I remember some time ago reading a comparison of various lubricants (WD-40, PB Blaster, etc.) and a 50/50 mix of Acetone and automatic transmission fluid being leaps and bounds better. I don't, however, remember anyone saying whether or not they could confirm the fact that this concoction was actually better than anything currently on the market.

Well - today I decided to give it a try. I'm in the process of stripping my truck to a bare frame and the radius arm nuts simply wouldn't budge. I could push a breaker bar with my feet hard enough to twist the radius arm to the point where I thought I may damage it, haha. Anyway, I went to my local Napa and bought some acetone and ATF.

The verdict - I'll never use anything BUT this mixture from now on. It works amazing! I sprayed some of it on the radius arms exposed threads and let it sit for a while. After this, I was able to break them free with the breaker bar and a short pipe. No feet/legs involved this time...just pulled with arms strength and they both broke free.

After this I decided to spray every nut/bolt I saw simply to make disassembly easier. It definitely made my life a lot easier and I now have a bare frame ready for stripping/painting.

A+ if you're looking to break some nuts/bolts free without the use of torches or heat. I highly recommend it.

 

good advice, thanks for posting. what type of transmission fluid did you use?

 

Thanks for the tip!

 

Nice!

Josh

 

No problem everyone!

As far as what type of ATF, I honestly don't know. I just grabbed the generic Napa ATF. I honestly don't think it matters as long as it's ATF.

 

tried it, didnt do **** for me

 

yeah grassroots motorsports tested them and found the atf/acetone to be pretty potent. Its a pain to work with, though, because the ATF does NOT evaporate like every other penetrating oil, so if it drips, it makes a huge mess. And the acetone component of it evaporates very very quickly, so you gotta keep a lid on it.
It does work, but I prefer PB blaster. blaster is easy to use, doesn't require any mixing, and makes way less mess.

 

I second PB Blaster. Use it daily almost.

 

Nothing but Aerokroil for me.........................

 

PB Blaster is all I use, but this sounds interesting.

 

Tried it, didn't like it. I now buy PB in the gallon size if that tells you anything. Nice thing is I can heat the parts with a propane torch and it sucks that stuff right in without catching fire.

 

I tend to use the blue solvent, two tanks and a sparky thing, it'll melt rust, nuts, bolts, fuel lines, bushings just darned near about everything and sometimes it'll loosen a stuck bolt. Have water handy to put your hair out.

 

I like the ATF trick as well, but prefer Howes Penetrating oil over that and PB.

Josh