3" Body Lift - Stubborn

[taxx]

Hello. I am in the process of installing the 3" PA body lift on my 97 X. So far things are going smoothly EXCEPT: I have some stubborn mounts. Living in the salt belt things tend to get rusted together. Has anyone out there ever dealt with the whole mount turning when you turn the bolt to remove the factory bolts? Any suggestions?

Here is what I am trying. I put a lot of wd-40 on the bolts last night to soak for the night and today. That might help. Would heat from a torch help to break the thread-locker? .... Thanks in advance.

 

[JDraper]

The heat will definitely help, but be very careful you don't smoke anything else. Also, you would be better off with a penetrant oil than wd-40. Use something like Liquid Wrench. WD-40 isn't that great as a penetrant.

 

[taxx]

I'll pick up some liquid wrench today at lunch. WD-40 is all I could come up with last night.

 

[Robert]

Be careful where you apply the heat if you still have WD-40 all over it. You may end up catching your mounts on fire My mounts would turn when I used a ratchet. When I used my impact wrench, they came off without difficulty.

 

[RFR2212]

2 things... I'd say make sure the WD-40 is dry... 2001 has done lots of lifts here in chicago, and if I remember correctly, heat definately helps get that thread locker out. But, i say again, becareful b/c of the WD-40. Also, even better than Liquid Wrench, is PB Blaster. It's in a white can, yellow top, with old fashon graphics on it. It's hard to find at Trak Auto, cause they tend to not stock lots of it, but Auto Zone by me had tons. This stuff is the $hit. Tons better than both WD-40 and Liquid Wrench.
Hope that helps
Pete

 

[Michigander]

HAHAHAHAHAHA

I am only laughing because myself and two of my friends struggled on this exact same issue for about 2-3 houors (the rear 2 and front 2 bushings. This is what we did;

when the bushing turns (looking from under the truck, below the body mount) you will see that there are two main pieces of the bushing; the rubber and a thin piece of metal. Both of the pieces are round and therefor hard to grip with a vice-grip, lock-tight, whatever you want to call it. We de-rounded the metal piece of the bushing by flatening one side and flattening the other side. Now we could get a good grip with the vice-grips/wrench. One person was under the truck holding the vicegrips as tight as humanly posible, not letting the bushing turn, while another person was up top with the socket wrench loosing it. It took us about 3 hours to get the 4 stubborn bolts off, but that was the easier solution we could come up with....

Hope this helps... anything else, just let me know!

 

[taxx]

Great! Thanks for all the input. I picked up a can of PB Blaster already. I have had luck with it in the past. I too had thought about the effeects of open flame and flamible fluids together. It kind of brings a smirk to my face becuase even though I have thought about it I could still see me doing it and frying those bushings and my eyebrows. A local 4x4 shop said an impact wrench is the way to go too. Problem is I don't have enough air pressure. But I found an electric impact wrench I am going to try in combination with the PB Blaster, the heat and possibly vice grips tonight. I will let you know how it goes.

Wish me luck!

 

[KEbert]

Try to find some stuff called Kimbell West (i think that is how you spell it) Penatrating Oil. It comes in a red can and is the best stuff that you can buy.

 

[amigo]

Hope you have better luck than I did. got them about 1/4" off and they froze up and would not budge. Ended up cutting the heads of the bolts off with a hacksaw. Only me and a buddy about 6 hours to get the 2 front mounts off. The other 8 was like cutting butter.

 

[taxx]

Thanks Guys. The propane Torch helped the most I think. About 45 seconds and the puppies come right off. Except for the front! I too am stuck on those. They will be coming off tomorrow by means of a cutting TORCH! I need to pick up a couple new mounts from the dealership to replace them once they are off, but after that I just have to put it all back together. I already have the other 8 blocks installed!

 

[Dre]

I had to replace 4 out of 10 mounts when I did my lift. I had no problem with the front bolts thogh since they "snapped" as soon as I tried turning my wrench but the most fun I had with the bolt sitting just above the gas tank........ it was turning with the mount so I ended up drilling the bolt from the top........ worked!

glad you got them out....
btw - have you tried angle grinder with a cutting wheel or a sawzall on those front mounts??

 

[taxx]

The one over the Gas tank was a royal pain on mine too. I tore up a bit trying to drill it out. But luckily it was far enough from the gas lines I gould get heat too it without risking an explosion. Once I got heat to it it came right out. I DO NOT RECOMEND THIS, open flames an gas are a big NO-NO!

I did try the sawzaw and I beat it up pretty well. All that rubber makes it hard to hold stable and do any good. I forgot I had a grinder, I will proably try that tonight before I torch it off. Once those are off then I just need to remount everything and tighten the bolts! Should be done tonight and I will post some pics before the weekend.

 

[Dre]

some guys can do it in one day, others........ like me for instance do it in two weeks...... I ended-up replacing some of the mounts. Second time around (when I dropped my lift to 1.5") it only took me a few hours. It probably took me more time to take out mouldings, seats and carpet out of the way than unscreewing all the bolts.

good luck!

PS. I believe Riffman ended-up taking the gas tank out to take that mount out, enit?

 

[taxx]

So you did the 3" body lift and then switched it to a 1.5 inch lift? So you had to buy a new kit or refab all of your parts? Why did you opt to switch? I keep still thinking about it. I don't think the difference between a 2" and a 3" body lift would matter to me. So I have been considering cutting my 3 inch blocks down to 2", I already have to fab my own bumper mounts anyway. So I am really at a decision making point in my lift now! Any imput out there?

Although then I guess all my radiator relocation brackets would have to be changed too... HMMM???

 

[taxx]

You can look at the link in my sig line for the current process and how it looks. Everyone, please let me know your thoughts!

 

[Dre]

I simply didn't want, didn't need all that lift. I have 1.5" of body lift and about 3.5" suspension. It seams to me that I'd rather lift suspension than body. Another thing is that I believe that the less lift the better..........

rule of thumb, don't lift your center of gravity too much....... if you'd like to use bigger tires just cut the fenders, that's if you want to use your truck off-road only....

 

[taxx]

Update...

The body lift is on. I decided (I know I should have bought the 2" lift) to cut the blocks down to 2". I am much happier with the results. Now I just have to aise the bumpers. The rear should be easy, I will drill a couple new holes and cut an inch off the brackets the PA kit gave me. The front is going to be a little more difficult. I am thinking.... any ideas? I have a cuple but don't know how welll they will work out.

Problem encountered:
Not one of the nuts in my PA kit fit any of the bolts. They were all to small. Anyone else have that happen?

 

[Yomie]

You should still be able to use the 3" bumper brackets from the '98+ rangers for the front end, it will get rid of the gap between the bumper and the grill that stock explorers have

 

[Dre]

yeah, when I trimmed my lift I ended up cutting all the brackets and drilling new holes........ rear is easy and in the front????? well, I don't have stock bumper up front anymore anyway so I know nothing about fitting...... good luck,

 

[taxx]

I agree the rear is easy. I am taking the brackets from the kit and cutting them down and drilling one or two new holes in them. As for the front.. The brackets from the kit I got will not work. I got the 95 - 97 kit so I could get the steering extender. I am going to take the stock brackets and on the hole that is higher (inside bolt) - relocate it down 2 inches and then bolt it back on and see how it does. If it looks good then I am going to take and either do one of the following or both... I am going to make a 2.5 inch long bracket out of steel and put the holes 2 inches apart then put it on or just weld the dang bracket on there. I can always cut it off if I have to. (I may need to refine my welding skills though)