Tuesday, January 13, 2009 - 05:42 pm, by: Benjamin Anderson(Chicken)
I'm trying to swap my suspension and this bolt won't budge. Having spent 2 hours on it has left me tired, sore, grazed and frustrated. Are there any tricks to getting it undone? I have no access to air tools, are there any products at Supercheap etc that would loosen the bolt without compromising it's hold when I put it all together?
Tuesday, January 13, 2009 - 05:51 pm, by: Matt Petersen(Mattmannz)
You just need a breaker bar with a socket and a wrench.
Position the wrench so that it is pushed against something and can't move then use a breaker bar. If necessary add some tube over the bar for additional length/leverage.
If you are really stuck get the correct size wrench and the next biggest wrench you have and loop the closed end of the biggest wrench through the open end of the correct sized wrench effectively making the wrench longer. I have stood on setups like this before to get the necessary leverage. Not good for the tools but will get the job done.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009 - 06:50 pm, by: Ben Lipman(Ben12a)
Have you got a knuckle bar? Also known as a breaker bar, no idea what its technical name is. I'm talking about the long bar with a hinged square drive on one end. Put the correct size socket on it(preferably a hex/six sided socket), and slide some pipe(cheater bar) over the end of the knuckle bar to get some extra leverage as Matt has said above. Use a spanner etc to hold the other side.
Otherwise try some wd40 or similar(let it sit for a while to penetrate-overnight etc), Loctite freeze and release(expensive), or careful use of heat.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009 - 10:50 pm, by: Benjamin Anderson(Chicken)
Thanks for advice, tomorrow i'm trying the WD40, breaker bar and a brand new 19mm spanner.
To add to the difficulty the whole assembly moves up and down, if tomorrow doesn't work i'm thinking of removing the control arm connected to the strut so I can work at it on a bench.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009 - 01:05 pm, by: David Goldthorpe(Sprocket82)
Just went throught this procedure on the weekend, Ben. I think I did use WD40 and had 1 bloke holding the bolt steady with a 19mm spanner while I undid the nut with a breaker-bar. Use a a pipe to get more leverage on the breaker-bar if necessary. You do have to be a bit rough on it. Then, as Brendan said, Have 1 bloke stand on the hub (someone with a bit of beef on them...) while you pull the bottom of the strut out. My springs were lowered, so that may have helped me a bit too.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009 - 05:57 pm, by: Michael Keen(Spoilt)
put a bottle jack under the hub assembly, to hold it still, get a 19mm spanner and just hit, it, simple as, if you dont support the hub, you will never get a decent go at it, cause most your force is moving it up and down cheers
and you can get a reaction bar, it a big lever chuck a socket on the end, and then you hit it with a hammer, and it has some kinda of mad thingy in it, and it times your torque to un do bolt, but it really not needed, just bottle jack and 19mm spanner cheers