Rounded Sway bar bushing bolts, tips on removing

Bernardchan96

New member
I was trying to replace my front sway bar bushings and replace the mounts as well. When trying to remove the mounting bolts, i removed 2/4 no problem with my impact wrench 14mm deep socket, but the other 2 it rounded the bolts pretty bad. Now i just bought some liquid wrench and have sprayed it for a while now and tried with some pliers no luck. Im borrowing some vice grips and channel lock pliers and will try again but is there any other suggestions? Mine is a 05 v8 and i live in canada so it is rusted to shit. I dont have a welder to weld a nut on, would buying an electric heat gun and applying it to the bolt help>? The bolt is a 14 mm and i cant get a 9/16 socket on it either.
 
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without a welder you have two other options off the top of my head, the first being much preferable to the second.

1) get a plumber's torch that runs on propane. Get bolt extractor sockets for that general size of bolt. Get the bolts hot, but not so hot you catch the bushing on fire. Use the extractor socket to the turn the bolt while it's smoking hot just a quarter turn or so. Hit the bolt with Liquid Wrench, let it cool a bit, then twist it the rest of the way out.

2) With a dremel or cutoff tool or grinder, grind some new, smaller flats on the bolts. Pray to the mechanical Gods that they shine upon you. Use your impact bolt-head-rounding device to snap the heads off the rusted bolts because the mechanical Gods despise you. Drink a 6-pack while you ponder every bad decision you've ever made in life. Drill broken bolt with right-hand drill bit, pressing hard to ensure you break the drill bit off in the broken bolt. Drink a 6-pack while pondering if you've ever made a good decision in your life. Using the tiniest left-hand drill bit in your set that you haven't managed to lose or break, yet, attempt to drill into the broken right-hand drill bit while whispering a Detroit shaman chant. After breaking the small drill bit off in the larger drill bit stuck in the broken bolt, drink a 6-pack and ponder the meaning of life and whether it's worth existing at all. Using a cold chisel of improper length to get a good swing at it, attempt to convince the drill bit it wants to leave its new-found home. Good job! Now that you've chipped your cold chisel, gouged the frame, sway bar bracket, and sway bar itself, you can get serious about solving this issue with a sawzall. Drink a 6-pack because you look like you need it. Using the sawzall, remove the sway bar from around the bracket. Consider whether you needed a sway bar in the first place. It's late, so you probably didn't really need it. Replace the bolts you removed so the bracket doesn't rattle. Congratulations, you're done! Drink a 6-pack in celebration!

:beer:

Narat
 
without a welder you have two other options off the top of my head, the first being much preferable to the second.

1) get a plumber's torch that runs on propane. Get bolt extractor sockets for that general size of bolt. Get the bolts hot, but not so hot you catch the bushing on fire. Use the extractor socket to the turn the bolt while it's smoking hot just a quarter turn or so. Hit the bolt with Liquid Wrench, let it cool a bit, then twist it the rest of the way out.

2) With a dremel or cutoff tool or grinder, grind some new, smaller flats on the bolts. Pray to the mechanical Gods that they shine upon you. Use your impact bolt-head-rounding device to snap the heads off the rusted bolts because the mechanical Gods despise you. Drink a 6-pack while you ponder every bad decision you've ever made in life. Drill broken bolt with right-hand drill bit, pressing hard to ensure you break the drill bit off in the broken bolt. Drink a 6-pack while pondering if you've ever made a good decision in your life. Using the tiniest left-hand drill bit in your set that you haven't managed to lose or break, yet, attempt to drill into the broken right-hand drill bit while whispering a Detroit shaman chant. After breaking the small drill bit off in the larger drill bit stuck in the broken bolt, drink a 6-pack and ponder the meaning of life and whether it's worth existing at all. Using a cold chisel of improper length to get a good swing at it, attempt to convince the drill bit it wants to leave its new-found home. Good job! Now that you've chipped your cold chisel, gouged the frame, sway bar bracket, and sway bar itself, you can get serious about solving this issue with a sawzall. Drink a 6-pack because you look like you need it. Using the sawzall, remove the sway bar from around the bracket. Consider whether you needed a sway bar in the first place. It's late, so you probably didn't really need it. Replace the bolts you removed so the bracket doesn't rattle. Congratulations, you're done! Drink a 6-pack in celebration!

:beer:

Narat

:bravo: :lmao:
You sound like you live in the rust belt and have done this before....BUT then ran out of beer or past out, or both!!!
 
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Narat you are a person after my own heart. If you don't get it, drink a beer and think about it. If you do get it, drink a lot more beer and forget about it.:rockon: All kidding aside, welding a nut on would work the best but due to a rubber bushing that would cause a lot of grief. I use a penetrating oil called Kroil. This stuff is the best I have ever used to free rusted fasteners. Heating with a torch and then using the oil usually works. I worked skilled trades and had to deal with this for 31 years.
 
I changed these bushings a couple of days ago, and the bolts were all 12mm on my '08. Check your bolts again, they may not be 14mm after all.
 
You definitely won't want to reuse these bolts. You should be able to go to home depot or any hardware store and get replacement bolts.

Anti Seize is your friend here with the replacement bolts.
 

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