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Strut Pinch Bolt

2

2000SE

Veteran CEG'er
Joined
Sep 4, 2007
Messages
866
Location
Delaware
Anyone have any tips on how to get the 18mm pinch bolt out that holds the strut to the knuckle? So far these have failed:

PB Blaster
Air Wrench
Conventional Socket and Ratchet
The above with a 3 foot pipe added to it

The bolt is starting to strip so my options are becoming limited. A guy at the shop i was working in said heating the knuckle might help, but it was cold out and i didn't want to risk cracking/warping the knuckle without the go ahead from some people who have done this before.

My balljoint is also a PITA. The crowbar bent and the breaker bar hasn't been doing much better. Any help here would be great too.


Thanks,

Paul
 
heat it and unless you have oxygen with your heat source fuel it will not get hot enough to crack
 
It sounds like you need nothing short of dynamite. Heat does sound like the next best option.
 
what royal said...

or get a shady shop to break it lose for 20bucks with a torch. :shrug:

if all else fails buy a new knuckle :blackeye:
 
Thanks for the advice guys. As far as the ball joint i just have to pry and hope for he best?
 
you can try and open the spilt on the back side of the knuckle with a large chisel to help release the ball joint stud
 
CustomX157 said:
Thanks for the advice guys. As far as the ball joint i just have to pry and hope for he best?
Click to expand...


old bolt out? I recently had great success on ball join bolts with an air hammer you just have to barely squeeze the trigger and it came out like butter.

as for the strut bolt if propane won't get it hot enough to get out with the impact/breaker bar... try map gas (yellow bottle plumbing aisle)

also you can try heating it then spraying it with pb blaster and repeat this process will wik the pb blaster into the threads....


good luck time and patience over brute force usually works out....
 
on the bal joint, use a chissel to open up the knuckle around the ball joint and then leave it in place. then use a pry bar to and alot of pb blaster to get the bal joint out.


if you can do that then you can pop the axle out of the knuckle and pull it with the strut and work the pinch bolt on the bench.
 
BrApple said:
on the bal joint, use a chissel to open up the knuckle around the ball joint and then leave it in place. then use a pry bar to and alot of pb blaster to get the bal joint out.


if you can do that then you can pop the axle out of the knuckle and pull it with the strut and work the pinch bolt on the bench.
Click to expand...


Is it really that easy to pull the knuckle and strut out as a whole? My dad and i were able to get the tie rod ball joint out but the one off the control arm is just ridiculous. We bought a ball joint fork and still no luck. As for the bolt, we used an 18mm socket to no avail along with heat and pb blaster. It is pretty well stripped now so i guess the next step is to drill it out and put in a new bolt. Anybody have the bolt specs for when i order a new one?
 
never use a pickle fork on these ball joints. there is a good chance you will rip the boot.

yes get the tie rod end off, the ball joint out and the axle out of the knuckle. then all you have to do is remove the retaining nut on the top of the strut. then the strut and knuckle will come out together.
 
I would be careful with heating things with a torch... Back in high school voc auto, I broke a couple Torx sockets (Snap On, so no big deal) trying to take the caliper off my 89 Grand Prix, so the instructor had the metal shop instructor heat it up so I could get it off.

Came off real easy... but after putting it back in a few days later the top bolt fell out while I was drivin... lucky it never caught a lip on the rim or that would have been a catastrophe! Instead it just bounced off the rim a couple times before I got the car stopped.

Had to get a bolt from the junkyard and from then on every few days I made sure it was tight.
 
BrApple said:
never use a pickle fork on these ball joints. there is a good chance you will rip the boot.

yes get the tie rod end off, the ball joint out and the axle out of the knuckle. then all you have to do is remove the retaining nut on the top of the strut. then the strut and knuckle will come out together.
Click to expand...

The axle is not pressed in?
 
i have seen cars where the axle slides right in and out without issue. on others they have to be pushed or hammered out and pulled in ....


also I would not heat the pinch bolt .... way to close to the strut for comfort ...
 
BrApple said:
i have seen cars where the axle slides right in and out without issue. on others they have to be pushed or hammered out and pulled in ....


also I would not heat the pinch bolt .... way to close to the strut for comfort ...
Click to expand...

Well i'll have to wait for a day where I don't have to work and i'll give you guys an update. Any ideas about the pinch bolt specs? I'll have to drill it out and replace it so i need a general idea of what i'll have to replace it with.
 
Update:

After 10 hours today, the driver's side is almost done. I bought a 30" wrecking bar and used it to pry the ball joint out against the lca. The bolt is almost done being drilled. I bought a 7/16 tapping kit that utilizes a 3/8 bit and then a 7/16 tap to do the job. So far everything is working out all right.

The strut/spring combo is out of the car with the clamps on it overnight. As far as the nut that hold the combo together, should it be as tight as it ism for me? (It's ridiculously tight) Or do i not have enough tension off the top mount?

I can only hope the next 3 corners go more smoothly.:nonono:
 
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