So I finally saved up enough for new front struts and for the leveling kit to be put in, dropped it off 30 minutes later, bushing is seized and they wanted another 261 for the work and parts, bringing the total to 989, way out of the budget. So i am wondering can you put the leveling kit on with out totally removing the strut, can you drop everything and swing the strut towards you and then put the kit on? Then reassemble everything? my last hope.....
thanks guys

 

I dont think the bottom a-arm will drop far enough. If it did, we would all be doing that instead of having to deal with that d#@m bolt and bushing.

 

You can, it just takes a BFH and you might have to hit the lip of the upper mount to clear the bolts. Atleast thats what I was able to do. What kit are you using?

 

Hit the lip with a grinder*

 

It Depends on what kit you have. The rough country kit that I just installed on my 05 you have to rotate the strut 180 deg to match bot patern. I had a lot of trouble with lower bolt also but not imposible to remove without replacement. However I am a heavy equipment mech. and have all tools need to destroy any thing. If you take an air hammer with a V bit on it you can go between strut and bushing and get on steel tubethat is part of bushing. The vibration that an air hammer will create brakes loose the rust. a nother great help is CSR freeze off the stuff is great beats any pb blaster.

 

well in that case, im screwed, cuz i dont have enough experience with the other tools to use them in that space. soo rims will be forsale and leveling kit

 

I would put all that aside, as well as whatever money I had saved for the project, and save a bit more to get it done properly.

Those lower control arm bolts are needed for any alignment work that you may find necessary, so at some point, you will find it necessary to cut those bolts free and replace them and the bushings. When you do get them replaced, insist on the mechanic putting lots of anti-seize compound into the bushing to help seal things up (keep the moisture out of the cavity around the bolt & help prevent rusting of the bolt) and cut down the likelihood of the bolts seizing inside the bushings again. Alternatively, if you have the control arms off, you might want to drill a hole right through the bushing housing and bushing and tap the hole for a grease nipple (I thought of doing this to mine but I had already re-installed everything & didn't feel like taking it apart again).

 

Thanks to diy05 I realized that yes your gonna have to rotate the strut no matter what kind of leveling kit you got, and then Alfons gave me the never give up never surrender metanlity, so new idea, what if I just got my bushings replaced now and leveling kit put on with it

 

If it were me I would save until I could afford strut, leveling kit and bushing unless struts have already been replaced. It'll cost more in the long run having it taken apart twice then doing it all in 1 shot, if your still running stock struts they're either garbage by now or will soon be trash.

 

There are some things that you'd be doing twice, but you could break the whole project down into those segments. The lower control arm removal and bushing replacement is (in my opinion) the hardest part. If the bolts are so seized that you can't break them free, you'll need to cut them out (see my thread on doing that), or burn them out (this is a messy proposition and you could light the truck on fire if you aren't careful). When the control arm is removed, you'll need a press to remove the old and install the new bushings, then it's a fairly easy process to reinstall the control arms. If your leveling kit is the type that bolts onto the top of the strut, you can go ahead and install this and put everything back together, but if you have the type that needs to fit inside the strut, then you're doing over 90% of the strut replacement work without replacing the strut, and ALL this labor will need to be paid for again if you're having a mechanic do it.

Once the lower control arm is repaired and re-installed, all the nuts & bolts will be easy for you to work with, so you could do some of the work yourself later if you feel up to it.

When you change the bushings, don't forget that you'll need to re-align the truck, so ensure that's in your budget.

Before you or your mechanic throw away the cut lower control arm bolts, remember to keep the special nuts that go onto those bolts - the dealerships here were unable to get those nuts for me & I had to re-use the old ones (this is all explained with pictures in my thread).