About to lose my mind

[Mcflurry]

Hi gents,

Let me start off by saying, this has been consuming me for a week. I should have turned to you sooner, but I wanted to be a big boy and solve my own problem for once. It didn't work out.

I'm in the process of replacing the carrier arm bearings. Got the first side done no worries, couple of hours but no trouble. The other side the big M20 bolt & Nut seized. Unfortunately the nut is supposed to be held captive but while using my gentle persuader to turn it it has rounded the nut. No more captivity.

I soaked it in WD40 and attempted to hold the nut by jamming a screwdriver in, no joy. I went out and bought a Dremel since there's very little room and thought this would be a good tool to just cut the nut off, there just isn't enough room in there even with the small pencil Dremel attachment. I've tried giving this thing a million slices with the dremel and then beating it with a chisel. No joy. I've tried drilling through the nut, but it's too restricted I could only get 1 hole, and broke most of my drill bits in the process.

I rang around all the mechanics in my area and they're too busy to see me for a month... and by then I should be on a holiday in this giant pile of trouble.

Could someone please show me the light

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[MB]

G’day McFlurry Mate!
Do you have or anyone nearby own a welder to tack a long piece of steel rod or plate against the nut to temporarily hold it for you hopefully
‘Penetrene’ is also my go to for loosening rusty stuff, a lot better than CRC/WD40 I find


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[RickGQ]

Can you get a new bolt and nut? Seems you'll need a new nut at the very least anyway.
In your situation, since the nut is hard to get at, I'd grind the head off the bolt, clean everything up and replace the nut, bolt and bearing.

[Mcflurry]

Hey MB,

I wish I knew a welder actually! That sounds like a solid idea. Unfrotunately recently moving down here from QLD I know very few people but will look at finding a welder!

[Mcflurry]

Yeah got a new bolt & nut ready to go. If I were to grind the bolt head off I still won't be able to remove the shaft of the bolt nor the nut since it's covered on the underside

[RickGQ]

Yeah got a new bolt & nut ready to go. If I were to grind the bolt head off I still won't be able to remove the shaft of the bolt nor the nut since it's covered on the underside

Gotcha. Since you mention it I can see that's an issue. You gotta do something though. How far would it drop if you ground the head off the bolt? Far enough to get at it with the grinder at the nut side? Probably not..
As MB says, welding a piece of rod to the nut may give you some leverage; obviously you need to be careful not to weld the nut to the bolt in that tight space.
A good soaking with a penetrant, I've used Reducteur H-72 with some success on seized bolts.
Maybe just heating the nut with a propane torch will loosen it. The heating method worked with the body mount bolts on my GQ, those were rusted solid at the time I replaced them.

[Mcflurry]

After consulting here I made the executive decision to grind the plate that's supposed to be captivating that nut! I did give it a crack with a blow torch but had no luck

Thanks for your help Rick

[Truckus]

Do you know anyone with a set of these

https://www.supercheapauto.com.au/p/...gid=SCA8005330

The Mentrichs grab the flats, not the corners of the bolt/nut heads. I got a Knock off set for any rounded bolts apprentices had butchered over the years, a must have for any spanner kit with older trucks.

By heating the bolt, that makes the bolt metal expand so it gets tighter, what you want is to freeze the bolt and heat the surrounds, so the bolt contracts while the thread hole expands.

With some peno (no heating or freezing) and cleaning the bolt head free of grease (so the lube is in the thread only) a breaker bar and a 20 MM Mentrich socket should be able to loosen the bolt. May have been more successful earlier on pre butchering, but still a chance of success.

Good luck, as drilling that bolt out and retappng is time consuming, and I don't think ezy outs are going to work without breaking off themselves.

[Mcflurry]

Truckus, thanks for the suggestion mate, I actually happen to have a set from many years back. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get a spanner near the bolt. I ended up grinding the plate off and the nut.. now the damn M20 still won't come out, I think it's seized onto the bearings in the housing... what a war.

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[rusty_nail]

Hey MB,

I wish I knew a welder actually! That sounds like a solid idea. Unfrotunately recently moving down here from QLD I know very few people but will look at finding a welder!

You should touch base with some of us local boys mate. There is a large group down here in Melbourne, someone is sure to be close to you

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