Lower Control arm replacement. Trouble removing them.

Nine years of road salt evidently has taken it's toll.

Depending on where the bolts are and what material it goes into, it wire brushing, time with a penetrating oil and heat from a torch that is needed to remove the bolts. If they break anything, you pay the price.

For those who pave "poo pooed" rustproofing as unnecessary, had it been applied in the areas of the bolts years ago, removal would be easy. To me and others like Mendel, rustproofing or just spraying the bolted connections with rustproofing is worth the cost.

Check out this thread;

Rustproofing the suspension | PriusChat

 

I'm sorry, but I have to ask......345,000 mi. ........is that with the original engine?.......

 

Because the exterior of the bolt looks clean, it does not mean that the contact between the threads of the bolt and the female threads are clean. Water vapor is a gas and readily penetrates and deposits in that area. Any salt or electrolyte will soon follow into the crack or crevice and cause an electrolytic reaction that locks the two pieces together.

 

Thank You........

 

Mechanics in Michigan have advocated lots of heat when removing rusted suspension bolts. I'd suggest a propane torch as long as its safely away from rubber and plastic that should stay on the vehicle. Heat up the bolt and then tap the threaded end with a hammer to break up the rust. When you're done I'd get the bolt hot again and then spray with some penetrating oil. I've also heard hot wax (candle) will climb threads as well/better than oil will. Have a fire extinguisher handy just in case.

 

When I reassemble these components, I always apply either high temperature brake component grease or anti-seize lubricant to the threads.

I would buy new bolts and chase the female threads that the bolts go into when they are reassembled. Cheap insurance.

 

You're not tapping the threads you're tapping the threaded end (the end with the nut)

Pixel XL ?

 

Do you reduce torque? I've got a book (Pocket Ref, by Thomas J. Glover) with various torque reduction recommendations: "silver grade anti-seize" suggests 0.90. Then for "never-seize", it's 0.45. That's pretty much the gamut.

 

For an ISO 10.9 or 11 grade bolt, a 10% increase in torque doesn't matter. Most all technicians almost never use a torque wrench in tightening suspension bolts.

The difference is significant in lightweight designs for aircraft or spacecraft where design margins a small.

 

This is front suspension? If so, is it one of the highlighted items? Or?

 

EDIT - new answer after seeing the bolt.

Something to try - Sometimes (very rarely though) on suspension parts, like maybe that one there, they use locking serrated nuts so that when tightened, the flat surface on the nut flange will dig into the mating surface. It becomes virtually impossible to remove the nut. So the trick is to loosen it from the bolt head, not the nut. Hold the nut from moving with one wrench, and loosen the bolt head with the other wrench / socket.

EDIT - the stuff below was written before I saw the ID on the bolt.

The fact that your mechanic is stumped and has broken two ratchets means it is maybe not an easy problem. So a little more detail in exactly what the problem bolt is would help.

Photo?

So far, I think you've been getting general advice for undoing fasteners, and you may need something more specific here.

 

Breaking ratchets cus he's using cheater bars, overtaxing them? Gotta have the right tools (quote from my father in law).

Milwaukee Tools heavy weight battery impact would probably do?

Or a 24~30" breaker bar?

I'll post some repair manual info when I'm home.

 

I ran into a similar issue on my daughters Suzuki SX4. Following a video tutorial, a broke a couple of tools on the vertical nut/bolt. Turned out the method in the video was utter BS as the nut was an integral cast part of the lower control arm and NOT meant to be removed.

Anyway looking at the circled parts above, it doesn't look to be the same issue.

GOOD LUCK!

 

Here's the info: