BL install front mount woes : my X has cancer !!! (pics)

[jfman]

A helper holding on to the bottom bolt and me using a brig breaker bar, I got the top nuts off the front mount after a few sprained muscles and lots of name calling.

but now the bolts wont come out of the bushing... I tried everything but no luck. It's rusted onto the Bushing pretty good.

What's the best way to get it out so I can install a replacement ?

I found this thread but his situation was a little different than me.

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=122116


What is the best spot to sawzall the bolt ou ?

Or would you drill thru it like he did ?

 

[96limitedX]

i endedup cutting my front bolts..then we removed the rest of the bolt with the bushing in the visegrip.

luckly i didnt have any rust to deal with..goodluck.

 

[DeRocha]

Actually my problem and yours are almost identical. After getting the top nut off I couldn't get the bottom bolt to budge beyond a 1/4 turn... I sprayed the top thread in your 2nd picture with Penetration oil (PB blaster) and let it work its way down into the flange.. I then would work the bolt by tightening it then loosening it which allowed the Penetratinng oil to do its magic and help break the rust bond... I didn't have a helper, but did have the luxury of an impact gun... Keep hitting the upper threads with the oil and it should work its way free...

 

[jfman]

Well the front bolt will not budge at all from the bushing ,,,, The bushing just spins. I tried to hold it on with vise grps but no luck....

 

[DeRocha]

Well the front bolt will not budge at all from the bushing ,,,, The bushing just spins. I tried to hold it on with vise grps but no luck....

Even if you try to tighten it? If the vice grip keeps slipping off maybe you can use a pipe wrench on the flange to keep it from moving?

BTW A huge benefit of the impact gun is that it can vibrate the fastener off without the linear force of a breaker bar... A breaker bar can put a ton of force on a fastener and not make it move, but an impact gun putting out less force can because it impacts it off...

 

[jfman]

I dont have a compressor but I will go buy a dewalt eletric impact today.


I have only started shooting it with bp yesterday... Do you think I should treat it dayly for a period of time and try again ?

 

[DeRocha]

I dont have a compressor but I will go buy a dewalt eletric impact today.
I have only started shooting it with bp yesterday... Do you think I should treat it dayly for a period of time and try again ?

Oh yeah.. you should be spraying all bolts with penetrating oil every day for a week before starting a body lift.. Penetrating oils will slowly dissolve rust; obviously the more rust you have the more time you need to give it to work.. You should also have a torch handly.. Propane, Map or Acetelyn.. You can heat up the bolt with the torch which will cause it to expand (slightly faster than the surrounding metal). This expansion and contraction is great for breaking rust bonds etc... So if you have a torch handy heat up the bolt (until it is cherry red) then go to work trying to back it out... Electric impact guns are ok, but they may be underpowered for getting body bolts out... My 1,000 ft/lb unit had trouble with the front bolts. It took 10+ minuts of loosen/tighten action (with penetratin oil applied beteen cycles) before I was able to work them free..

 

[jfman]

Thanks for the tips !

I really wish ford had built this part so that it could be easely removed: I would have tossed it and bought a new one

 

[21robbie21]

for my front body cab bolts i had to drill two holes in the metal part(one on each side of one bushing)and then hammered a nail in each side of the bushin to prevent it from spinning, it took some manipulating, but thats the only thing that did it

 

[jfman]

for my front body cab bolts i had to drill two holes in the metal part(one on each side of one bushing)and then hammered a nail in each side of the bushin to prevent it from spinning, it took some manipulating, but thats the only thing that did it

Great idea !


Edit: I tried that but managed to snap both nails clean off. :fire:

 

[jfman]

UPDATE :

I "removed" 3 of the body bolt today

I didn't know if I should be lahghing or crying at this point.

 

['97 V8]

woooow. you snapped a bolt ?!?! Mine came out really easy and my truck was in oho for all its life.

 

[jfman]

I tried every trick in the book and some of these just wont come out....

I'm thinking about just going ahead and buying a torck set and cutting them off and install new ones all around...


I dunno what to do right now...

 

['97 V8]

what kinda tools are you using?

 

[jfman]

[QUOTE='97 V8]what kinda tools are you using?[/QUOTE]


I tried electric impact and nothing even budged. Borrowed a comporessor and an air impact and same scenario.

SO I'm doing it with a 28in breaker bar and a pipe as an extension. That's how I broke that one bolt.

I have used up 5 cans of PB since I started working on the truck but I just think the rust is too much imbedded into the bushings. Look at the bolt I snapped almost 1/2 of it has rusted away.


I got the 2 reart ones to come out. The 2 fronts are stuck there no way they will come out.

I snapped the passnger side bolt under the rear seat and the drivers side Spins on it own even when I hold the bushing with a pipe wrench.

The pair close to the firewall area I havent touched and same goes for the ones just behind the backseat. I cant afford to break those bolts cuz I drive the explorer everyday.

 

[SkanlaxJMO]

wow and you live in Gerrgia?

 

[jfman]

wow and you live in Gerrgia?

yes but the car is not from here...

I knew it was rusty when I got it but I still think it was a good deal and manual tranny 4X4 95up explorers are kinda rare.


The mounts are the worst part of the truck. I guess they trap the saltyness and it work it's way into the threads and the bolts.

the rest is not that bad actualy. I removed a tie rod end like it was nothing.

 

['97 V8]

wow...so your drivin the truck with some broken bolts and missing bolts...kinda sketchy. Try drillin the bolts out, then use some nuts on the end of each bolt. On my passengers side behind the firewall we ended up stripping the thread on the body mount so we used a nut and torqued it to 80 ib ft with thread lock

 

[jfman]

Yeah what you see there in the pic is what is missing. That's why i cant afford to pull anymore bolts out

 

[rsplatt]

I just did mine last week and had the same problem up front. All the bolts came out just fine except the driver front. What I ended up doing involved a MAPP gas torch, air impact, liquid wrench and a pair of vise grips. I soiled the bolt well with liquid wrench (the mount make a nice little "cup" for the stuff to collect). Just putting the impact on this caused the bushing to spin. I then used the vise grips to help hold the bushing from spinning (not an easy task). Still didn't come loose. I then applied the heat....at this point I should tell you I had a fire extinguisher by my side as I am about to put fire to an accelerator....to the bolt until red hot. I first heated the exposed threads of the bolt until red, then moved to the head for a few seconds, and back to the threads. Using the impact, I slowly spun the assembly until the vise grips were jammed against the frame so I could have one hand to play with fire and the other to operate the impact. Again, this ended up being very dangerous, as while I am using the impact, it is spreading flaming liquid wrench spewing from the bolt and over the garage floor. It still took a long time. I probably worked that bolt for a total of an hour or so. When I finally decided to give up, the bolt moved a bit. I had beat the bolt. I ended up destroying the mount because it melted into a pool of goo. Aparently this is a discontinued part, so I had to mail order it. But hey, I had the bolt out. Hope this helps and sorry about the book.