Having trouble removing rusted shock bolts
- Thread starter AaronPaul
- Start date
WestCoastDan
TJ Addict
I didn't have a lift on it when I did ours. Access around the tank was difficult. I ended up using an air chisel to break the welded nuts off the tub, then used panel nuts to get new threads.
I'll admit that i don't know how the new shocks are mounted, as I paid to have the lift installed.
If I never see the top mounts of those rear shocks again, I'll be Ok with it.
Or the Jeep saw salt water at some point? Most people don't think about rinsing that stuff off after beach wheeling.
Here's a trick I've used on my sail boat fasteners after 50 years in tropical salt water and Land Rovers in a acid, salt rain environment. Only fasteners I couldn't remove were a couple that went through but threaded into aluminum castings.
Hook jumper cables up to the battery as you normally would. On the other end put a bolt (1/4" x 2" bolt works fine) in the postive lead clamp of the jumper cable. Clamp the negative lead as close to the stuck fastener as possible. Touch the bolt in the positive lead clamp to the head of the fastener. You set up what is essentially an arc welder. Will heat the fastener to cherry red if left in contact long enough. It also gets the fastener way hotter than you can with a MAPP torch. It works really well as it only heat up the area of the fastener while not burning up the surrounding country side like you do with a torch. It is really the only way to get serious heat to a fastener if there is painted surfaces or plastics close by. Quench the heated fastener with penetrating oil. Try to remove the fastener with an impact driver, either manual or power. Repeat the process till you break the fastener loose. Other than using the trick to remove all the fasteners on a 44 year old mast, used it to get corrosion welded bolts out that passed through substantial aluminum castings on my self steering vane and bolts on my rusty Land Rovers. You have to be aware what you are doing as the cables will heat up with all the current going through them and probably could damage a battery if you get careless. I never let things get that heated and/or ever had a problem because the heating of the fastener is almost instantaneous.
Having said the above, the hardest fastener to remove is not one that is threaded into aluminum but one that simply passes through an aluminum casting like cleats, etc. Getting the bolts out of the self steering casting took something north of 25 iterations, heating with the jumper cable and quenching with penetrating oil over many days. A good idea to coat the shaft not just the threads of any fastener in aluminum cleats or castings with Lanocote, TefGel, or other long lasting lubricant on reassembly.