for that solution.

[FestYboy]

A swivel socket on a breaker bar would do that.

But you work with what you got.

[firebush357]

Cool.