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I'm in the process of taking the rearend out of one of my '97 Aerostars so I can put it in my daily driver which has always been pretty noisy. The donor van is rusting pretty badly and its use is very limited now. I've loaded it up with tools for handyman projects at my church.
Back to taking the rearened loose - all was going well until I tried to loosen the bolt on top with the bushing that prevents the axle from tipping. I've put a 3/4" impact on it and it won't budge. Any suggestions on how to loosen this bolt? The head is 22mm. I've got an ox-acetelyne torch I'm about to use to heat the treads in hope of getting it to turn but thought I'd run it by the forum before I do that.
you need a long breaker bar and socket. I have used the removable hollow tube in my hydraulic jack with a breaker bar inside it for impossible bolt and nut removals. Herculean leverage!
. . . and/or it is rusted on there really good. Enough leverage will get it off, or break it. Might want to get some heat on it and/or start with some penetrating oil.
I doused it a couple of times with PB-Blaster and an hour ago put my ox-actelyne torch to it for a few minutes. Crawled out and got the impact wrench on it again it came out without a hassle. There's nothing like a little heat to convince a stubborn bolt to come out. I don't think it hurt the bushing either. I'm waiting on new brake shoes, wheel cylinders and hardware kits from Rock Auto - should be here Monday. Now that I've almost got the donor ready, when the parts get here, I can start getting the daily driver ready. I don't expect anymore problems. The two bolts that hold the axle to the arms need to come out and then the brake line and it will be ready to come out.
I replaced an O2 sensor last week and never even tried it till I put the torch on it. It came right out without any problems. Oxy-actelyne is a great took to have at your disposal. My big tanks ended up in Jarrettsville, MD at my son's house but I've still got a "B" tank and an "E" tank I adapt to a torch set I bought at HF. Don't need it everyday but it sure comes in handy when needed.
I thought I was home free after getting the nuts off the 3 bolts attaching the rearend housing to the "rear suspension upper arm" and the two "lower control arms" BUT, the bolts go through metal spacers inside the rubber bushings. I was able to get the upper both out using the impact wrench - it backed itself out. Both the two lower bolts are rusted in the spacers and are refusing to come out. I can move one about 1/2 inch so there is hope there that PB-Blaster will do it's thing and the next time I get under there I'll be able to get it out. There's always one that'll drive me up a wall - the last one can be turned but I'm pretty sure it's the spacer turning in the bushing and not the both turning in the spacer. Several good blows with a two pound hammer hasn't budged it even a fraction of an inch. I'm not sure the torch is going to help with this problem but that's still an option. The bolts are over 3 inches long - heating the ends will never get enough heat to the center of the spacer - ARRRG!
All the brake parts I need to renew the brakes should be here tomorrow so I need to get those bolts out to free that axle and start on daily driver so I can make that swap!
I was able to coax out the bolt on the driver's side with a lot of PB-Blaster, twisting it back and forth and using the two pound hammer. The bolt on the passenger side moved after heating both ends but beating on it bent the brackets. I'll need to take the brake backing plate loose (it won't come off without pulling the axle out) so I can get a straight shot with my drive pin to beat the bolt back in hoping that getting it to move and spraying it with PB-B will eventually free it enough it will come out.
A heat wave has descended on us and it gets too hot to work past 11 in the morning. Besides, the PB-B needs time to work - while I dry out!
Do you happen to have an air hammer? I once tied to replace the shock absorbers on a car that spent winters in salt country, and the through-bolt on one of them was rusted to the sleeve inside one of the eyelets on the damper body. Since the sleeve was molded to the rubber bushing in the eyelet, the rubber absorbed all the impact of hammering. I had to take it to a local Sears auto place, where the mechanic used an air hammer on the bolt, and zipped it out in about 10 seconds.
I finally used the right tool for the job and pushed the remaining bolt out! Using the ball-joint press made it easy. I should have started with it instead of beating on the bolts with a hammer. The rear axle is free but I still need to disconnect the brake line. Once I get it off, I replace the wheel cylinders and get the daily driver jacked up and ready to pull its rear axle. Using the ball-joint press should make the job a breeze. The head of the bolts slipped right through the bottom of the press so pushing on the bottom of the bolt shoved it out. I had to use some spacers to get it out far enough that it loosened up. (I used some 5/16" nuts and managed to get them stuck in the metal spacer tube as the bolt came out. Then I had to push the out! Next time, I'll use something with a smaller diameter!
This is a stock photo I found online. Turns out I'd purchased the ball-joint press kit earlier this year from HF thinking how nice a friend's worked when I was replacing the bushings in the upper A-frame a few years ago. I forgot I had it and was thinking about buying another one when I stumbled across it this morning - still in the bubble wrap! Thanks to all who responded with suggestions!
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