hello, this is my first post here. i have a 94 aerostar shortie van, i just got it and it has bad shocks on the rear. i tried to remove them and when i looked they are the original shocks from the factory. {it has 114 600miles} and when i treid to loosen the bolts the turn but dont back out. upon further inspection i found that the inner metal sleeve inside the rubber has rusted itself to the bolt solid. and i was wondering if there isd any way besides cutting the bolt, is there any way to remove the bolt. if not my older brother is gonna help me do this. i was just hoping that someone might have had this same problem and could help.
well thanks alot. and also, has anyone ever found a cold air intake or even custom made one that can fit a 94 aerostar with the 3.0 v6. cant you hear it. my van is laughing at me.

 

same thing happened to me. i have a 91 ext. the sleeve rusts itself to the bolt. i squirted penetrating oil on it,and beat on it but i ended up taking it to a garage. they had to cut the bolt at both sides of the shock at the upper attachment. then pull the shock out. the bolt had rusted to the sleeve,
as i remember they had to replace both nut and bolt on both back shocks. not alot of fun... good luck rick



91 aerostar xl. ext
4.0 litre 175 thousand miles or so and still going........

 

For your cold air intake, I cut the bottom of my airbox off and loosened up the rubber coupler to turn the air box towards the core support and tied it up. It seems to work a little better and makes a hell of a growl when I step on it.

 

What you hear about the rear top shock nut spinning is true. It happens from the sleeve of the top shock mount rusting directly to the bolt itself.

I replaced my rear shocks with Monroe Sensa-Trac Load adusting shocks about a month ago and now it rides much better.

The best and easiest way to do this job on your own is to have some type of "HOT" torch, luckily I have an oxy acetelyne torch which came in REAL handy for this particular job. What you need to do is melt the rubber mount of the top shock off the sleeve. Heat up the rubber until it burns on it's own and then let it burn for a few minutes, then use a flat bladed screw driver and remove all the rubber material. Once the sleeve is exposed, use a vise grip pliers and hold the sleeve while using a socket, wrench, or impact driver on the bolt. Let me say it worked like a charm. Also the bottom bolt was rusted solid too and would have broken it for sure using my wrench, so I used my torch for that and it broke free right away. Obviously if you are not familiar with torches, DO NOT try it yourself, but instead have a mechanic at a shop do the repair for you. Hope this information helps...

 

I'm sure you've finished the job by now, but for future reference to others, there is another way to attack this problem, but not necessarily a pretty one.

I too, encountered a really stubborn rusted shock sleeve. Even heating with oxy/acetylene would not budge it - just wound up setting fire to the undercoating.

I finally had to resort to using a large Crescent wrench on the outer flange to bend it away from the mounting bolt, then slide the shock and rusted sleeve off the mounting bolt. Its not pretty, nor the preferred method, but it will work when all else fails.

 

finally got them stubborn peices of ford enginerring crap today. i had to cut the outter loop off to remove the shock them cut all the rubber material off the grip the sleeve with a pair of vice grips then hit the bolt with the impact wrench. im now very scared of what lies ahead of me with other car maintanence.if everything is half this hard its gonna be a long road ahead of me. but i love this van. i have so much space to put in speakers its not even funny. that and from what ive heard fords are much better running and lasting vehicles than some other american car companys. allthough i dont have much experience with only one other car under my belt. im also a fan of chevey carsica /berettas wioth the 3.1 liter. fast and dependable.


anyways thanks for all your help and hope that anyone else who has to do this can benifit from my and others experience.

 

ohh i almost forgot, do not try to cut through the bolts. i repeat do nat try to cut those bolts. they are case hardend steel. a saw zaw blade will file of its teeth and smoke the brushes in its motor and barley make a dent. if you have no choice but to cut through them make sure you buy carbide tipped blades.

bye