2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission Help! Nut siezed on eccentric bolt.

[CTD12V]

Has anyone had trouble loosening the nut on the eccentric bolt (caster adjustment) on the lower control arm? I took my truck in for an alignment the other day, and the tech sheared off one bolt trying to get the nut loose. He couldn't get the other one loose, and didn't want to twist it off as well. I had to wait for new eccentric bolts and washers to come from the dealer. Didn't want to pay another hour of shop labor for the alignment guys to simply install the new bolts before they did the alignment, so I figured I'd change out the bolt myself at home.



Well, that nut is on there and it aint coming off! I don't have access to a torch, but I can get hold of a heat gun. Would that work to heat cycle the nut? I have soaked it in PBlaster, put a wrench on it and beat the wrench with a 5 lb sledgehammer. Any other suggestions? I can't get enough clearance to get a long cheater bar over my long breaker bar and turn it.



I did a search and couldn't beleive it when I found a thread talking about people having trouble with these bolts working loose! Any suggestions would be appreciated.



CTD12V

 

[bmoeller]

Gonna need to get your hands on a torch, I'm afraid. Need to break or burn up the rust somehow.

Try this maybe? Just found it doing a search. -

Fixitshop parts: RUST BUSTER

Don't know if it does anything, but it would be a cheap try.

 

[Dave M]

If you have access to an air compressor try an air impact wrench. It could be that someone cross-threaded the nut. TRy heating just the nut to expand it and hit it with your wrench or air wrench. Otherwise you may have to cut it off.



Edit: I don't know what you mean by a heat gun but if its used to heat shrink tubing it won't get hot enough. I used a MAPP gas torch that you can get cheap at a plumbing or hardware store for heating copper pipes for solding. I used a MAPP torch to heat the front axle nut (that was rusted on) when I removed the hubs and it worked along with my impact wrench. Someone may have used red locktite on that nut and it takes heat to burn off the locktite. I had to heat my rear axle bolts to get them off because of the locktite. Once I see a puff of smoke I knew the locktite releashed and then I loosened it with a wrench while hot.



Good luck,

Dave

 

[DCreed]

if you already have a replacement bolt/nut you can drill holes in the nut to release or split it .

 

[rbattelle]

I like Dave's suggestion that it could be red Loctite on there. If so, I usually use a little butane torch to heat up the nut for a minute or two, then it comes right off.

If it is indeed seized, I'd probably just use a cutoff wheel on it.

Ryan

 

[CTD12V]

OK, good suggestions everyone. Thanks for the input. I think you may be right about the red Loctite, given the fact that some other people seem to have had problems with the bolts working loose. I never noticed any traces of red on the threads, but they are soaked in penetrant now, so it's a moot point.



I do have the new bolts, nuts, and washers, so I may just opt to drill the nut and split it, if I can't get a method of heating it. You think a little old Bernz O Matic would work?



Thanks,



CTD12V

 

[Dave M]

OK, good suggestions everyone. Thanks for the input. I think you may be right about the red Loctite, given the fact that some other people seem to have had problems with the bolts working loose. I never noticed any traces of red on the threads, but they are soaked in penetrant now, so it's a moot point.



I do have the new bolts, nuts, and washers, so I may just opt to drill the nut and split it, if I can't get a method of heating it. You think a little old Bernz O Matic would work?



Thanks,



CTD12V

The loctite on my rear axle bolts was orange... probably a special dealer type... but it held like red loctitie. I got new bolts from dealer and they had the orange stuff on it to. A berzz-o-matic is probably propane gas and it should work. The MAPP gas burns hotter than propane and is about all you can get these days. Heat them up and wrench on it while its hot. The heat may help expand the nut and . . hopefully if applied log enough... will dry up the loctite... . unless the threads are stripped... then try cracking the nut.

 

[Alphacowboy]

Dont be surprised that when you get the nut off that the bolt wont come out of the bushing. Dodge cheeped out and didnt anti-sieze anything on these trucks. I would almost bet money that the cam bolt is rusted solid in the bushing. I had to cut the bolts off with a sawzall to get the arms out when I installed longer arms. Hopefully you dont have this problem.

 

[rbattelle]

You think a little old Bernz O Matic would work?

I've done several nuts and bolts that were Red Loctite'd from the factory with my little Bernzomatic butane mini torch.



Loctite says you only need ~500°F for 5 minutes to release. A nice Butane flame is much hotter than that, and it comes out in a little pencil-thin flame that is easy to control.



Ryan

 

[tgordon]

That is what I like about this site, if I ever have to get those bolts out I am going to just cut them and replace the dang bushings at the same time.

 

[JohnHaney]

Dont be surprised that when you get the nut off that the bolt wont come out of the bushing. Dodge cheeped out and didnt anti-sieze anything on these trucks. I would almost bet money that the cam bolt is rusted solid in the bushing. I had to cut the bolts off with a sawzall to get the arms out when I installed longer arms. Hopefully you dont have this problem.

that was my experience as well, nut came off but bolt was froze solid inside bushing. i was replacing the trailing arms so i didn't care if i burned up the bushing but i definately had to cut the bolt out with a torch. good luck!!

 

[rbattelle]

that was my experience as well, nut came off but bolt was froze solid inside bushing. i was replacing the trailing arms so i didn't care if i burned up the bushing but i definately had to cut the bolt out with a torch. good luck!!

I had this problem with a lower shock bolt on a Ford once. Took me a long time to hacksaw through the bolt on both sides of the shock so it could be removed.



[This was back when I was way too poor to afford something like a Sawzall]



Nightmare job.



Ryan

 

[CTD12V]

Well, the stinkin thing is out finally I bought a Mapp torch this week, and tried it today--no luck. So I spent a long time drilling through that stupid hard nut (probably 10. 9 like the bolt), then used a cold chisel and a 5 lb sledge to punch through the remainder, which also started to turn the nut at the same time.



The bolt didn't want to come out either, at first, but some heat, lots of PBlaster, hammering, a short drive over some bumps on the road, and some more hammering convinced it to come out. Man!



Both sides now have the new eccentric cam bolts and nuts, and hopefully I can get the truck aligned on Monday without the tech breaking anything more. :-{}



So thanks for the help guys. Ain't wrenching fun sometimes?:-laf



CTD12V