2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission How to get a stuck bolt out?

[BarryG]

I am replacing leaf springs and all went well until I got to the last bolt on the passenger side rear. I got the nut off fine, well after breaking my torx 60 socket on it but nonetheless the nut came off no problem. However the bolt will not come out of the leaf spring eye and the shackle. I have hammered it as hard as I can not that much room to take swing. I even raised the bed to get a better swing still no go. PB Blaster several times and overnight soak, heat, bfh so far no go. I suspect the bolt is rusted to the sleeve. I can turn the bolt, though it is quite hard. The bushing, sleeve and bolt are turning as one.

Any tips or tricks.. All I can think of and is honestly beyond my skill and tools is sawzall off the nut end between the bracket and the spring no big deal there, though am sure easier said than done but certainly looks doable. Then try and drill out the head end of the bolt, either small enough to leave the torx 60 head still usable and hope it will break off on the inside of the bracket, which I doubt would happen probably just snap right at the shoulder or as large as the bolt and just drill it out.

Am open to any ideas got to get it done.

 

[Cosmo]

Hacksaw it both sides of the bushing, then press the bushing out when you get it apart.

 

[NIsaacs]

Can you remove the shackle bolt and leave the shackle on the spring? Then you can take the spring, shackle, guts/feathers and all, and lay it on the ground where you can work on it.

Nick

 

[BarryG]

I made a mistake in my original description. It is actually the lower shackle bolt that attaches it to the frame bracket. NIsaacs that is actually the bolt I am talking about. You cant get the shackle off the spring on the truck, that bolt head has zero access to it so if I could get the nut off I wouldn't be able to pull the bolt as it is less than 1/2 inch from the frame rail. The lower one in question sits in a sort of cup. The outer portion of the bolt I could cut with a sawzall or hacksaw but no way to get a sawzall or hacksaw on the rear portion due to the cup it sits in. Maybe a grinder with a cutoff wheel, though my electric grinder probably isn't going to fit in there either and I don't have an air one.

 

[mwilson]

Time for the torch.....gonna have to make a smokey, rubber melting hot dripping mess. Was your truck ever on the East Coast??

 

[BIGNASTY]

Time for the torch.....gonna have to make a smokey, rubber melting hot dripping mess. Was your truck ever on the East Coast??

With as much snow and salt as CO uses it wouldn't have to be any thing past the Rockies to get rusted on

 

[BarryG]

My concern with using the torch, which I don't have but a little propane job is I think the bolt is rusted to the sleeve and even if I burn/melt away the rubber bushing the bolt still wont come out of the sleeve and then I wont be able to drive it to a professional to take care of it if it is a no go at that point. I don't have a cutting torch and not sure my skill level is up to the task of cutting that in two places in such a confined space. On the driver side the front hanger bolt and the rear shackle/leaf eye bolt were pretty darn clean almost new looking. The driver side rear shackle mount bolt was a bit tough to get out but was able to hammer it out ok and it was rusty. On the pass side the front hanger bolt is nice and clean came out relatively easy. You cant get to the rear shackle/leaf eye bolt on the truck no way to get to the head. I think I can get a sawzall or the like on the nut end of the bolt and cut it inside the mount but I cant figure out how to get to the inside/head end as it sits in a big cup like mount and the head itself is accessed through a hole in the frame. I am thinking some sort of grinder with a cutoff wheel. However I have an electric grinder that I left at work last week which I am getting ready to go get but I don't think will fit in that space due to the cup, perhaps an air one since they are smaller but I don't have one. I may end up taking in to someone who does have the proper tools and skill dang it, hate giving up, but not yet. One bolt should not be this freaking hard.

Salt not such a big problem here as they only use it under very certain conditions(below zero and heavy snow which seem to only happen a couple times a year but mag chloride sure is, they use that stuff like water here. It is actually eating the concrete in my garage underneath each wheel well where the cars park.

 

[BarryG]

Well a torch got it out. And my local dodge dealer had one shackle and two bolts in stock for the low cost of $40. Thanks all for the tips

 

[RMcKinney]

Don't cut the head off yet.
Have somebody turn the bolt when you hit the nut. Have to turn and hit at the same time.