Toe bolt galded

[47silver]

Rebuilding the rear suspension and found the toe bolt (steel) galded to the aluminum banana arm. Tried persuasion hammer but it will not budge.
Any ideas on getting it loose?

[john walker's workshop]

Air hammer?

[gled49]

did u loosen the camber eccentric bolt and the 2 securing bolts, they will pinch the toe bolt, u need to relax all fasteners.

[47silver]

thanks for the suggestions.
the arm is unbolted from the swing arm. I was an idiot, when I had it off to install new elephant bushings, I did not remove the bolt, i was thinking that the location was a good reference. But I did not realize it was stuck.

I do not have an air hammer, but I am afraid of cracking the aluminum arm with one.

Worst case i have to remove it again and that is not fun with the transmission in the car.

I was going to use some heat, then, let it cool a few times but of course it is on the fuel line side which gives me pause and the arm is painted with cosmoline.

I was wondering if one of those induction heaters would work to heat it up rather than a torch?
I also was reading about using a battery with a large bolt to heat up a stuck bolt.. has anyone tried that?

[IROC]

I don't think it is actually galled (which is really a process where similar materials fuse together under force - like stainless steel/stainless steel or aluminum/aluminum). If it truly "galled" then you are out of luck and will have to drill it out, etc.

In my experience, what is actually going on is that over time an aluminum oxide (or something like that) material forms at the steel/aluminum interface that has fused the steel bolt to the aluminum trailing arm. If that is the case, the hammer works.

[47silver]

then air hammer it is.

[TxGerman]

Not specifically on this part of the car, but in a similar situation, the only thing that worked for me was a liberal application of liquid penetrant, then time and then heat + BFH. Then, it broke free and was easy to remove. In my situation, it was exactly as IROC described, in terms of the foreign material that caused the two dissimilar metals (with some dirt/sand/etc added in for good measure) to be seized.

[stownsen914]

What TxGerman said. Time permitting, I always prefer to ease whatever is binding it first before resorting to brute force.

[47silver]

Removed it from the car. Heat, penetrant, tried my good wilton vice. All no luck. Afraid to crack the aluminum so try again with penetrant and heat. Thinking weld a large nut and the weld heat might loosen it. Never had one so difficult

[DaytonaCoupe66]

I discovered that the driver side toe bolt capture point on my 930 arm was broken right off. I suspected an accident but the alignment guy figured it was caused by a pry bar. Wise of you to continue being patient. Slow and steady......

A decent machinist will separate it for much less that the cost of a replacement.

[47silver]

The car is a 1975 and as far as I know the suspension has never been adjusted. So after almost 50 years of marriage, the steel and aluminum do not want to divorce.
I use a very old machinist fine thread vise that has never let me down but it will not press out this adjuster.
I have been heat cycling it and using penetrant both pb blaster and Gibbs and taking my time worst comes to worst I will drill get it drilled out.
does anyone have an extra adjuster?

[David Inc.]

Dumb question--is it perhaps cocked in the hole with the threads buried in the aluminum? I had one stick pretty badly where a BFH wouldn't get it out but as soon as I torqued it out it popped loose.

Dumb question, probably you already tried it.

[47silver]

the eccentric does not have any threads inside the banana arm. It is just a slip fit that allows the adjuster to turn inside the banana arm. On the other end is an offset stud that moves the swing plate as the adjuster turns.
the passenger side spins easily.
I took it to a automobile machine shop and he said it looks like dissimilar metals binding. I am hoping he can remove it without having to drill it out.
I highly recommend removing them and coating them with anti-seize to help to prevent this scenario from occurring.
I will post some pictures if I can.

[Dpmulvan]

Penetrating oil will do nothing for dissimilar metals aluminum and steel. In my 35 years of wrenching penetrating oil has never saved me. It’s always heat that saves you.

[47silver]

the machine shop removed it for $30.00
not sure what he did but a good deal.

[David Inc.]

Originally Posted by 47silver

the eccentric does not have any threads inside the banana arm. It is just a slip fit that allows the adjuster to turn inside the banana arm. On the other end is an offset stud that moves the swing plate as the adjuster turns.
the passenger side spins easily.
I took it to a automobile machine shop and he said it looks like dissimilar metals binding. I am hoping he can remove it without having to drill it out.
I highly recommend removing them and coating them with anti-seize to help to prevent this scenario from occurring.
I will post some pictures if I can.

Oh you're right, sorry I was thinking of the fixing bolts.

[47silver]

He heated it with oxy acet and used a large press to remove it.
Thanks for all of the advice.

I do recommend removing them and coating with anti-seize to prevent this problem.

[Quickstep192]

Originally Posted by john walker's workshop

Air hammer?

Can you explain how to use an air hammer to loosen a bolt?

It’s always good to have one more bolt loosening method in the bag of tricks.

[john walker's workshop]

Take the nut off, or back it off flush with the end of the bolt to protect the threads, then a couple of quick blips and the corroded fastener should move. We're talking about this particular bolt of course.