08-13-2005, 09:56 PM
So I was doing some rear suspension work a couple of weeks ago which should have taken about half a day ... my car is still laid up.
The short story is that the rear-lower control arm bolts with the eccentric washers on the subframe were seized up solid. Both manuals I have say "remove the nut and slide the bolt out". Yeah, right.
I tried everything to get them out: impact driver, heat, liquid wrench, puller, BFH, etc... The BFH was a bad idea, since it just drove the bushing into the subframe, which now needs to be repaired.
I ended up cutting them out, after damaging the subframe, and smoking the rubber bushings along the way. So now I'm pulling the whole rear suspension subframe to make repairs.
Those 2 bolts with nuts cost more than $50 at my ford dealer! My manual says if the bushings are damaged, replace the whole control arm so I bought some Prothane suspension bushings as replacements (the rear kit lists at $180CAD).
All the other bolts came out fine except the two outside bolts for the lower-front control arm, which I will also have to cut out. I broke two 15mm 1/2" drive sockets trying to get those out.
My advice: avoid these bolts like the plague. Or, if your car is fairly new and you plan on doing rear suspension work, pull them as soon as you can and coat them up with Anti-seize compound. My car is a 2000 and 4 winters of salt-spray is clearly too late.
Off to climb under my car now ...
The short story is that the rear-lower control arm bolts with the eccentric washers on the subframe were seized up solid. Both manuals I have say "remove the nut and slide the bolt out". Yeah, right.
I tried everything to get them out: impact driver, heat, liquid wrench, puller, BFH, etc... The BFH was a bad idea, since it just drove the bushing into the subframe, which now needs to be repaired.
I ended up cutting them out, after damaging the subframe, and smoking the rubber bushings along the way. So now I'm pulling the whole rear suspension subframe to make repairs.
Those 2 bolts with nuts cost more than $50 at my ford dealer! My manual says if the bushings are damaged, replace the whole control arm so I bought some Prothane suspension bushings as replacements (the rear kit lists at $180CAD).
All the other bolts came out fine except the two outside bolts for the lower-front control arm, which I will also have to cut out. I broke two 15mm 1/2" drive sockets trying to get those out.
My advice: avoid these bolts like the plague. Or, if your car is fairly new and you plan on doing rear suspension work, pull them as soon as you can and coat them up with Anti-seize compound. My car is a 2000 and 4 winters of salt-spray is clearly too late.
Off to climb under my car now ...