Another one of those "easy on paper" repairs...

Bought some new front sway bar links, however the metal sleeve on the bottom of the link didn't want to go anywhere... I'm afraid I might need to get some cutoff wheels for my rotary tool. I've soaked it with penetrating oil, applied heat, tried hitting the end of the bolt out through the other side, nothing...

So it appears this bolt (BH607301J) is a 7/16" x 3-3/4" UNF bolt, and if I'm seeing things correctly, it secures the front and rear lower wishbones to the knuckle (#19 in the diagram). Of course, even with my good intentions, I mushroomed the end of this bolt a bit so it will either need to be cleaned up or replaced. I see the spring pan is bolted to the bottom of the wishbones, but I'd like to see if I can get some guidance before potentially having a spring blow out at me.

Can I source the bolt and locknut locally? If so, what grade should I be looking for? It appears there's a lot of load on this bolt.

Anyone run into this before?

 

I think I would get the grinder and knock one side off of that bushing, and then pry it off the bolt since it's done anyway. It's my "opinion" that if you have the ball joints bolted together that the spring should be safe. However Don B made a spring compressor which I copied and successfully used. All you'd need is enough to take the load. Can you turn the bolt? If not "try a bigger hammer." Seriously, try putting a jack under the bolt to relieve pressure, and I've had to apply heat 2 or 3 times to get a result. (Also, I would lay good money on "Kroil." It's a superior penetrant at a superior price. Worth it in my opinion.) My local Real Hardware Store has grade 8, I would think that should be enough. Definitely check the Barratts or the Moss, then you'd get the right length shoulder too. Good luck. Make anger your friend on this job.

 

Have you tried turning it from the other side? None of mine on a number of my Jags was ever in 'removable' state. I've pushed it on my previous car a little, was surprised that I've managed to actually turn it by maybe half a turn but it was only head that actually turned, the other side stayed as it was so I've left it and not bothered with these bolts any further. It will be hell to remove I suspect so I strongly suggest simply cutting the sleeve carefully, then simply use a die to clean up the threads and leave the bolt alone. Also, I doubt you will be able to find a local replacement bolt but if you do its 10.9 grade, 12.9 will be too hard I think, nut is just standard and should be available locally.

 

I think this is what I’m going to have to do. The front end is on Jack stands waiting for me to get out there with the Foredom and some new cutoff wheels. I’ve used split dies in the past, this would be a good use case. Split in half, place over a good portion of threads and back the die off the bolt to clean the end up.

 

A good source for bolts and other fasteners is McMaster-Carr (mcmaster.com).

As Jerry mentioned, you do not want to remove the spring pan without either a spring-compressor tool or four sections of M8 threaded rod with nuts and washers so you can relieve the spring tension gradually.

Cheers,

Don

 

Solved!

I was able to make a slit down the length of the collar, and finally found my air chisel! A few raps with the air chisel had the collar spinning, and with a few shots from behind, I was able to persuade it off the bolt.





I rethreaded the bolt, applied some copper anti seize to the surface the new link will ride on for the next guy (likely me!) and called it a day.

The right hand came out in 3 minutes 🤦‍♂️. With the top of the link unfastened and the lower bolt removed, I simply gave the lower eye of the link some raps with the air chisel and out it came, one piece!

I know better than bashing on the end of a bolt, even with the nut still on so I deserve the rethreading work. Let’s call it a reminder of what not to do!

Thanks for all the help. The old links were original and very very sloppy. Now time to finally get the lower shock mount bushings done too. Gotta pick up some beefy bolts, washers and nuts for that though

 

Unless you have assortment of correct sockets, thrust washers and push pull sleeves I strongly suggest to rethink replacing lower shock bushes unless they are torn to pieces and the inner sleeve is loose. They can be extremely difficult to replace. Also, only genuine Jag or poly bushes will work here, otherwise you'll be replacing them again within a few months.If you decide to do it, then I suggest poly bushes as they are considerably easier to press in, genuine Jag bushes will require push pull sleeves kit and you'll need to grind maybe couple millimetres of the lower wishbone for the sleeve(or a socket)to sit in correctly for pressing the bush, you'll know what I mean when you get to it. Without this you will not be able to press the bush fully(it should stick out from each side).
Removing it is also hard but you can drill them out by drilling between the inner and outer sleeve until the outer sleeve gets super thin and you knock it out with a punch and a hammer. Pressing them out is much more difficult, I've snapped a number of bolts before I got mine out that way. Either way, not an easy job for sure.
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