I'm going to be changing the suspension on my car when I get a chance. I've had a look and it looks straight forward enough, the only problem is the bolts seem to be fairly rusty as you'd expect for an 11 year old car running its standard suspension.

So, does anyone have any tips for getting rusty bolts off without causing any damage?

Thanks in advance.

goot soak of wd40. tap the socket lightly onto the bolt, making sure its on straight then take off. repeat this till all the loose surface rust is off and your down to the good solid bolt.

wd40 it before hand.

not much else can be done.

Blowtorch where the bolt goes into.

yeh id soak with some wd40 for an hour or two.

then heat up with whatever you can.

dont just got for it becuase you may shear it off and then your fucked.

try and do it gently and if it doesnt undo , repeat the two above steps and try and gently unseize it.

max

yeah, i learnt the hard way that just going for something aint always the best... massive wrench + massive breaker bar = broken water elbow on manifold (capri that is)... fortunatly i had a spare manifold!

yeh dont just got for it what ever people say!

i will also be doing this in a few months so would it be an idea to wd40 or penetrating oil them regularly for a few weeks and then if they come out give em a good greasing to make it easy when the time comes?

yeh but theres only so much grease you can apply. But yeh it might me a good idea on starting abit before you start.

make sure you wire brush the exposed bolt threads! nuts get stuck 99% of the time because people dont do this and the thread jams up.

Thanks, i'll give it a good soaking in WD40 and will just take my time.

Plusgas is infinately better than WD40 in my opinion

Sometimes if one won't come off its worth tightening it slightly and then losening it off. Or if its being a bastard to come out losen it and tighten it and it should come free.

^ Thats what i'd do first aswell...give it a good soak with WD40 or such like and try

to break the thread by tightening it first.If you get it to tighten slightly it will loosen

so much easier and you don't run the risk of rounding the bolts/nuts.

Edited 6 October, 200916 yr by buster.g40

use a good (not worn) 6 sided impact socket with a decent bar and make sure while you are applying force the socket is still square on the nut / bolt.

wd40/gt85/plusgas etc should be applied and wire brush the threads as suggested above. the most important bit is the tools you use though!

Olly

Soak it in WD40, plus gas (which is better). Maybe even do this a couple of days in advance a couple of times to get it nicely soaked in. As said the tools are most important, make sure you have a decent quality tool and that you are sure it is the right size. Sometimes if the bolt truly is a bitch to get to get a friend to make sure that the tool you are using is straight on the blot/nut and you are not turning it at an angle as you will shear something and then life becomes awful.

make sure you dont use plus gas or WD40 on your tie rod ball joint ends otherwise they will just spin around and youll never get them off without grinding them.

WD40 + Molegrips.

Penetrating Fluid is your friend

Penetrating Fluid is your friend

I just read that quickly and it seemed as though the words were in a different order.

The ones that ALWAYS get me as the nuts on top of the steering arms where they meets the struts?!?! I can literally NEVER get those off as easily as I'd like. Any tips for those whilst we're are it? Obviously they just spin the ball joint most of the time?

grinder

The ones that ALWAYS get me as the nuts on top of the steering arms where they meets the struts?!?! I can literally NEVER get those off as easily as I'd like. Any tips for those whilst we're are it? Obviously they just spin the ball joint most of the time?

big fuck off blow torch. get that baby cherry red.

The ones that ALWAYS get me as the nuts on top of the steering arms where they meets the struts?!?! I can literally NEVER get those off as easily as I'd like. Any tips for those whilst we're are it? Obviously they just spin the ball joint most of the time?

If there new they should do that so I normally go down one of two routes. Either chop the bastards off and replace them. Or if I just need the strut off for whatever reason I undo the bolts at the rack as they are never hard to get off cause nout really gets to them.

They should have slotted the top of the ball joint thread or made it an allen key or something. I was SHITTING it taking the new G40 ones off when I sold them.