IRS Sub-Frame Bolt Removal

[DLF]

I'm doing some work on someone else's '98 and I thought I'd post a few pics of what I've had to do so far to remove the Sub-Frame bolts in order to replace the forward Sub-Frame support brackets. This will give anyone who's looking at doing this job an idea of what you're getting into on a northern car.

If the bolts aren't rusted into the bushings, and subsequently snap right off, then it's likely that the captured nut will spin. If that happens, no choice but to cut an access hole.

So far I've had one forward bolt snap off, and I'll probably have to cut the bushing off as that bolt is rusted to the bushing sleeve.

The other forward bolt spun the nut, and after cutting the hole and pounding down the ears that retain the nut, I was able to remove it, after a liberal application of PB Blaster. Sometimes it's necessary to weld the ear to the nut, but that should be a last resort as it'll make it difficult to align the Sub-Frame in the future.

Spraying some grease on the end of the bolt after it's reinstalled will help if it needs to be removed in the future. I had thought that I was done with this side, until I started working on the other side.

Because I'm going to have to remove one of the forward bushings completely, I now have to remove the entire Sub-Frame, which means removing both rear bolts as well.

One rear bolt came right out, the other is also spinning the nut, so I'll have to cut another access hole in the trunk floor. I'll post some more pics tomorrow that show the location of that access hole (after I've cut it).

Fun, fun, fun......

 

[Right on the Mark]

Been there done that. Sucks when a simple job turns into a nightmare.

 

[GMAN]

Will a breaker bar snap them loose? I want to drop to whole IRS on my parts car.

 

[DLF]

Will a breaker bar snap them loose? I want to drop to whole IRS on my parts car.

One of three things will happen....

The captured nut will spin.

The bolt will come out.

The bolt will snap.

 

[GMAN]

On my 94 parts car I had last year, I tried getting them off with the impact, and it wasn't budging. I am hoping it is different with the 97.

 

[87TTOPGT420]

Been here done that on a mark I scrapped just cut the bolt heads and got a big as bar as bolt was seized in bushing

 

[87TTOPGT420]

But I have a cougar and my mark needs both the brackets in the front

 

[Marcus]

The obvious solution is to drown the bolt with PB Blaster then turn the car upside down for a few hours.

 

[Right on the Mark]

the obvious solution is to drown the bolt with pb blaster then turn the car upside down for a few hours.

lol

 

[DLF]

So far today I've cut off the forward bushing that was rusted to the bolt, knocked off the top hat with a sledge hammer and removed the bolt stub with a pipe wrench.

Then I pressed out the damaged bushing and pulled in the replacement using Ford Rotunda special tools. Used a ton of silicone spray.

I've sprayed the bolt shafts with grease to try to prevent the replacement bolts from rusting to the bushings in the future and also some loctite where the bolt meets the captured nut.

Both new Sub-Frame supports are now installed, but not torqued yet, as I need to fix the spun nut on the rear mount and then align the Sub-Frame before everything gets torqued down.

Off to cut a hole in the trunk now...

 

[2002WRXSTi]

People may not believe this but if ya soak it with Kroil they will come out

Wish I video taped when I was trying to get the lug nuts off my M725 and my IR impact gun couldn't budge them. Dead serious I dripped a couple drops of Kroil on em. Hit it with the impact gun and the spun off so fast you would think they where only hand tight

The stuff is seriously that good

 

[DLF]

Cut the hole in the trunk.

And, as suspected, the ears have allowed the nut to spin.

Pounded down the ears and sprayed the bolt with PB Blaster. I'll let it soak overnight and then try again to remove the bolt.

 

[DLF]

People may not believe this but if ya soak it with Kroil they will come out

Wish I video taped when I was trying to get the lug nuts off my M725 and my IR impact gun couldn't budge them. Dead serious I dripped a couple drops of Kroil on em. Hit it with the impact gun and the spun off so fast you would think they where only hand tight

The stuff is seriously that good

This bolt wasn't going to come out, regardless of what it was sprayed with.

 

[chris2523]

pb blaster is good stuff. i am a fan.
i've had my two front bolts out and covered them in anti seize before putting them back in so they shouldn't be any trouble to remove next time.

 

[ford nut]

I hate rust.

I hate salt.


I also hate snow, cold, winter, frostbite......

 

[2002WRXSTi]

Used PB Blaster and Kroil just blows it away. Stuff is that good.
Plus wanna talk about stuck stuff. We just had a Desoto with a 361 that was seized up solid as a rock from sitting in a dirt floor swampy pole barn. Watch the video and you wont believe we got it running
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JD_IHlk81Ec

 

[Marcus]

Ugh, this looks like a nightmare. I'm going to be tackling this in a week, and my car is the poster child of northern cars. Luckily Jeremi will be there to do all the hard work and to prevent me from intentionally setting fire to the car. So what do you intend to do with the holes? Rubber plugs? Weld a patch over them?

 

[DLF]

Ugh, this looks like a nightmare. I'm going to be tackling this in a week, and my car is the poster child of northern cars. Luckily Jeremi will be there to do all the hard work and to prevent me from intentionally setting fire to the car. So what do you intend to do with the holes? Rubber plugs? Weld a patch over them?

Rubber plugs.

 

[DLF]

Used PB Blaster and Kroil just blows it away. Stuff is that good.

Please stop cluttering up my thread....

A DeSoto? Really?

 

[Roadboss]

Agreed!!

 

[thaywood]

Don't be hatin' on the DeSoto

**runs away**

 

[DLF]

Finally!

The last bolt fought me hard, and I had no choice but to weld the nut into position. Not much fun welding through a small hole in the trunk using a mirror.

As I said before, this is a last resort, and I made sure that the Sub-Frame was properly aligned before I welded this last nut.

But it's out, so now I can bead blast and paint the two rear cups to finish this part of the rebuild.

 

[Markviiiedrea]

So if you did not have a welder, what would you have done on the last bolt? I have all the tools up till that point...My sub frame is a rust sanctuary

 

[DLF]

So if you did not have a welder, what would you have done on the last bolt? I have all the tools up till that point...My sub frame is a rust sanctuary

I thought about drilling a hole through the captured nut and the frame and pinning the nut with a small bolt. It might have worked, but I went with the welder.

 

[Markviiiedrea]

That is a good idea, was the hole big enough for a grinder to get in there and cut the head off? I know I will be running into this problem when I get enough courage to do this someday soon.