Howdy,

This is probably a stupid question, but it's a stupid situation.... I've been replacing the shocks on my 98 Ram 1500 4x4 and it's been a crusty slough through every single rusted and seized bolt, and now I've reached the final boss... this is literally the last bolt I needed out to finish the job and I am stuck. This front driver's side shock has several hours in it at this point.... Had to cut the top bolt off, spent an hour or two with PB blaster, an impact and a breaker bar and broke the lower bolt in half. Now it is so corroded in there and/or corroded on the nut side that I cannot hammer it out with a hole punch and a sledge hammer. I have been going at this on and off for a few hours, soaking everything with PB and then hammering the bolt (and my knuckles) with the hole punch and a sledge. I have a propane torch but am having trouble getting it to directly heat anything that might help... Any suggestions? I am tempted to drive it up the street and see if the local janky brake franchise can whack it out but would rather get it done in my own driveway... This has quickly turned from a fun task to a nightmare. The guy at Ace looked at me like I was an idiot... "It should just slide out the other end..." Yeah, no ****, but it's not! Am I missing something here?

 

Yeah those suck on the 2nd Gen Rams. I just did a '98 also and despite having spent its entire life here where rust is minimal I had to run to the donor out back for a better lower bolt on one side.

I think you're facing the same formula as always: heat and air hammer. LP alone almost surely won't cut it, you need O/A or O/LP. If you can get a 1/2" impact with wobble on that remaining nut and try to turn while (or after) heating that might help break the rust bond. You may also have to heat then let cool, the theory being the rust bond weakens as everything expands and contracts, although for non-threaded holes I prefer to go at it while hot.

#5 shade, gloves, ear protection, cursing and beer are in your future. Add a dominatrix for a fun Saturday night....

 

Thanks for the tips, I am a relatively novice home mechanic so I only have liquid propane and a corded electric impact. Is what I'm picking up from what you're saying that I probably don't have the tools to break this myself?

 

A big hammer with a punch and heat…it looks like you can get to the backside nut, try turning to see if it frees up, otherwise heat and patience

 

After a cup of coffee it occurred to me you'll be fighting the rubber in the shock eye, so heat may not be ideal. I'm guessing most of your issue is the bolt rusted into the metal sleeve which is surrounded by rubber.

As such, I think brute force from an air hammer to drive it out is best. You can heat the bolt on both ends but I wouldn't heat the shock eye itself.

 

If you can get a hack saw in between the mount, and the shock, cut the bolt there. The problem is, the bolt has rusted to the metal collar inside the shock bushing. Hack saw with a NEW blade should be able to cut it. Whiz wheel on a die grinder would make short work of it, but, that requires air.

 

Appreciate all the input. I've been directing heat onto the seam where the nut meets the bracket and hammering away with the hole punch, intermittently hitting it with PB blaster. This is the same technique I've been using since yesterday, and I don't really feel like I'm making any progress. I have burned up a lot of the rubber on the shock but I had scraped a lot of that away anyway to get PB blaster on the point where the collar meets the bracket. Overall feels like I'm doing a whole lot of nothing. I can get a socket to the back nut but it's just getting stripped... I have spent the last two weeks doing these shocks and this last one just feels like a bit of a giant middle finger... I'm calling it an exercise in perseverance but wow... I genuinely cannot afford to go out and buy more tools than I already have. Between new sockets, adaptors, and buying the impact this is easily a $100 bolt and I'm about ready to light myself on fire and jump off a cliff... does it sound like I should keep whacking at it or is it time to take it down the street to someone with air tools?

 

More like someone with a torch.

Hacksaw isn't that expensive, and it will likely solve your problem. Of course, you have a sore arm from it......

 

I don't think there's room to move a hacksaw enough in there.

OP, do you have an electric grinder?

 

I replaced the rear shocks on a PT Cruiser once and the next to last upper bolts was the same way. I ended up using a grinder to cut the top of the shock off. Then I cut down to the bolt. The metal tube inside the top of the shock and the bolt had rusted solid. I ended uo cutting the bolt, splitting the sleeve to press it apart, then replaced the bolt to use with the new shock. Probably the worst shock I've ever replaced. The next shock on the other side, the last one, popped right out.