cant get shocks off
Veteran
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 285
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From: Ridgely, MD
I could not get mine to budge either.... I cut them off with a torch and beat the bolt out. I bought new half inch i think 2 1/2'' long bolts. You figure there on there that good even if you do get the bolt off i would not reuse it. So either way your buying new bolts. So torch that bad boy off haha. Someone explained to me a reason why on fords the lower shock bolt wont come off. They said everytime you put pressure on it that lower bushing in the shock just takes it and doesnt budge the bolt. I twisted a 1/2 extension because i was using a crabbing dip net as leverage about 5 foot long hahaha
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All Star
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 792
Likes: 0
From: Missouri
I could not get mine to budge either.... I cut them off with a torch and beat the bolt out. I bought new half inch i think 2 1/2'' long bolts. You figure there on there that good even if you do get the bolt off i would not reuse it. So either way your buying new bolts. So torch that bad boy off haha. Someone explained to me a reason why on fords the lower shock bolt wont come off. They said everytime you put pressure on it that lower bushing in the shock just takes it and doesnt budge the bolt. I twisted a 1/2 extension because i was using a crabbing dip net as leverage about 5 foot long hahaha
If the 1500's use the same bolt/brackets etc it should be as simple as putting some heat on the nut on the other side of the bolt. It has an anti-spin tab on it, and is located directly in front of where the upper control arm mounts to the axle.
Veteran
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 285
Likes: 0
From: Ridgely, MD
Mine had a nut with a tab welded on it so there was no need to use a wrench to tighten when first put on. I didnt have a nut welded onto the tab where the bolt goes through. NOW it is just a bolt with a lock washer and a nut. i was able to squeeze a wrench in the back side and a ratchet through the front and tighten the nut up. So another words no i didnt mess up any threads because there were none 
Grand Champion
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 5,011
Likes: 6
From: Meeker, CO
I dunno... I've never met a threaded fastener that wouldn't come unstuck with mechanical shock and penetrating oil. I used to break a lot of fasteners until I learned to outsmart 'em. Way back when I worked on electronics, screws stuck fast in heat sinks were a real PITA until I figured them out. And guys used to wonder why I had screwdrivers with the handles cut off...
If you can figure a way to do it, find a way to lock the nuts down so they cannot move. I replaced my shocks a few months ago but can't recall precisely how each fastener is situated, but generally what I do when things get oogly is to get some locking pliers clamped in such a way that the nut is planted solidly against the stationary object it normally contacts. Then I rap the bolt a few times soundly with a ball peen hammer, being careful not to deform its faces, and soak the interface regions (where the bolt enters the nut, top and bottom/front and back depending upon your point of view) with a high quality penetrating lubricant. I like CRC Freeze Off. I let it soak for several minutes, then rap the bolt again with the hammer and spray it all down again and let it soak a while, longer the more frustrated I am or the less frustrated I wish to become. I'd rather spend my time watching the deer in the yard than spraining muscles so I'm not real keen on being in a hurry.
After that, the frozen fastener almost always comes loose. If not, I'll wipe it all down really well to get as much of the flammable lubricant as I can out of the way, then heat the interface region with a butane torch -- the one I use on copper plumbing. When it's good and hot, I'll hit it again with the Freeze Off, and afterward the hammer. Before Freeze Off hit the market, I used electronics freeze spray or even a CO2 fire extinguisher to rapidly cool the hot steel and then zapped it with Knock'Er Loose.
If you can't find a way to clamp the nut down, try this: Find a socket that you won't mind replacing if you damage it, and put a nut or two into it so that the nut you're after will just barely go inside the socket, leaving at least half of the target nut's height exposed. Cut a piece of masking tape to the same width as the height of the nut, and put a turn of tape around the nut -- the tape is to get you an interference fit between the nut and socket so the socket will stay put without you holding it. Stuff the socket onto the nut -- the interference is right if you have to tap the socket into place with a hammer -- hold a sledgehammer against the bolt head, and whack the 5h17 out of that socket with your ball peen hammer to crack the corrosion that's locking the threads together. Then proceed with the heat, cold, penetrating oil, and so on.
