explorerwhiz
New Member
- Joined
- October 31, 2015
- Messages
- 1
- Reaction score
- 0
- City, State
- Montreal
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 2002 explorer xlt
An epic battle is going on in my garage. I have worked on things all my life and have learnt my lessons well as far as having the patients to let penetrating oil work,and cleaning threads to best possible state before attempting a twist.
I take breaks and look online for others who have suffered while i compose myself.Today i decided to join this website because I bought a gem 2002 clean explorer. I had one already and now have tons of parts in stock. i decided to strip down the old one and send the carcass to scrap. Strut towers have me over a barrel again! This one has the bushing turning inside the strut,I managed to even loosen the nut all the way off using a long breaker bar and much effort.
I have heated,oiled,soaked in penetrating oil,center punched,all to no avail. there is enough space from underneath to get vise-grips onto the inner bushing,so I jacked the truck up to a suitable height and put them on as tight as humanly possible and snugged a floor jack under the handle so they wont move while changing directions. with a 4 foot bar and much force and several attempts,I'm successfully chewing the bushing away with my vise grips! I realize the cost of the bolt,and I love a good challenge,but now I'm ready for some magic,anyone who has a trick? I've run out of rabbits in this magicians hat! (amateurs need not respond,this one is for the seasoned hard head who wont quit) I put the nut back on (yes I removed the tag off the nut and cleaned the burrs off so a wrench or socket can be used) so i can use my truck daily. needless to mention,I shoot it with penetrating oil religiously.I have attempted on three occasions and now will save for another day and wait to see if someone here can inspire me to hit it again?
Thanks for reading,if it sparks an idea of some sort?
drop a line....
I take breaks and look online for others who have suffered while i compose myself.Today i decided to join this website because I bought a gem 2002 clean explorer. I had one already and now have tons of parts in stock. i decided to strip down the old one and send the carcass to scrap. Strut towers have me over a barrel again! This one has the bushing turning inside the strut,I managed to even loosen the nut all the way off using a long breaker bar and much effort.
I have heated,oiled,soaked in penetrating oil,center punched,all to no avail. there is enough space from underneath to get vise-grips onto the inner bushing,so I jacked the truck up to a suitable height and put them on as tight as humanly possible and snugged a floor jack under the handle so they wont move while changing directions. with a 4 foot bar and much force and several attempts,I'm successfully chewing the bushing away with my vise grips! I realize the cost of the bolt,and I love a good challenge,but now I'm ready for some magic,anyone who has a trick? I've run out of rabbits in this magicians hat! (amateurs need not respond,this one is for the seasoned hard head who wont quit) I put the nut back on (yes I removed the tag off the nut and cleaned the burrs off so a wrench or socket can be used) so i can use my truck daily. needless to mention,I shoot it with penetrating oil religiously.I have attempted on three occasions and now will save for another day and wait to see if someone here can inspire me to hit it again?
Thanks for reading,if it sparks an idea of some sort?
drop a line....
