Coilover Removal Oddness. Help?

[jsasrsr]

Ok, so my friend has a set of ksport coilovers on his s14 that we have to take off since they blew after 9k miles. But anyways, we get all 3 off and then we get to the front right coilover and it wont come off..

The top nut and bolt came right off. BUT heres some shit... i get the nut off of the bottom bolt, but the bolt is seized! I spent about an hour soaking it in penetrating oil, hammering at it, tryin to wedge it with a flathead, turning it(which it doesnt even turn), and I have no clue what to do now! This sounds like a dumbass question, but im an ASE mechanic and I dont know what to do. By the way im at my house garage with no air compressor or impact wrench. I have a sledgehammer, breaker bar, and a lot to work with. I need ideas! Its on there good.

[JDMwannaBE]

you have any way to heat it?

[jsasrsr]

i wish.. im limited to basically a slegehammer breaker bar and some basic hand tools

[Taniguchi_Is_#1]

put a long pipe on the end of your breaker bar. add body weight. presto. some thing will break. hopefully, it'll be the bolt.

[EDacIouSX]

long pipe aka bitch bar. if you are using hand tools the key is to get as much leverage as you can.

[aznpoopy]

unbolt the top camber plate from the car and let the coilover hang to ensure theres no load on the system. then go at it with the biggest hammer you can find.

or just cut the bracket apart... it's not like you're going to miss it.

[95Blue240sx]

why not loosen the collars to make sure you arent getting any pressure from the spring. Or do ^^^^ what he said

[WilloW]

Same thing happened to me last weekend, the damn nut and bolt cross threaded and seized. I went at it with a wrench to keep it stationary, and on the other side I used a ratchet and a breaker bar. I kept going at it until it stripped off all the damn threads on the stud and it was out. I was tempted to go at it with a cutting wheel.

Edit: After rereading, it sounds like you just need your breaker bar and break it loose.

[jsasrsr]

and i forgot to add that bolt is stripped. i tried jacking the car up buy the bolt and pushing down... that didnt work. and then I tried standing. this thing is seized. i think what happened is he used a low ass grade bolt, all the others were fine and oem.... any ideas now?

[pbcstylez]

cut it off.............

[jsasrsr]

or possibly drill out? i dunno, im gonna kick that bolts ass tomorrow...

[k's_silvia2.0]

^Must have happened when they blew.

[kenversusryu]

I hope you have both wheels in the air rather than just the front right.

[Sir]

got a C-clamp?

[xplicit240]

well if both the wheels are in the air. the suspension is slouching down. try using a jack under the arm to lift it and ease pressure off the bolt. worked for me. get the other bolt and a hammer and wack, repeat process until pissed off. if that fails get the torch out. GL!

[Sileighty_85]

I had this happen I ended up breaking the the head off so I had to drill it out, if your lucky you can drill it half way and use a punch to knock it out

[ziptiedae86]

If you don't have a long pipe to attach to the breaker bar, use your tire iron (the cross wrench type) and attach it to the breaker bar. It should give you a foot or more of leverage.

[projectRDM]

I've had OE bolts seize in the spindle before just like that. Take the whole spindle off and beat it out with a sledge hammer. I actually had one frozen so bad that after breaking it loose it still wouldn't slide out because I crowned the end so badly it wouldn't fit through the hole in the strut. I ended up cutting it in half afterwards.

[aNskY]

cut bolt.
buy new bolt + nut.
done.

[ericcastro]

Are you talking about the 2 bolts that sit side by side in the bottom of the front?? put the other one back in so there is no pressure pinching it sideways. Snug it up, then try and break the problematic bolt.


I also had a stripped and siezed nut on my rear shock bottom before. i took a lil circle grinder and ground the nut down on two sides, oposite each other. as close as I could grind with out hitting the threads of the bolt. then I took a open ended wrench that best fit, and turned it. due to all the head from the grinder and the lack of having a thick metal wall, the thing came off like presto chango, done :)

[jsasrsr]

so drilling this thing is taking hours and isnt really getting everywhere. I grinded down the top of the nut to try and split it, but thats not working....

so im stuck with a flat bolt still stuck. its amazing.... i really dont know what to do. i drill and drill and drill and drill, and no progress. ive gone through at least a dozen drill bits...

now i have a circular cutter... will that help?
im sooo fucked.

its obviously not stuck on the threaded side. i can pry it and see it separate. but on the head side, it wont pry at all.. i wd40'd the crap out of it and still nothing....

the other thing is i could cut through the arm, but i cant really imagine how hard it would be finding another one..

help!

[Stoichiometric]

so drilling this thing is taking hours and isnt really getting everywhere. I grinded down the top of the nut to try and split it, but thats not working....

so im stuck with a flat bolt still stuck. its amazing.... i really dont know what to do. i drill and drill and drill and drill, and no progress. ive gone through at least a dozen drill bits...

now i have a circular cutter... will that help?
im sooo fucked.

its obviously not stuck on the threaded side. i can pry it and see it separate. but on the head side, it wont pry at all.. i wd40'd the crap out of it and still nothing....

the other thing is i could cut through the arm, but i cant really imagine how hard it would be finding another one..

help!

OH man!!!! only 1 oversized bolt??? When I got my s14, the previous owner had put 4 super oversized bolts in the two front coilovers. With 17mm headbolts and 18mm and 19mm nuts. Which was so ridicoulous!

