Bolt broke off in coil spring clamp...arrrgh

[reed62]

Hey all,

So I was starting to remove the rear coil springs on my 62 last night, I used PB Blaster on the nuts and bolts to loosen up 50+ years of potential rust. I put the wrench to the bottom bolt head and started to slowly move it and the head twisted right off. Now my question is how do you get that bolt out of the trailing arm? The top bolt came out without too much trouble, so with the spring dangling I used my cutoff wheel and sliced through the spring. I used the cutoff wheel and a chisel to remove most of what was left of the spring clamp but am not sure how to get the rest of that bolt out. I really don't want to try and remove the whole trailing arm unless I have to.

Ideas?

Also, how many of you have removed the trailing arms and replaced the bushings? The bolts and nuts look like they are a real joy to remove and would require a large socket and air wrench to get them off.

[Shady Rascal]

You're gonna have to drive the bolt remnant out with a punch and hammer. Not fun and not easy. Use penetrating oil and a lot of it. Large hammer, solid punch and hit it like you mean it.

[reed62]

Originally Posted by Shady Rascal

You're gonna have to drive the bolt remnant out with a punch and hammer. Not fun and not easy. Use penetrating oil and a lot of it. Large hammer, solid punch and hit it like you mean it.

That's what I was afraid of. I will continue to cut off what I can from the top and then drive it out the bottom side rather that taking the entire arm off and having it pressed out.

[Shady Rascal]

Try to put something solid under the trailing arm as close to the bolt hole as reasonable. Something like a jack stand or solid block of wood. You don't want that arm to be able to move at all when you hit it. Any movement absorbs some of your hard earned arm swinging energy.

[69gmcc10]

Originally Posted by reed62

Also, how many of you have removed the trailing arms and replaced the bushings? The bolts and nuts look like they are a real joy to remove and would require a large socket and air wrench to get them off.

I took mine apart with hand tools. I used seafoam deep creep and sprayed the bolts 2 or 3 times over a week and then I took a box end wrench and my friendly mini sledge and broke the bolt loose. Not that difficult, and those bushings needed to be replaced!