i was working with my brother on replacing my driveaxle, and we were doing great until we got to the control arms. both of the sets of directions that i read through said that i need to loosen up the upper control arm bolt and nut, and simply remove the control arms. however, the bolt is stuck reeeally badly.

we tried using wd-40, tapping it out with a mallet, tapping it out with a hammer, beating it out with a mallet, beating it out with a hammer, heating it up with an acetylene torch (of course being careful not to burn anythign essential), and using wrenches and ratchets on it. the nut came off really easily, we just can't get the stupid bolt out. any ideas?

 

You need this !

No but seriously, can you get ahold of/own an impact gun? Heat it with a torch, immediately hit it with PB blaster after heat is taken off, and then immediately get the impact on it after that.

 

Drill it out, or get a chisel and beat the **** out of it.

 

If it's the pinch bolt you're talking about, then yeah, it's a pain in the ***. An air hammer might be a good way to go too.

 

Try shoving a pry bar or big ****** screwdriver in between where the bolt pinches it together, and spreading it apart a little bit. I spent three days on mine and then I tried that, came out with a couple taps from the BFH.

 

I don't think you need to remove the control arms to get the axle out.

 

i tried to get the axle out without taking the control arms off, and i was unable to get it out. it was close, but not quite enough room.

as for an impact wrench, going to try that, but i dont think that i have enough room to get one in. i will try tomorrow when i get the chance and let you all know how it goes. thanks for the advice so far!

 

You have to force it some but the axle WILL come out without undoing the control arms. Turn the wheel all the way, get the inner CV out of the diff, angle it up and forward, and pull the outer CV out of the hub.

 

I found that the driver side can be taken out without removing pinch bolt by removing steering rod and turning to full lock (can't remember if left or right)
The passenger side though had to have pinch bolt off...The thing that worked was using a torch (took care to shield some rubber parts with wet rags and sheet metal) and then using kroil-it with various cycles of heating/cooling....also wedged the "split" a little,
Eventually with a hammer and brass drift I was able to some how loosen the rust and turn the bolt head...then it got easy.

 

The remedy for stuck CA's is almost always one of the two things mentioned above:

1. Get a bigger hammer.
2. Kill it with fire.