urgent/emergency trac bar removal

[Kejtar]

I got Sequoia with his XJ in my garage and we are trying to take the old trac bar off... it won't budge as the non-threaded part of the bolt seems to be into the hole at the frame mount!!! Can't get to pound at it from top... can't get the bracket off either (seized bolts....) IDEAS? SUGGESTIONS???? Prybar doesnt have enough space... and we ruined the rubber boot so driving on it is out of the quetsion.....


Kejtar

[eric91xj]

are you saying the track bars basically seized itself to the frame mount? but ya got the nut off? what would happen if ya jacked up the jeep as high as ya could and let all the weight of the front end pull on the track bar? maybe that would pull it loose by its own weight?

Eric

[Kejtar]

oh we tried that.... we are at the point where we were able to get the bracket off and cut one end of the bolt and hoped to press it out in a vise... which is not happening....

Kejtar

[Kejtar]

http://home.socal.rr.com/remi/pics/tmp/


there are three pics:
one shows the trackbar with me pulling down the rubber a bit to show the bolt the bolt is thinner at the thread part, thicker past it

then you have two pics of the bracket in which the old bolt is stuck (one pic from inside see the boolt sticking in and one sied is the cut part

the bolt got pressed in at one time or another into the bracket and now won't come out

as you can see we cut off the rest of it so we were hoping to press it out but no go

we put it in the vise and had a socket on the end where it was cut off kind of like pressing out a ujoint but no go...
vise would not budge after a while

[eric91xj]

Ya know at that point the hole in the mount is probrably stretched out from the bolt getting pressed into it, if i was you guys i'd just get a new bracket because if the whole is now bigger then its just that much easier for the same exact thing to happen again when ya get a new end in there. Other than that from those picks i really have no idea how your gonna go about getting that thing outta there if a vise did'tn work.

[BenXJCA]

put a BFH on one side of the bracket and hold it there now with another BFH smack the other side of the bracket. This will deform the hole for a enough time that the taper will fall out of the hole. If that dont work you might want to heat it maybe. Or just buy a new HD bracket and trackbar.:D
HTH

[XJguy]

Simple, use a ball joint remover fork, slam that mother in there and out will come the track bar...had this same scenario 3 days ago.

XJguy

[Kejtar]

gonna go see tomorrow someone with a big press :)

Kejtar

[XJJPR]

Remi,

All you need to do is turn the tire left and use a BIG FAWKING HAMMER and hit the frame mount bracket just above the bottom of it where the TB is attached. When you have hit it enough times it will fall right out.

If you have removed the mount make sure you tighten it up correctly when you put it back on, air impact wrench or torque wrench. If you use a basic ratchet or regular wrench you will NOT get it tight enough.

I'll be at the shop later if you need a press or someone with a BFH. (IN SA)

mark
orgs mfg

[Kejtar]

Thanks Mark,
Actually the bolt is out now.. it's just that it was in a bad spot with no access and even when the bracket was off it was a major PITA To do anything with it.... In any case I was at Ryan B's this morning to get some reinforcements welded onto my crossmember and he was able to help me out with getting that bolt ou...

Remi aka Kejtar

[XJJPR]

Cool. That is a tight spot, it gets easier after you have done a few hundred!

mark
orgs mfg

[CharlesS]

Remi,

You could have contacted me.... I live in Escondido on the San Marcos border near Hwy78 & I15
When I changed out my track bar and a few others for the new RE Xtreme we used a medium weight sledge hammer and smacked the mount several times to shock the taper loose and it dropped right out.
If all else fails... I have a spare factory trac bar bracket in the garage.

[Kejtar]

It's all good good now :) (or actually will be when we put things back together tonight :)

Out of curiousity though Charles.... in which direction did you smack the mount? we tried to do sideways hits at one point to loosen things up... but no go...

Kejtar

[CharlesS]

Smacking it FIRMLY at the front and the side several times will shock the taper loose.

[19XJ96]

I used vise grips on the bolt portion where the rubber boot was and smacked the bracket with a BFH and it popped right off.

[XJedi23]

Hell ya! What a bitch!
Remi,

All you need to do is turn the tire left and use a BIG FAWKING HAMMER and hit the frame mount bracket just above the bottom of it where the TB is attached. When you have hit it enough times it will fall right out.

[d10shun]

Um this thread is 2.5 years old.......

[Kejtar]

Um this thread is 2.5 years old.......
Yeah.. but it WAS a bitch.

[SCW]

Um this thread is 2.5 years old.......

Yeah, BUT HE SEARCHED!!!!!!!!!! lol