It took 4 people and 2 days to remove these 4 oversized bolts!!!! You'd thiink that "Cutting" and "Drilling" would work, but NOPE. It was hell. We took a Craftsman 28" 1/2 inch breaker bar plus an additional 36" solid steel tubing and we were basically using our entire body weight on it. Sometimes even sitting, stomping, and standing on the bar.
It takes a while, but surely enought the 4 bolts came out and they were immediately thrown in the trash can. Went to the local junkyards and got new bolts off of an s13.
If I knew this before, I would have slapped the previous owner of the car and tell him to never ever work on a 240sx again.

Good luck!!! WD-40 and breaker bar + metal tubing!!!!

[flip3d]

More leverage on your breaker bar. I once used the stock exhaust from my accord to get an axle nut off.

[Stoichiometric]

so drilling this thing is taking hours and isnt really getting everywhere. I grinded down the top of the nut to try and split it, but thats not working....

so im stuck with a flat bolt still stuck. its amazing.... i really dont know what to do. i drill and drill and drill and drill, and no progress. ive gone through at least a dozen drill bits...

now i have a circular cutter... will that help?
im sooo fucked.

its obviously not stuck on the threaded side. i can pry it and see it separate. but on the head side, it wont pry at all.. i wd40'd the crap out of it and still nothing....

the other thing is i could cut through the arm, but i cant really imagine how hard it would be finding another one..

help!


Since you're already in this position. JUST remove the entire lower arm.
Remove the knuckles, take it out, and hammer that sucker bolt out.

That's your only option now.

[Stoichiometric]

More leverage on your breaker bar. I once used the stock exhaust from my accord to get an axle nut off.


Some exhaust bolts are....well, excuse my French but they are le "bitche"

[jsasrsr]

i guess i worded that wrong..i dont have a nut to use a breaker bar on anymore! its just flat. it completley circled off, so i ended up grinding it down. basically all i have is this bolt that looks like a nail now. i just spent another hour drilling and killing more drill bits and no luck. more hammering, no luck. more wd, no luck. heated it up, no luck.....

Once again... HEEELLP! this is like a nightmare from hell!

[WilloW]

i guess i worded that wrong..i dont have a nut to use a breaker bar on anymore! its just flat. it completley circled off, so i ended up grinding it down. basically all i have is this bolt that looks like a nail now. i just spent another hour drilling and killing more drill bits and no luck. more hammering, no luck. more wd, no luck. heated it up, no luck.....

Once again... HEEELLP! this is like a nightmare from hell!

Did you diassembled the spindle from the car like RDM suggested? Picturing it in my head, it would likely to give you more pounding leverage thus increasing your chance of getting that little fucker out.

[rightcoastimports]

not on the direct problem but...

to prevent your coilovers from blowing try lowering it from the adjustable mount not by the perch.. i see a lot of people blowing struts by improper use.

[jsasrsr]

i wish i had a picture... i cant find my damn camera. i cant hammer it anymore.... its just a "nail" and the other end is cut off... so hammering isnt an option...

i can only drill on the nut end becuase the drill is too big to clear the head end.... i keep killin drill bits about 20 seconds in... why is that? there carbon steel! any other ideas?

im thinking these options...

-go out and buy some expensive ass drill bits, drill it out
-take off the whole arm, which is a PITA, and take it to my shop and drill press it out, or something..
-or see what the zilvian's have to say..

[WilloW]

i wish i had a picture... i cant find my damn camera. i cant hammer it anymore.... its just a "nail" and the other end is cut off... so hammering isnt an option...

i can only drill on the nut end becuase the drill is too big to clear the head end.... i keep killin drill bits about 20 seconds in... why is that? there carbon steel! any other ideas?

im thinking these options...

-go out and buy some expensive ass drill bits, drill it out
-take off the whole arm, which is a PITA, and take it to my shop and drill press it out, or something..
-or see what the zilvian's have to say..

How about using a rod or some sort as a punch, then hammer it out fromt he flat side?

Edit: Just take the spindle off man, its not that hard.

[ZenkiKid]

put a long pipe on the end of your breaker bar. add body weight. presto. some thing will break. hopefully, it'll be the bolt.

+1 rep. more leverage FTW

[njd07]

this is why I put that silver anti-seize on all my 240's suspension bolts, I had one seize on my upper control arm, what a damn bitch...never again...everyone should buy a $20 an of anti seize and use it on all those damn bolts.

[Stoichiometric]

How about using a rod or some sort as a punch, then hammer it out fromt he flat side?

Edit: Just take the spindle off man, its not that hard.

Take the Knuckle off. USE B.F.H! It will do it.

[Stoichiometric]

Oh yeah. B.F.H. Big F**King Hammer!
=) Take the entire knuckle and Arm assembly off~ then work on it.

Please save yourself the time and trouble, Listen to my advice:

Remove all the NUTS AND BOLTS that are BLUE!

1. Lower Arm
2. Tension Rod arm
3. Sway bar Connecting end(s)
4. Toe Outer arms (not shown)


I'VE COLOR CODED THE DIAGRAM FOR YOU !!

http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm45/stoichiometric240/arm-2.jpg

[jsasrsr]

stoichiometric, i think im gonna go with your plan! but im gonna borrow some crazy drill bits from the shop and try drilling one more time

[Dousan_PG]

ANGLE GRINDER AND CUTOFF WHEEL

done in like 5 mins max.

[ericcastro]

they also make special bits to grab bolts with broken ioff heads. they are designed to grip them and back them out.

although, i think taking the whole deal off at this point is your best plan of attack.

[loveskylines]

drill out just the head of the bolt, then use a chisel from the side to knock off the rest of the head of the bolt,if you sit the chisel flush with you coilover you should be able to minimize scratching the mounting plate....

this has happened to me a few times now....it has worked everytime without fail...its just a matter of doing a little bit every time....dont try to king kong the SOB off in one hit...:x: