Cherokee Sway Bar Axle Mount Bolt

John,

There are several things to try to help resolve the situation and you may have already tried some of them.

Apply a penetrating oil such as PB Blaster several times a day for several days to a week beforehand.

The assistance of a burley friend on the end of the breaker bar.

Addition of an extender to the breaker bar..... not recommended by the tool manufacturer but a length of pipe over the handle can greatly increase the effective length and torque multiplication.

Application of heat to the bolt. The expansion and following contraction will sometimes break a bolt free.

Cutting-grinding-drilling removal of the old bolt.

Obviously you should start with methods that may inflict the least damage i.e. don't start with a cutting torch

I'll second billy. I'd try a soaking it in PB blaster for a few hours. TONS of PB blaster. After a few hours, wipe the area clean, and using a propane torch heat the head of the bolt and the surrounding area. I like to heat the bolt heads untill they are almost red hot. Try the torx with the breaker bar again and see what happens.

What year is your XJ? I had the RE 3.5" lift on a 91 XJ and it was awesome! A 1" t-case drop and new U-joints cured my driveline vibes.

Carl

Thanks Billy Ray and Carl. What puzzles me is that I did soak the bolt (and all other bolts every day for 3 days leading up to installation) with a ton of pentrating oil. Looking closely at where the bolt goes through the flange it almost appears to be welded (nearly not noticeable). I'll give it few more tries with the pb blaster and breaker bar. What I'd really like to confirm is whether or not this bolt does really unscrew on a 1996 XJ.

Carl, my Cherokee is a 96 and I really like the lift so far. Except for breaking one of the rear top shock bolts (still need to figure out how to get fixed) and having a little trouble with the sway bars it was a breeze to install. I got the kit with the full leaf's for the rear and am thrilled to be able to see the tops of my 30x9.5 tires in the rear wheel well now (old leafs were really tired). I actually haven't had a chance to do much since I finished late on Sunday and have just parked it waiting to get time from work to get it aligned. I put some

2 degree shims on the axle and haven't installed the 1 inch tcase drop yet. I was going to see if I had vibes before doing that.

Use the breaker bar to HOLD the Torx head and try turning the nut off, If I remember the torx head id keyed to fit into the bracket a certain way.

If you don't need the bolt and again just cut the nut off and then use a hammer to drive the bolt out.

Snow...

The rear shock bolt problem was covered here in the newsgroup recently.

There are a couple websites that cover the procedure in detail from different perspectives.

I don't know how much different the Cherokee connect is to the TJ one, but on the TJ one, you hold the head of the bolt with a torx wrench and turn off the nut with a regular wrench.

You description implies there isn't a nut on there? If so, disregard this.

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's Canadian Off Road Trips Photos: N>

I gave up for now and just put the swaybar end links on using the original bolt (one I can't remove) so they aren't quick disconnects yet.

The torx head screw looks like it's splined where it enters the axle flange, looks like a pressed in fit. I tried to press it out with a large c-clamp but that didn't work. Maybe a heavy duty ball joint type c-clamp would work. I'm guessing the only way to get it out is cut it and re-drill the hole for the disconnect bolt/pin or maybe working it with a torch and hammering it out.

John- So You have the nut off? Is it possible for you to just slide the sway bar end link off? Can you take a picture?

Carl

Carl, yes the nut is off and the old end link is off. New end link that came with the RE disconnect kit that came with the lift is installed. The RE disconnect kit requires that this bolt be removed and a new one be installed. I'll see if I can snap a good pic of it and post.

You need to post a link to it or post it over on alt.binaries.pictures.autos.4x4

This isn't a binary site.

If you don't get that one, I have a site at Sony's Imagestation that I could post it if you wanted to email it to me.

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail >

IIRC, my RE kit came with a spacer that went on the inside next to the flange, and the new link slid on next to it.

Why does the bolt need to come out?

Carl

Here's a link to the instructions for the disconnect kit that came with the RE lift:

In the pic, the bolt that goes through the axle flange threads into the pin that the end link slips on. This is a new bolt, so that means the old one must come out. Wont have a chance to snap a pic of the actual stubborn bolt until this weekend, too cold and dark outside after work.

Will the new parts work with the old bolt?

Carl

Ok, your terms are confusing.

When you say 'axle flange' do you actually mean the lower sway bar mounting bracket?

If so, you likely just need a bigger hammer....

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail >