lower control arm '93

Just realized that Sears did my last 4 wheel alignment and that they very likely may have put loctite on those jam-nuts. So I know that somewhere I have a propane torch.......

Still h> Does anyone have any tricks up their sleeve to free up a

I had to cut mine off with a dremal tool. After trying and soaking in penetrating oil for 2 days, I still had no luck. I attempted to create some tool to pull/press out the bolt, but there just is not room. I also tried to torch it but other than the rubber bushing catching on fire it did not budge. I cut each bushing one by one very carefully.

Hi Mike,

I am EXACTLY where you were. Soaked the bugger all weekend with trying everything to put some pressure on the bolt while trying to back it out at the same time. Tried this with a cantilevered C-Clamp which did not help. Tried an impact driver on the end of the bolt, again nothing. I spent hours & hours trying to break it free by using a breaker bar and socket as well as drive punches. I can't believe that my whole weekend was spent trying to get that out bolt out and could not. The other side was clean as a whistle. Figures.

Hav> I had to cut mine off with a dremal tool. After trying and soaking in

Good luck - Keep a steady hand so as not to nick the bolt box on the frame. You'll have to do some fancy work as you get close to each end where the arm and bushings sit inside the box, but a careful steady hand and it took me about 30-45 minutes to cut one side off. After I was done I cursed myself for not having got to it sooner. As you say, wasted 2 days. - Well sort of - I was changing the clutch and shocks at the same time, so I would re-spray the control arm, let it sit while I worked elsewhere, and keep giving it another try. When all other jobs were wrapped up, that was it, that control arm was coming out one way or another :-|

Which side was (is) corroded. Mine was the right side. Just wondering if the road spray patterns under the car leads to one side being more problematic than the other?

I hope to score that inner sleeve enough to crack it, hopefully to not damage the bolt. Getting the control arm metal off and the rubber out, or mostly out, may expose the sleeve so that I might be better able to un-freeze the bugger.

The problem control arm side is the driver side. I also noticed the engine cradle is much more rusted on this driver side, probably where the snow and slush hits it most. Not great seeing this!

Anyway, as you say, this th> Good luck - Keep a steady hand so as not to nick the bolt box on the frame.

Hey Mike,

That last lower control arm bolt is out. The dremel did it's thing except I couldn't get close to the frame bracket to really get that last inner bushing sleeve too well. I first cut the arm right in the middle and knocked one half of the control arm off the sway bar. Got the ball joint out and then proceeded with the problem end near the frame. What an absolute bugger! With just the sleeve fused to the bolt I applied the propane to it and that didn't free it up. After a few hours of banging the hell out of it and using what I thought might work and didn't, I then found an old small pipe wrench that bit into the dremel cuts I made on the sleeve and worked a breaker bar & 6 sided hardened socket to put pressure onto the bolt/sleeve. The pipe wrench held in place by the frame. It finally broke. I still had to work it to get it free enough to drive it out by consistently turning the bolt and putting additional pressure against the other end of the bolt to drive it out. By the time I got the bolt out, it's threads were damaged. So I need to get that bolt first thing and wrap this episode up. I am hurting all over, from one lousy bolt!

Aga> I hope to score that inner sleeve enough to crack it, hopefully to not