the dreaded bolt on the suspenion a4 cab b6

[vr6gordy]

need to replace the front top mount as bearings have gone .. is there anyway of undoing the the bolt at the top of the upright that holds the top wish bone ball joints with out snapping it off ..i dont wanna take off the hub and strip it all down again there must be a way .. maybe a little heat ? help anyone

 

[Turkster]

not done one mate but just be brave and all will be fine, try soaking it in WD40 1st!

 

[scott b]

or let someone else worry about it

 

[swarcup]

its an absolute bast£$rd if its never been out, walk away and take it to someone who is tooled up. I did mine a couple of months ago and wished i had never started. You get to a point where you cant take the car anywhere but just cant budge it and that dreaded feeling starts to dawn. Heat is an option but will melt the rubber boots on the upper arms. I ended up drilling and hammering for 6 hours to do mine and that was just the drivers side! Never again. Saying that the new one was reistalled with a bit of grease to try to prevent another sieze up in the future. Where are the bearings in the suspension? when i took my strut out all there was at the top was a big rubber block

 

[Turkster]

can we get a photo or diagram of the said bolt ?

 

[quattro tony]

Gentle heat, penetrating oil, punch and a copper hammer normally does the trick depending how siezed it is. I tend to prefer replacing the nut and bolt aswell. Didn't you have it all stripped out when you did the springs? I carn't say ive come across where the bearings have worn out on the top mount tbh

 

[fourcircle]

I also spent hours trying to loosen off my suspension and got one bolt off, only to immediately replace it and leave the car with a mechanic to do all the arms both sides. I now need to do my top mounts so hopefully it will be easy enough to take things apart since it's been done recently.
I'll join the masses and eagerly wait to hear more about bearings and top mounts. I don't quite get it.
cheers
nj

 

[AndyC]

I use my air hammer with a specially made drift, works everytime

 

[fourcircle]

I use my air hammer with a specially made drift, works everytime

Yeah that would certainly do it better than an idiot with a 1/2" ratchet
What's the specially made drift then?