Cant get pinch bolt out and wont turn (2.4 V6) - HELP please

[V6 family guy]

Hi all
Just replacing the wheel bearing on the drivers side.
The double pinch bolt at the top of the hub *** will not come out I have ........

Removed nut all ok
used impact gun no joy
breaker bar as above
asortment of hammers
loads of dub d
carb cleaner
i am reluctant to heat as the wd carb cleaner mix and also damaging the joints.
The top ball joints move freely in their holes
I have also tried to remove the top 2 arms but the front are bolt will not come out as it hits the inner arch.

Any help or ideas would be helpful.
Cheers James

 

[B5NUT]

Good luck with getting that bolt out, I just change all of my front arms and I ended up having to press the bolt out one shifted with 5 ton and the other was 7 ton, I was sweating on the last one as my press only goes up to 10ton.

 

[melteddrummerr]

I've just changed my shocks and had the same promblem, i put a spanner on the bolt head, put the nut back too a full nut on the bolt, I kept the pressure on with the spanner whilst hitting the end of the bolt and it eventually gave, took nearly an hour though.

Edit: had to replace said bolt though as all the threads were squashed.

 

[aragorn]

Mine were siezed too.

To get them out, i first used the breaker bar on the end of the bolt, which resulted in the head snapped off.

I then wound the nut back on, and tightened it against the upright, kept going and it drew the stud out. You get so far and run out of thread, so take the nut off pack it with some washers and repeat until it comes off.

Worked with both of mine.

 

[PAULF]

The problem is that when you press it, the pinch tightens and grips harder.
You could try tapping the pinch open a little, but I ended up cutting the bolt through the pinch and taking it out in 3 bits.
The other side came out with a 14lb sledge, with nothing on the other side of the bolt. Both bolts then needed replacing.
Drop the strut (3 bolts), and remove the bolt that holds each arm in. You can then take the whole thing away to do your bearing.

 

[aragorn]

I'd seriously advise against beating it with a massive hammer or roasting it.

If it wont come out with sensible levels of tapping, then try what i described above, and if that fails, drill it out.

 

[Jason.s]

I couldnt do mine on the drive due to that bolt so i had to take the whole thing out and bring it to work and the tech cut through the bolt and got it out after a lot of hitting and an angle grinder.

 

[B5NUT]

The problem is that when you press it, the pinch tightens and grips harder.

I packed out the pinch holes with a steal washer that was cut in in half. It did the job, the car was on the original arms and that bolt had been in there for 10 years.

 

[melteddrummerr]

Once you get them out dont forget to apply some grease to the new bolts because no doubt they'll need to come back out at some point.

 

[AndyMac]

One thing I didn't do when I had this issue, was jack up the hub, to relieve the pressure on the pinch bolt. Had to take the whole strut off in the end, which is probably the only guaranteed method when dealing with the original ******* bolt.

 

[V6 family guy]

Quick update
Thank you all for your advice
I dropped out the strut to get the top control arm bolt
out (this will go back the other way !)
Sheared the pinch bot head off
Then drilled either side out past the pinch slots removed the arms
Got the blow torch out lit it and yet another roll up!
got it cherry red and tapped the bolt out
So now back on track ?
I hope so !

But I knocked the ABS sensor it appears.ok but are there any
multi meter test you can do off the car ?
Thanks
James