I think i'm going to be stuck in a similar situation. I was hoping this would work
http://www.autozone.com/autozone/acc...er=720607_0_0_

But I am not optimistic after reading this thread

Edit
I just realized that was a shock bolt not the strut bolt

 

If you look at the Dakota parts list that's available for download from the "sticky post", you'll find a section there on the front suspension. In that section, you'll see a figure showing the lower control arm and all it's parts - on the right side of the page is parts list to correspond to the exploded view numbering. This parts list has the Mopar part numbers & you can see the lower control arm bushings listed there - the dealerships around here sell them, they're $84 each and the front bushing is different than the rear - I just picked up 1 front & 1 rear NEW Mopar bushings today from the dealership. Bolts are also listed in the same parts list.

 

Some additional lower control arm bushing information. This control arm has 2 front and 1 rear bushing - one of the front bushings is used for the strut. The lower control arm bolts are cam bolts so you can't replace them with a regular bolt of the same size - they allow you to adjust the position of this control arm, so I'm assuming they're a cheap Mopar method of making some alignment adjustments. In my opinion, this is really poor engineering since these bushings generally seize & there goes your adjustment capability on that axis.

 

more greatness in front end engineering on these trucks.....gotta wonder if the dodge design boys mightve been smokin' something besides tires when some of those brainstorms were hatched....

is this seizing pretty common all around, or more so where a lot of chemicals get used on winter roads?

 

Alfons is the man. Looked up part numbers on the parts list 52855112AB for front and 52855113AB for rear. $44 ea on parts.com

 

Any bushing that's open to moisture is a candidate for rust and seizing. The control arm bushings have a steel tube through the center and then have a steel "can" on the outside - the tube and the bolt that goes through are seldom treated very well so the moisture (and chemicals) get in between them, rust starts, eventually locking the bolt into the tube. the tube has a strong bond to the rubber and then to the "can" which then rusts onto the bushing containment. The only sure way I've found for removing them is by applying heat to the seized bolt - lots of heat. I heat up the bolt until it becomes so hot as to transfer enough heat through the tube to melt the rubber. I then pull the bolt and tube out while the rubber is still molten & then let things cool down. Now the hole is big enough to pass a hack saw blade through (in most cases you pull out most of the rubber). I use this to cut through the remaining rubber and then through the "can" - I do this in a couple of places and then bash this can inward using a good sized hammer and chisel. Once you've pushed one part of the can away from the containment wall, the rest goes easy and that comes out easily. You can now clean things up and use a ball joint press to push the new bushing into place - this is what I'm doing to 1 side of my truck, the drivers side is completely seized & what I expected to be a few hour job is now turning into a few day job.

If you use the heat method to remove the bushing, keep a fire extinguisher handy, the rubber can start burning quite easily once it's soft and isn't easy to extinguish.

 

I just used penetrating fluid on the threads/shaft and hit.it with a hammer. Once the bolt is flush with strut I took a crappy 3/8 extension and used that to drive the bolt the rest of the way through. Unfortunately I didnt find out about the lower bushings in time and don't have replacements. Those will go in when I replace wheel bearings in the near future.

 

One side came out as you describe, but the other needed heavier persuasion. I had to cut the the strut mounting at the bushing bolt and then "burn" the bushing out of it's containment. Use anti-seize on all those bolts to prevent this problem.

 

man... at least I got new lower control arm bushings.. but I sure wish I had known about the strut bushing before.. and I looked long and hard too. save me tom cruise!

 

Out of curiosity, how did you do an exact line up of the lower control arm after changing the bushings? The manual shows a slot in the frame for each bushing bolt and then you have the cam bolts to make the adjustments, but I didn't see much detail on aligning the control arm. At some point, if I change the bushings holding the arm, I'm thinking of making a few datum marks on the frame and the arms , make some exact measurements & then replace the bushings and arms to those exact measurements.