How the heck........
 

stripped down a 3/4 truck and having problems. The ended up cutting the u bolts hold the rear to the trailing arms.
How can I get the the rest of the u bolts out, all 4 of them, and get the bolts out holding the coil springs to the trailing arms.
The arms and spring are in great shape and I don't want to damage them. I have soaked them repeatily, hammer on them, even used a press and they won't budge.
Thanks,
Steve

Re: How the heck........
 

break, drill, grind them out/off?

just a thought

Re: How the heck........
 

Dude,
I feel your pain. The bolts that go through the trailing arm get siezed in there big time. I tried everything to get mine out. The only thing that worked for me was to heat them up and dump cold water on them. I mean heat them up until they're red hot. I did that twice, and then it made this really pissed off sound and they almost fell right out.

Re: How the heck........
 

:gi: didnt think of that

Re: How the heck........
 

I used a cutting wheel on my grinder. I cut the u-bolt just above the trailing arm on either side of the axle. When I removed the trailing arm from the truck I knocked them through with a hammer. The threads on mine were trashed so I had no other option.

Re: How the heck........
 

I got them off the axle, it is the left over bolts seized in the trailing arms. i wasn't sure if heating the trailing arms around the bolts will work. I will give that a try, then drill.......either way it looks like it won't be easy..........

Re: How the heck........
 

Yes, mine were awful too. Just heat up the trailing arms right around the hole. Heat from both sides and don't heat the bolt, you'll expand it making things worse. The heat will burn the rust right out of there. Then a hammer, a punch, and a little encouragement and they'll see things your way.:lol:

Re: How the heck........
 

I actually heated the bolt to expand it and then quickly poured beer not water to cool it off. I didn't want to waste it but it was handy :)

Re: How the heck........
 

YOU ALL WILL THINK THAT I AM CRAZY BUT TRY THIS
Take a long candle, light it, then melt the wax into the threads that you want to get loose. Then try and get them loose.
If this doesn't work then get a porta torch (butane torch) heat them up and try again.

Re: How the heck........
 

I personally keep a "nut splitter" in my toolbox, as it has saved me many a time.

I Can't comment on this exact application, because i've yet to remove my trailing arms, but theoretically it could be utilized.

http://www.aquaticeco.com//images/items/3ZHO5_rgb.jpg

Re: How the heck........
 

Would that thing be able to make it all the way through the trailer arm though?? It's like 4-5 inches deep.

Re: How the heck........
 

The nuts came off really easy.......lulling me into thinking the rest would be easy, I tried a 10 ton press but it started to bend the arms

Re: How the heck........
 

If the bolts are that rusty you are going to want to clear out all the rust down inside there anway. Most of the time I just air chisel the rivets loose from the trailing arm sides and split them in 2. Easier to clean out all the rust that way and then just bolt the 2 halves back together.

Re: How the heck........
 

I bought a cheap 3/4 drive socket set and used a 4 foot long cheater to get the nuts off. Then I used all of the different brands of penetrating oil that I had and soaked the bolts for over a month. Finally with a big hammer and punch, I got the bolts out. After about a week, I was able to move them about 1/2 inch and I thought I was home free. They ended up moving about 1/2 inch a week. Good Luck!

Re: How the heck........
 

Put the nuts back on the bolts and tighten them down with an impact, maybe that will bust them loose.

Re: How the heck........
 

I used an air chisel to try to "knock" the nuts that hold the spring pad on and it tried to separate my trailing arms. It just kinda "pushed" the bolt between the arm channels and started to push the channels apart. I recommend the torch.............Jerry