lilninja

im trying to replace the lateral arm closest to gas tank on driver side... ive got the suspension dropped and the one closest to rear bumper off but i cant get the bolt to budge no matter what i do and cannot find somewhere to buy said bolt tonight. this is my only vehicle and i am immobilized for now... fml any suggestions?

black arrow points at long bolt


1994 es300

lilninja

http://www.dealerdirectparts.com/v/v...os/8908495.gif


part number 13 in digram above

randal

I am not quite sure what the issue is but sometimes you can persuade a bolt or nut with a little directed heat from a propane torch.

dewso1

Sorry to be off topic, but wouldnt heat on the bolt be bad? it would make it expand

randal

Again, it depends. On the nut, the heat would make it expand and help in removal. And it would make the bolt expand as well. Even though in theory it would "expand", it is not by much. More importantly, the heat will often loosen rust and corrosion and make the removal easier. That's often the biggest issue.

lilninja

i ended up beating the living f+&* out of it and got it to move after a few hours of hammering it and reapplying pb blaster every ten min. but the end was in such bad shape that i decided to use a side grinder to smooth it back out so it wouild fit all the way out. I recut threads with old bolt and continued my project n got it all back together. only issue i ran into othen above listed was that both bolts holding on swaybar mount snapped and ace hardware was already closed so getting new ones to replace them wasnt happening. i took smaller bolt and smaller nut and washered up on both sides and that was that... still holding after 200 miles in two days

JSM

I would make sure you put OEM spec bolts in there. Suspension is not something u want to mess with. Just because it is holding up now doesn't mean it will continue to do so. The grade of bolts and size are engineered for a reason.

There have been many recalls due to torque speciation alone.

lilninja

i cannot find anywhere to buy bolts alone... short of a junkyard or dealership to get the plate that bolts onto frame and also houses the sway bar mount/bracket and the bolts

EEngineer

suspension work usually requires torching, which is why normally i wouldn't try to wrestle with old rusty suspension parts as a DIY, unless i've got plenty of time to finish it off.

the sway bar bushing bracket bolts is a common thing that would snap off, u need to drill it out cleanly and put in a new one. just some 12mm bolts should work IIRC.