It's worked every time for me.
The principle of it: The fasteners are locked together by corrosion between their mated threads creating interference at the interface (of male and female threads, that is). That corrosion is less dense than the base metal it used to be, so it will be much more easily compromised by mechanical stress AND it will assist the capillary action of the penetrating oil once it's compromised (cracked) by the mechanical stress. Thermal shock is a mechanical stress, as is bashing the mufker with a hammer. So induce the stress to create the cracks, then apply the lubricant -- and if it's not quite enough, repeat the process. Create cracks and capillary action will allow the penetrating lubricant to get in there. PB Blaster, in my entirely too arrogant opinion, is weakass crap. Use Knock'Er Loose, Freeze Off, Kroil, or even a 50:50 mix of ATF and acetone, but leave that PB 5h17 on the shelf at the auto parts store where it belongs collecting dust.
Frankly, if none of the above worked I'd reach for the Makita grinder and just burn the head clean off of the bolt, then drive the shank out with a hammer and punch. I'd rather outsmart the thing, but failing that I'll brute force it just to prove I'm the mufkin boss.
If you can figure a way to do it, find a way to lock the nuts down so they cannot move. I replaced my shocks a few months ago but can't recall precisely how each fastener is situated, but generally what I do when things get oogly is to get some locking pliers clamped in such a way that the nut is planted solidly against the stationary object it normally contacts. Then I rap the bolt a few times soundly with a ball peen hammer, being careful not to deform its faces, and soak the interface regions (where the bolt enters the nut, top and bottom/front and back depending upon your point of view) with a high quality penetrating lubricant. I like CRC Freeze Off. I let it soak for several minutes, then rap the bolt again with the hammer and spray it all down again and let it soak a while, longer the more frustrated I am or the less frustrated I wish to become. I'd rather spend my time watching the deer in the yard than spraining muscles so I'm not real keen on being in a hurry.
After that, the frozen fastener almost always comes loose. If not, I'll wipe it all down really well to get as much of the flammable lubricant as I can out of the way, then heat the interface region with a butane torch -- the one I use on copper plumbing. When it's good and hot, I'll hit it again with the Freeze Off, and afterward the hammer. Before Freeze Off hit the market, I used electronics freeze spray or even a CO2 fire extinguisher to rapidly cool the hot steel and then zapped it with Knock'Er Loose.
If you can't find a way to clamp the nut down, try this: Find a socket that you won't mind replacing if you damage it, and put a nut or two into it so that the nut you're after will just barely go inside the socket, leaving at least half of the target nut's height exposed. Cut a piece of masking tape to the same width as the height of the nut, and put a turn of tape around the nut -- the tape is to get you an interference fit between the nut and socket so the socket will stay put without you holding it. Stuff the socket onto the nut -- the interference is right if you have to tap the socket into place with a hammer -- hold a sledgehammer against the bolt head, and whack the 5h17 out of that socket with your ball peen hammer to crack the corrosion that's locking the threads together. Then proceed with the heat, cold, penetrating oil, and so on.
It's worked every time for me.
The principle of it: The fasteners are locked together by corrosion between their mated threads creating interference at the interface (of male and female threads, that is). That corrosion is less dense than the base metal it used to be, so it will be much more easily compromised by mechanical stress AND it will assist the capillary action of the penetrating oil once it's compromised (cracked) by the mechanical stress. Thermal shock is a mechanical stress, as is bashing the mufker with a hammer. So induce the stress to create the cracks, then apply the lubricant -- and if it's not quite enough, repeat the process. Create cracks and capillary action will allow the penetrating lubricant to get in there. PB Blaster, in my entirely too arrogant opinion, is weakass crap. Use Knock'Er Loose, Freeze Off, Kroil, or even a 50:50 mix of ATF and acetone, but leave that PB 5h17 on the shelf at the auto parts store where it belongs collecting dust.
Frankly, if none of the above worked I'd reach for the Makita grinder and just burn the head clean off of the bolt, then drive the shank out with a hammer and punch. I'd rather outsmart the thing, but failing that I'll brute force it just to prove I'm the mufkin boss.
