removing the radius arm stud bolts | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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removing the radius arm stud bolts

cerberusaardvark

Well-Known Member
Joined
September 7, 2009
Messages
331
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City, State
San Diego
Year, Model & Trim Level
1994 Explorer xlt
hey guys, cant seem to get the oomph i need to get the radius arm stud bolts out so i can separate them from the ttb's. i tried heat, a huge breaker bar, and they dont budge AT ALL! at one point i was worried about shearing the breaker bar itself. how the heck did you all get them off???
 



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I ended up "cracking" the nuts when I swapped over to the arms from a F series. I used my Dremel with cutting discs in 3 places around the nut until I almost cut through to the threads, then used a slim chisel and a BFH to "pop" them off. I got tired of breaking ratchets, breakerbars and empting my torch set while trying to get the stupid things to come off.
 






Mine came right off using a 1/2" breaker bar without any problems, but then again I do live in Arizona.
 






lol i wish mine were that easy. living in california youd think they were come right off. backwoods, where were you able to find the new stud bolts?
 






A goo impact driver. Works the best, trust me.
 






I had those bolts out a few times over the last couple months.

I found heat and a big arse cheater bar worked best. I cut the end off one of my combo wrenches and used the high lift jack handle. That gave me enough oomph to get that stud off.

I also found heat makes that stud (and lower bolt) much easier to get back in (heat the RA, not the bolt).

4164437075_0fdb310c63_z.jpg


Keep in mind, I'm in Az so there was no rust..

~Mark
 






Soak the bolts with a 50/50 mix of acetone/ATF a couple times for a couple days before taking them off. Other penetrating oils should work as well. I live in South Dakota where rust isn't just something that happens, it is a way of life, so I know that they can get tough to take off, but, if you give them some penetrating oil for a couple days, a big ass breaker bar and a healthy serving of oomph will get them off of there.

Otherwise, do like Maniak said, heat the radius arm, not the bolt. If you can't get them off like that, heat the arm as much as you can around the bolt, then quench it with COLD water immediately a couple times. That should break them free.
 






i used a liquid wrench or pb blaster. then a torch and a 1/18th socket with a 4 foot breaker bar ahah. dry ice works too
 






I got replacement hardware from a local source, "Fastenal".
 






Dont forget anti-seize when reassembling. That will make it alot easier next time
 






ditto on the 50/50 acetone/ATF...poured some on yesterday and with a little elbow grease, they came out this afternoon
 






I didnt even try to mess around. I used the 3/4" impact first. came right off.
 






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