Leaf spring bolt stuck

[stephan.laun]

Ok this is a dumb question.....I am in process of putting my lift on and the front bolt holding leaf on spins and wont come out. The nut is still up in there and will not thread back on to give me room to just pry it out. So there is no place to wedge a pry bar or anything into to just pry out. Any sugestions on how to remove it?

 

[kennyw]

Front springs or rear springs? Those bolts like to rust into the sleeves and are a pain to remove sometimes. I had the same problem with the rear springs on my shortbed and had to break out the sawzall.

 

[Pvt. Maggot]

Your better off cutting them or whatever you have to do and then just replacing them with new ones.

 

[stephan.laun]

Rear spring and its the bolt that is in front. Looks like the same exact bolt you had issue with...Tho looks like you won that battle... I will have to try the sawzall bit in the AM. D**n thing made me mad. Smashed fingers with sledge trying to get it out and threads are all jacked up so will have to get new one.

 

[kennyw]

With the sawzall you can very carefully fit the blade on the top side of the bolt inside the spring hanger. Sucks trying to hold it upside down and keep pressure on it after too long.

 

[nad]

When I did my lift, I had to cut every single bolt that needed to be removed. Took me like 3 days to get the whole thing done because of all the cutting and hassling I had to do with it.

 

[OffRoad]

when i did my front springs, i had to cut the bolts as well. i didn't have a sawsall, so i put a grinder in their. bushings smell. bad.

after i got the spring out, i don't remember how i got the rubber bushing and bolt out, prolly BFH.

 

[nad]

BFH was the best tool I had for doing my springs. Since I bought used springs, I had to melt the old bushings out of them, and hammer in new ones. Major PITA.

Cutting through those inner metal sleeves with a sawzall can take hours, and ruin a ton of blades. When I got the grinder out, it went about 10 times faster.

 

[kennyw]

I didn't cut thru the sleeve with the sawzall, just the bolt. Used one blade on both bolts. There is also more control and less chance of damaging parts you want to keep that way.

 

[dremu]

bushings smell. bad.

Amen to that, btdt. I *swear* GM musta used the smelliest rubber possible for those things!

-- A

 

[OffRoad]

it was the bushings in my zoo, but still. truth.

 

[JPMSK5]

yep sawall, if you are not trying to save anything, cut along the springs and through the rubber to make sure you dont damage the frame shackle. If you are in a hurry and dont want to save anything, I use a smoke wrench and just blow them out. Smells really really bad and lots of flamage, not for the faint of heart but really quick. Smoke wrench = cutting torch

 

[stephan.laun]

OK GOT IT......Took using a circular saw with metal cutting blade to get it off... I went through like 5 sawzall blades before i went to circular saw....Thanx for all the help ya'll...

 

[johnnychimpo]

I use my 4.5" grinder w/ a cut off wheel. I fits between the spring hanger & the spring eye nicely. Always cut the nut end off first so you can turn the bolt w/ a wrench or socket. This way you can cut the bolt all the way around & finally through.