Help! How do I handle this stripped/seized bolt? (pic)

Back up back up plan is driving with 3 bolts in that joint.

 

Highly do not recommend lol

Although if he had to limp it to a shop via city streets that way itd probably be fine.

 

Watch out for advice from 3rd Genners on 1st Gen forums.

 

So... torching doesn’t seem like it’d work without totally massacring the rubber on the ball joint. May just have to do it and replace the ball joint

 

Well, it looks like your way deep in fighting that bolt. But to answer your question. You could have just popped the LBJ loose from the LCA and changed out your CV. You still can but the integrity of that bolt is most likely shit right now. Grind it off and swing the spindle out of the way. Get a pair of locking pliers on the stud and heat and hammer ever so gently. It's threaded into the spindle and if you bugger the spindle threads you just opened up a whole new can of worms.

 

Easy with the heat, dont make direct contact with rubber & Use a wet rag to keep rubber cool

 

Gotcha. At this point it’s personal, so that bolt is coming out one way or another. Thanks for the suggestion though. Good to know for the future!

 

I just posted it for the next guy that finds this. lol

As far as heat goes. You don't want to be heating the bolt or the LBJ. You want to put the heat on the spindle where the LBJ bolt threads into it. That allows the metal around the bolt to expand. I still can't believe it's being that much of a PIA if it was just installed. Either someone got super happy with the impact, super happy with the red loctite, or they cross-threaded it. I hope it's not the latter. lol

 

a 3rd genner gave me advice to buy a new truck, that mine has had a good run of 22yrs and yada yada yada

of course I was in the 2nd gen forum at the time so i asked for it lol

 

What @dewayne told you i a great idea. If I may suggest instead of a socket find a nut you can just hammer over the bolt head and weld it to the bolt head. You can then ue a ratchet or impact to pop it out. The combination of the beating the nut on and the heat from welding and it should pop on out fairly easy

 

If you get this much response from 1 bolt just imagine your build thread following!

 

I think some of us just like to figure out how to fix problems.

OP if you can find a set of stud pliers they may work as well. They look kinda like a regular set of channel locks but are curved in a way that when you pull on them they put a bind on the bolt or stud and help get it turning

 

2nd Gen! brother. lol. first one was 1986

 

actually you are right Chris. we welded a nut to the one with a stripped out allen head. my bad on the socket. been a long weekend! thanks bro!

 

You were right though a socket can work as well the nut is just a little easier to weld to. Regrettably I know this too well. Looks like you had a fantastic weekend congrats on that friend

 

It being a PiA is actually not a bad thing. Once I get this thing out, I will no longer fear the dreaded seized/stripped bolt.

side question: I just paid $1K to replace the LCAs. Earlier I went out and saw my dad hammering at it horizontally where the Ball joint meets the LCA. He didn’t go crazy but I heard him bang it some. How sensitive are LCAs to this time of banging? Should I worry about this at all?
Love my truck so I don’t want it messed up.

 

I wouldn't worry about it

Was he trying to separate the ball joint? Hammering it is a common way of doing so, though I'd rather use a pitman puller. You have to whack it good with a hammer to get it to pop out.

 

You're fine. I wheel the crap out of my rig and my LCA's haven't bent at all. They're a very solid component. I've bent or broken just about everything else in the front end but the LCA's are still original. I just replace the bushings every 6 months. lol

 

I would of tried beating a smaller socket on it first then hitting it with an impact. Now you rounded it out more with the chisel causing bigger problems for yourself

 

Yup exactly. Awesome thanks