Stuck Tie Bar Bolt

[ham204]

The tie bar bolt I am trying to remove seems to be firmly stuck and refuses even to turn a bit.

Access is quite limited to one side only. Any non-violent ideas to have it out?

[Magenta Auto Sprint]

which tie bar bolt is this? inner or outer (front) or rear?

[ham204]

This one

[sprint95m]

The easiest way to overcome difficulty this is with heat (from an oxyacetylene torch, two or three minutes work),
but I am thinking that you don't have access to such otherwise you'd have already used it.

The alternative is to manually cut the head off the bolt I'm afraid.
This will be quite an effort with a hacksaw blade, but will eventually succeed.


Ian.

[ham204]

Thanks, but how does cutting the head off solve the problem?

I'm thinking of maybe inserting a blade between the bar and the bracket but am afraid of weakening the bracket if I cut into it.

Or else levering the bolt with a spanner and jack arrangement and leave it under pressure. That has solved a few similar situations in the past but they weren't so stuck as this one.

In the end I may just leave it there and have my friendly if expensive garage fix it (sight unseen).

[tony g]

If you can cut the head off you may be able to "pull" the bolt through with the nut on the other end. If it does move add washers until it gets free. This also stopd the bracket from crushing more than the bush width.

Tony

[James467]

This happened to me.

I cut the head and tail off the bolt and then was able to gently lever the mount apart just enough to pull the tie bar out.

[soe8m]

http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-High-Speed- ... Ciid%253A4

Saves a lot of frustration and extra work or putting rubber bushes on fire. 10 minutes and you are done.

Jeroen.

[James467]

http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-High-Speed- ... Ciid%253A4

Saves a lot of frustration and extra work or putting rubber bushes on fire. 10 minutes and you are done.

Jeroen.

Yep, that's what I used.

[ham204]

Thanks Jeroen. I think that's the way I'll go.

Final question, once the tie bar is loose, should I expect the axle to lurch forwards or backwards? Right now I have three jack stands - two holding the axle in place and one under the rear jacking point of the car.

[SprintMWU773V]

If it's held securely on the stands then it shouldn't swing about too much. If you're removing the trailing arms and propshaft as well then there's a good chance it will tip nosewards. If the trailing arms are still attached then I see no problems, it will slide side to side easily which of course could damage the arms or mounts. The tie bars effectively restrict side to side movement. There's various pics of the axle supported on my resto thread which should give you some ideas.

[xvivalve]

The axle may try to rotate; I normally only support it on a jack under the diff case though with axle stands under the body. If doing one side at a time, it may not move much at all.

Do undo the nut at the other end of the tie bar though before removing or cutting through the bolt!

[ham204]

Thanks to everyone for your suggestions. Will report how it goes.

[Jon Tilson]

I have never had one of these stick up on me. Just give it a good dose of plus gas and then be creative with sockets and extensions.

If the bolt rusts in to the sleeve you may have a bit more grief, so then its down to the old hacksaw.

As others have said the axle will rotate a tad when this comes out, so be prepared with jacks and stands under cills and support the diff as well, so you can adjust it when refitting.

Jonners

[ham204]

Last Saturday I managed to cut off both sides of the bolt using an air saw which worked very well and with no damage to the bracket or tiebar.

Having now removed the shock to clean and paint the spring, I find that its unsprung lenght could prove difficult to fit in its place?

What do you guys do to fit it back? I'm thinking of slowly raising the body until there is enough clearance