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Cant Get Leaf Springs Off For Lift

X

xjjethro

NAXJA Forum User
Location
cedar springs MI
the bolt in the front of my leaf spring will not come loose and i cant cut it off because it has to come out of the frame for the new springs to go in any ideas

Thanks, Ty
 
Spray penetrating oil all over the bolt and in between the gaps where the leaf spring rest.

Leave it for a day to seep in where it can.

Get a breaker bar and a good steel toe boot on and start kicking it (Smashing it with a wooden block also works great.) an the bolt will start to extract.

Do you have Air Impact available?

What year XJ? Are the leaf springs original? You have to break all those years of rust and dirt/ect from the threads then it will move.

Give those a try and get back to us.

IMG_1780.jpg


You can see there is LOTS of room to get penetrating fluids in and around the leaf spring bolt. Mine took nearly 15 minutes each to get out after letting them sit soaking up the penetrating oil over night. Lot of work with the breaker bar then fired up the air impact to speed it up.
 
been sitin with oil on it every night since Thursday the impact doesn't have enough power to get it to budge as for year its a 92 and yea there the original springs
 
the pic didn't load the first time and i don't know if your trying to show me space or the u- bolt in the pic but its the bolt that goes through the front eye lit of the spring
 
I dought you'll have enough room to get a impact in there, I know I couldent. Make sure the jeep is on all fours and not jack stands, put the breaker bar on there and get a piece of pipe to help get some leverage, and slowly do it. Thats what I had to do, then it came out just fine.
 
are you talking about the shackle bolts? i just cut everything out after trying to get them loose for two days, and a week and half of hosing it down with pb blaster prior to the lift.
 
Do you have access to a welder?

If so, you can cut the frame rail open, cut the bolt off, weld a new nut over the hole and weld the frame back up with a plate over the cut.

Sucks, but some of our jeeps led lives up there in the salt belt, and we've learned to deal.

If you don't have a welder you can pic up a torch pretty cheap. Heating the bolt till its red hot and waiting till it cools will help sometimes, but DO NOT re-use the bolt. all the heat treatment is screwed up and you could break it.
 
IF you get to the heating the bolt, before it cools, take a crayola, and melt it on the threads as it cools, the cooling of the bolt, and capillary action (I suppose) will suck the wax into the threads, and help with extraction, works with exhaust bolts. We used to run a car till the exhaust was hot, do the crayon, then remove the exhaust. It helps alot with those, so maybe it will help with those too.
 
jeepfreak1020 said:
I dought you'll have enough room to get a impact in there, I know I couldent. Make sure the jeep is on all fours and not jack stands, put the breaker bar on there and get a piece of pipe to help get some leverage, and slowly do it. Thats what I had to do, then it came out just fine.
Click to expand...

Socket, extension, impact.... It'll fit

Use a sawzall to cut each side of the bolt around the leaf. Once you drop the leaf, you will have much more room to work.
 
msrorysddad said:
IF you get to the heating the bolt, before it cools, take a crayola, and melt it on the threads as it cools, the cooling of the bolt, and capillary action (I suppose) will suck the wax into the threads, and help with extraction, works with exhaust bolts. We used to run a car till the exhaust was hot, do the crayon, then remove the exhaust. It helps alot with those, so maybe it will help with those too.
Click to expand...


Thought about this, but the head is about three inches from the threads on this bolt. i don't think he can get to the threads without cutting the frame.
 
that is correct i cannot reach the treads and as for the impact I did NOT say that , and I CAN get the impact on there but it does not have the power to turn the bolt
 
this is for the top bolt on the shackle dont use on the bottem unless you have new springs

take a cutting torch cut the shackle off on both sides knock it off
then cut the sleve thats around the rubber then take a nife to the rubber now that the shackle and bushing is off you can see the sleave that was between the rubber and the bolt heat that up
get it nice and hot then hit the head of the bolt (strait on dont mess it up) with a medium size hammer then try the impact on the bolt should come off but watch that it dosnt strech the mount

if it streches the mount then cut that sleave off the bolt with the torch if your good or a die grinder i use a torch but you
have to be carful not to cut the bolt

if the bolt dosnt want to come out you can heat it as much as needed now also

hope this helps its the way i had to do it
 
I had a similar issue with the front spring bolt on my junk while putting on the lift. I have been a mechanic for 10 years, and it took me two solid hours of cussing and sweating...but it came out. Probably one of the most stubborn bolts I have ever had.

The problem with mine wasnt that the bolt didnt turn, it was that the steel collar in the leaf spring bushing was seized onto the bolt. When you tried to back the bolt out, it was trying to bend out the spring hanger material since the collar was too big to go through the hole. I had to fabricate a hook that would get under the head of the bolt, run a 5000 pound ratchet strap to my buddies slider on his truck, and put tons of pulling pressure on the bolt while turning it with a 5 foot breaker bar.

Not sure if thats your issue or not. If you simply cant turn it, you need more leverage and and good breaker bar and socket.

~James
 
bigjohn1895 said:
this is for the top bolt on the shackle dont use on the bottem unless you have new springs

take a cutting torch cut the shackle off on both sides knock it off
then cut the sleve thats around the rubber then take a nife to the rubber now that the shackle and bushing is off you can see the sleave that was between the rubber and the bolt heat that up
get it nice and hot then hit the head of the bolt (strait on dont mess it up) with a medium size hammer then try the impact on the bolt should come off but watch that it dosnt strech the mount

if it streches the mount then cut that sleave off the bolt with the torch if your good or a die grinder i use a torch but you
have to be carful not to cut the bolt

if the bolt dosnt want to come out you can heat it as much as needed now also

hope this helps its the way i had to do it
Click to expand...

He is talking about the FRONT bolt on the leaf springs. Under the rear doors, not on the shackle side.
 
More power (ie strong impact or breaker bar) can often result in the weld nut spinning in place. This usually requires the cut and weld approach once that happens. I have had ok success with PB Blaster as a penetrating oil. The can is cheesy looking with "as seen on TV" logo and all, but it has worked for me.

If cutting and welding is not an option then I would er' on the side of caution and soak that bolt mult. times a day for a week before I spin the nut. The last heep I lifted had spent a few years in the rust belt. I drilled small holes in the 'frame' where the weld nut resides so I could sneak a PB blaster straw in to soak the nut itself. A few days of that and the bolts came out easily where they wouldn't budge with the same tool, effort, etc. before. Don't forget all the surface area between the shank and the bushing. Soak that too.

NB. unless you spend a descent amount on an impact wrench a good breaker can create more torque. YMMV
 
Try these guys: http://www.kanolabs.com/ The AeroKroil works way better than PB or anything else ive found on the shelves

When i built my 87 these leaf main eye bolts were a beeotch! spray the crap out of them, and there should be some holes nearby where you can soak the inside of the unibody and the nut, drink a beer or two, whack the bolt dead on with a hammer ( i think it helps break up the crud, re apply, another beer so on and so forth until your patience is stretching, then go to bed. You can work them loose, just be patient.
 
souske said:
Try these guys: http://www.kanolabs.com/ The AeroKroil works way better than PB or anything else ive found on the shelves

When i built my 87 these leaf main eye bolts were a beeotch! spray the crap out of them, and there should be some holes nearby where you can soak the inside of the unibody and the nut, drink a beer or two, whack the bolt dead on with a hammer ( i think it helps break up the crud, re apply, another beer so on and so forth until your patience is stretching, then go to bed. You can work them loose, just be patient.
Click to expand...

going to bed is my plan now and i have used kroil for years just picked up a new giant can today
 
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