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[bappy]

Hi Guys,

I'm having a fight with my miggy...

I'm trying to replace drivers side wishbone, I've got the 2 big-ass 21mm bolt out of the top of the wishbone but cannot, to save my life, undo the 18mm one around the ball joint.

I've sheared a halfrauds pro 12" 3/8 driver, snapped the inside of a 72 tooth 3/8 ratchet and finally exploded my 3/8 socket.

btw the bolt has been soaking in wd40 for days

I borrowed a bunch of 1/2" drive sets and found a 1/2" 18mm socket. made an extension bar up 4 foot long to get enough leverage and actually turned the socket around the head of the bolt!

I've hit it with a hammer and drift very hard several times, the only thing I haven't tried is a blowtorch which I don't want to do around the brake lines...

I cannot get this bolt undone. Ideas? It's not left hand thread is it???

[razzo]

No its not a left hand thread, have you rounded off the bolt head

[bappy]

mostly yes...

[RobG]

Best bet m8 is to protect brake lines as best you can and get out there with the blow torch

[razzo]

If the bolt head has been rounded off is there any way you can get a smaller socket eg 17mm or 5/8 on the bolt with a bit of persuasion

If you want to go the blowtorch route you could remove the brake calliper & tie it up out of the way

[RobG]

If the bolt head has been rounded off is there any way you can get a smaller socket eg 17mm or 5/8 on the bolt with a bit of persuasion

You could try but doubtful. Plusgas far better than WD. A bit late now seeing as you need car tomoorow. Still think best option is the torch then persuader and cold chisel but you`re still gonne need a new bolt.

[bappy]

ok thanks guys.

I'm gonna take caliper off and have a go at the nut on the other side. might have to drill/grind it off. I may try blow torching... my guess is that if the bolt head has rusted on I might be able to undo the nut.

[bappy]

hi guys,

got the caliper off and the nut off on that side... still can't get the wishbone out... the bolt wont budge even whallopping it with a hammer from the nut-side. is the whole knuckle holdery bit all threaded too?

[Timbuk]

hi guys,

got the caliper off and the nut off on that side... still can't get the wishbone out... the bolt wont budge even whallopping it with a hammer from the nut-side. is the whole knuckle holdery bit all threaded too?

No its not

[bappy]

ok, decided to have a look in haynes manual... said something about removing drop links to ease pressure? thats weird... I've removed pressure by lifting the hub with a spare jack... this is still doing no good as the chewed 18mm bolt is holding proper fast on the knuckle. gonna try blowtorching now if no one else has any ideas??

[Timbuk]

Have you tried winding it out or is the bolt head completely furbered?

[Marks DTM Calib]

Look at the rear of the pinch point for the ball joint you will see a slot, spray plenty of plus gas here......then tap the bolt out whilst trying to tunr it from the other end.

[feeutfo]

 this is the king pin clamp pinch bolt we are talking about if i understand it. The bolt runs through the clamp and the slot in the king pin/ball joint, so the pin can not be removed with out the bolt being removed first. It may be that the pin is interfearing with the bolt? Is there 3mill of pin( or so) sticking out the top of the clamp? If not may be worth a minor wack either up or down to free the bolt?
You could try opening up the clamp with cold chisel or wedge shared drift and see if the pin will move up or down a mill or so, you should be able to get
a long punch on to the top of the pin, or wack the wish bone from under side.
If it aint that i would put it back together until you can get a new bolt and drill the head off later. Hth
 

[holtender]

In my experience heat will remove any nut if you get it glowing red. Oxyacetylene would be the preferred weapon , not sure a blow torch could generate enough heat for a really stubbon nut.

Taking the caliper off should give you much easier access if my memory serves me well.

[JasonH]

As said above you have to get the bolt out to pull the balljoint down and out. Opening up the gap with a cold chisel helps a lot. On one I did the thread of the bolt had eaten into the balljoint stub - that one unscrewed out - but that shouldn't normally be necessary.

I'd try tapping the balljoint up to loosen things off before driving the bolt out.

For the record I think you really need a six sided impact socket and an impact wrench to get that 18mm bolt off first time.