Installing 5100's without a Spring Compressor Video

The sad part of it all, he's sooooooooo damn close to "completing the mission", but yet died of thirst RIGHT NEXT TO A FRESHWATER LAKE!!! He's very lucky he was able to loosen his cam bolts, yet I'm afraid I'm going to have to cut mine out if the PB Blaster soaking and then eventually heating doesn't work. I will know sometime this coming weekend. Anyways, his situation pretty much bites

 

sawzall the rubber bushing all the way through the metal inner bushing and the bolt on both sides inside of the mounting tabs.Replace shock and bolt and keep on trucking.Unless you have a torch and air hammer.They can be pretty stubborn.The bolt is seized to a metal sleeve inside the rubber bushing.

 

The bottom bolt that holds the strut to the LCA ?

 

Yes or BFH

 

There's just not enough room in there to get a sawzall in there without removing the whole spindle I don't think:/ I really don't want to do that. I will try a BFH tomorrow, all I had at home was just a small hammer.

Also WileEcoyote; have you tried heating up your cam bolts? That was how I got mine to break loose from the rubber bushing, I would heat it till it started smoking the take a wrench to it and crank and repeat, it took 3-4 times till it came loose.

 

So the nut/bolt itself is free & loose, just won't unthread ?? Get the biggest /longest wrench on the nut & use impact socket on bolt head w/long ass breaker bar & slide a 3ft-4ft pipe over it & start applying pressure & just when you start thinking somethings going to break give that pipe a "balls to the wall" pull,if that doesn't do it the threads are run & not going to budge, no problem , secure the bolt so it stops spinning , get an angle grinder w/cut off wheel & start cutting down the bolt head as much as you can, finish it off with a grinding wheel, take it down till you just start into the mounting flange (just a little contact, you should be able to get a good hardened punch with a single jack (sledge hammer)& blast that miserable POS bolt into the next century by then...

 

The nut will come off the bolt completely, the bolt will also spin freely within the mount holes. I think TacoLlama is right, it must still be seized to the metal inner bushing. Maybe if I pound on it with a BFH and heat it up it might break loose.

 

I won't be able to do anything like that until this coming weekend. Right now, on my lunch breaks, I've been spraying the cam bolts/bushings with PB Blaster. I need to get a torch also. I've read that a propane torch (those handheld ones) are sufficient enough. You don't really need an oxy/acety setup... although it would heat faster What about MAPP torches? I THINK they have a hotter flame than a propane, correct?

 

Correct, they are. But if it really is the bushing holding tight I burned out my UCA bushings with a propane torch.

 

Yeah the torch I was using was just one of those cheep portable can torches, it heated the bolt sufficiently enough to separate it from the rubber bushing

 

Thanks Dragons and Combatman. Then I already have a torch. I have a few cans of the MAPP gas and have never been used. Can't wait to see if I can unstuck the stuck cam bolts on my LCA Also, I will try/do the "facing out points" first.

MAN, I CAN HARDLY WAIT!!! I NEED a freak'n GARAGE!!! I wouldn't mind moving into a warehouse and living in it. I could work on my hobbies, car, truck, electronics, etc and then just goto sleep on the floor and wake-up and continue on That would be a nice "man cave".

happy 4whln people

 

If the nut comes off & the only thing holding it in is the bolt siezed to the metal sleeve ?? That shit is thin as hell really, torching is a possibility just plan on new bushing /sleeve & I'd be damned careful about heating up that strut too much, excessive heat+ gas charged shock= BOOM regardless if its an inert gas...You can do it how ever you want, I'd still just cut the bolt head off, or you can spread the mounting flange enough to get a cut off wheel to the inside for a cut as well...

 

Try this as well before going to the torch, get a wedged chisel & start pounding it in between the strut & mounting flange, something will give, most likely the bolt will seperate from the sleeve..

 

I will try that in the morning, thanks 4WD. Yeah I was worried about the gas in the shock, so I just kept the moneymaker behind the spindle while I heated it the first time and no BOOM, but maybe I shouldn't press my luck doing it again

 

Yeah... I didn't even come close to thinking about the "excessive heat..." near a "closed" gas charged tube. I too would think that would be bad JUJU Be careful however you end up doing it, regardless. I could see myself "going to town" on that bolt that is keeping me from completing my task at hand. I was madder than hell with that cam bolt on my LCA, but yet respected the weight in front of me. Put things back together to come back and fight another day.

4WD... I must say... you ARE "crazy" aren't you... LOL But you still have the common sense and awareness, so not 5150 just yet. You sound like you're one white sleeve away from getting fully dressed Love your posts man...

happy 4whln people and I LOVE this forum... a bunch of good guys here!!! Good night all and be safe!!!

 

Most people of higher IQ are crazy as shit house rats..... & thanks for the compliments brother, I've learned a thing or 3 in almost 57 years...

 

If you have a big enough drill bit you can drill off the head of the bolt and drill out the bolt on the castle nut side.

 

Okay, as I have said, I have never experienced a seized bolt before and have been lucky up until now. I can't say that I'm "ASE" certified and/or an experienced mechanic, but everything I know thus far is self taught.

Anyways, when I go to heat my LCA cam bolt, which has been soaking with PB Blaster throughout the week (spraying it about every 24hrs), can I spray the PB Blaster pretty much right after I heat up the cam bolt or do I wait for it to cool down... some...? From my understanding, I heat up the nut AT the thread area until it is sort of a reddish color? Again, is it okay to spray the PB Blaster right after or do I wait for the reddish color to jusssst "disappear" and then spray the penetrating oil?

I just don't want to mess anything up as I have never been priveleged to have to deal with seized bolts before Tomorrow is the big day for me to do this and I am hoping for the best. I can't work on it where I live and the only place I can work on it is at my sisters place, which is almost an hour drive one way!!! That's what sucks about my particular situation. Anyways, thank you guys for any input.

Combatman, were you able to get that bolt out yet???