Indyxtype

So I thought it wasn't going to be as bad as people have made it out to be when I got in there and zipped out the retaining nut without a hitch. This however was my downfall as when I went to get the bolt out of there, nothing was happening. I went ahead and PB blasted the crap out of the thing, whacked it around hammer a bit and put a ratchet on it but still nothing was moving at all. I decided to pull out the big guns and took the handle off of my floor jack and slipped it over the ratchet, effectively making a breaker bar from hell. Things were looking good and I started to feel a bit better about myself when the bolt began to submit to the shear torque I was putting on it and started to spin in place. It was however just at this moment, when all of my pride and feeling of accomplishment dissapeared in an instant, when the head of that little b**ch snapped right off. So here I am, looking at a snapped pinch bolt that just doesn't want to quit and reaching out for some creative ideas. I've heard about torching it and I'm keeping that in the back of my mind as a last resort but the CA's are still good and I'm not looking to fry the bushings unless I have to. I was thinking of drilling that little sucker out of there. Have people had any success with this or any other methods that I can't think of? Looking for help/suggestions, thanks in advance.

Indyxtype

BTW, I still have the other side to tackle after I get this one sorted out, so any better suggestions for how to get one out starting from scratch are more than welcome as well.

complacentsee

I've read of people drilling it out. That was 5 years ago. I've also read of torching it, which would odds are ruin the ball joints.

Indyxtype

Does anyone know if the threads on the bolt interact with the knuckle at all or are they simply there for the nut? In other words, can the bolt be hammered out in theory once the nut is removed or does a certain length of it need to be driven out first? From everything I can tell it doesn’t but I’m just checking because if I end up drilling it, I don't want to f up any threads on the knuckle in the process and then need to re-tap it for a different size thread/custom bolt.

jibberjive

So a search on some of the older posts from a couple of years ago. There was a really cool method that worked and was pretty innovative that I thought I bookmarked, but now I can't find it. It's worth searching for.

complacentsee

Threads are just there for the nut. The upright is smooth bore all the way through.

SLC18T

Air hammer and a little heat would be my next move. I have gotten lucky on all my pinch bolts. Got a new set of control arms off a junk yard car. Came right off $20 bucks out the door.

Indyxtype

I've already beaten the archives a bit and one of the more creative ideas that someone claimed to be the best involved a c clamp in conjunction with a box wrench. Is this the post that you are referring to?

bnr32_coupe

i always go with this method

jibberjive

could be