rear shock mount plate on the top

[yogi]

Bit of a long shot this, but has anyone any magic tricks for getting these 2 bolts off beyond the usual penetrating oil/breaker bar/ heat/ smaller socket/impact etc tricks??

Also, if I end up having to drill them, how long are they? And what thread are they because then I'll have to replace them but won't really see that much of them?

I presume a bit of thread lock is no harm when putting them back in?

 

[Towpack]

I changed my shocks recently and those bolts were a b***h to get out. They all needed heat and plenty of it. The bolts are around 40mm long and protrude though the captive nuts quite a bit so the ends corrode and won't spin out easily even when you've 'cracked' them. I soaked them repeatedly for a week before hand and this made no difference. A couple of them rounded off but managed to get them out by hammering on a smaller socket. It was a case of heat up, undo half a turn, re-heat, undo half a turn and so on. They were that tight. I was desperate to avoid snapping one off as their position would make them awkward to drill out and retap. They looked like 8mm but were a finer thread than the M8's I had to hand. I replaced them with OE bolts from Mr T.
As for threadlok, I greased the new ones and torqued them up!

 

[AndycruiserguyLomas]

Ditto to the above. I've done mine this weekend and in the past I've done a fair few, these this weekend were an absolute ba****d. I'm sure they had never been out before. Sometimes the bottom bolts just undo, sometimes they need heat but the tops, well they fight you off till the last turn. I would say don't attempt this without burning tackle unless your chassis is immaculate. one thing to bare in mind id that the electrics to the rear run near to the most N/S bolt so you have to be careful. I got all my bolts out but I bet it took 1 1/2 hours to get then out without snapping them. I replaced them with shorter cap bolts and Copper Slipped them but the only person to benefit from that will be some bugger years down the line!!
In short it can be a bugger. the only ones which came out without a fight were the ones I took out of one which was about 10 years old and they resisted.
If you havn't got the tackle/experience get a good garage to do it.

Andy

 

[Chris]

Errm, why try to remove them? Just cut the old shock off below the plate and then put the new ones in. Leave the plate in place if it's that bad.

 

[AndycruiserguyLomas]

Good idea in theory, anybody done it that way?

Andy

 

[Knucklehead]

I ended giving the freeze off spray a go on mine.

Can't say if it really helped or not as still spent a good part of a day slowly loosening and tightening them with plenty of plusgas being left to soak in with each turn. They still rounded on me and ended up hitting them with the Irwin bolt removal sockets. These are not bolts you want to break off.

Just cutting the shock off and leaving the plate in place could be a goer. Might be quite tight to get a good hold on the new shock eye bolt for tightening down but would save a lot of pain if possible.

Regards the lower shock bolts, I went at mine REAL gently just using a ring spanner - no breaker bars or the likes. Got one out but ended snapping the other one after a couple of turns. Takes very little pressure to snap these. Much time spent drilling out the old bolt.

Could be worth while preparing for the worse and spend a few quid on a 12mm x 1.25mm tap for the lower bolt hole. This is an unusual size and not something you will find in a tap and die set. I found it hard enough to find a local hardware store that had that size.

A lot will also depend on if your bolts have been previously removed. Mine unfortunately had not and were rusted solid.

Good luck. Dave.

 

[Chris]

Yes, I have. That's why I suggested it Andy.

I cut part way through in fact and then just bent it back and forth until it snapped.

I did actually remove the plates in the end but only when I bought some Irwins.

 

[yogi]

I think I may try your approach Chris, I'll head out and have a look at how handy that is shortly.I may have gone for a few after posting that last night!!

The bottom bolts turned with no difficulty at all which surprised me because they were a little bit the worse for wear!

 

[Gary820]

I didn't touch the plates I just undid the nut onto the shock, came off without any hassle.

 

[Towpack]

In my case the top shock nuts were also seized so I'd have been no better off, then you have the problem of getting the torque wrench in to tighten the nut on the new shock.

 

[frank rabbets]

I was lucky as well then as the central nuts came off fairly easily.

 

[Yotomotor]

Yes I have a couple of weeks ago no problem doing it that way saves the inevitable break off lol