Stuck bottom strut bolt
Asked by GuruWMX32 May 28, 2018 at 04:57 PM about the 2005 Ford Explorer XLT V6
Question type: Maintenance & Repair
Driver side strut has a broken spring. Went to
replace strut and bottom bolt will not come out.
Tried compressing spring, jacking control arm up
and hitting with a hammer. Will not budge . Strut
looks twisted. Can I cut the strut in two at the
bottom of it?
3 Answers
firebird338 answered 6 years ago
What kind of hammer are you using ? To get that bolt out you are going to have to use a mini sledge hammer or 16-20 oz ball pin hammer don’t forget to put nut back on bolt before hitting bolt to keep from messing up bolt end once you get it started to come out remove nut and use a center punch to finish knocking out.
Guru9X851T answered 3 years ago
The lower bolt for the front strut seized on both sides of my Explorer. The bolt is seized to the metal sleeve that runs through the rubber bushing in the bottom of the strut, not to the lower control arm. I tried everything I can think of including hitting it with a mini sledge. Heating the bolt to the point that the rubber bushing caught fire and then hitting it with the mini sledge until the end of the bolt was completely misshapen (note that the threads on the bolt do not go to the end and the end tapers down),plus several other things. Eventually, since I was replacing the ball joints at the same time, I removed the lower control with the strut still attached and used a hydraulic press to press the bolt out.
