RE: Control Arm Nightmare

["Rodney Moore" <m6bigdog@xxxxxxxxx>]

Tom,
I would suggest you purchase a new steering arm and toss the control arm
with steering arm in the trash!!
Heating the steering arm could have caused the steering arm to loose the
temper in the cast iron. That could cause the steering arm to bend or
fracture at a critical moment!!


- -------------------original message---------------------------
Date: Sat, 12 Jan 2002 20:10:10 -0800 (PST)
From: Tom Byrum <mycroft@domain.elided>
Subject: Control Arm Nightmare
Alright folks, I undertook the control arm operation this evening, and I'm
afraid the patient is still on the table.
First thing we did, after getting it up on the lift and pulling the tires,
was
unbolt the bushing brackets. That went swimmingly. Then we unbolted the
swaybar
connections. No problem. Then we attacked the subframe bolts. The passenger
side, for all of its lack of clearance was easy, while the drivers side,
which
was supposed to be the easy part, got the nut seized near the top of the
bolt.
After that, the bolt would just swivel around. We couldn't even dent it with
a
vise grip to hold it still, nor could we back the but off to clean the end
of
the bolt. Finally, we resorted to a grinder and cutting disc, cutting the
control arm portion from the bolt. We then cut a couple flats on the bolt to
lock the vise grips on. That gave us enough leverage to get the bolt the
rest of
the way off.
That should have been the hardest part, right?
Nope.
We figured we could just pull/pry/hammer the strut bolt out, like we did on
the
passenger side. That assumption was rapidly proven incorrect as no matter
what
we did, we could not budge the bolt a millimeter. We tried
everything...heating
the area with a propane torch, then hitting it with a drift pin and
hammer...heating it with an acetylene torch, then hitting it with a drift
pin
and hammer....hitting it with a hammer....putting a pry-bar on it...That
bolt
seems to have not moved for the past 15 years, and shows no signs of doing
so
now. It is tapered, so we can't simply drive it up...it has to go down.
So, we hit it with liquid wrench and will let it sit overnight. We are going
to
try again tomorrow, but if that fails, I'll have to remove the strut (take
off
the calipers and ABS sensor) and try to figure out where I could take it
that
might have a chance in hell of getting this thing apart.
So, my question is, do you guys have any suggestions? What can you do in a
situation like this? I thought about using the torch to melt the bolt out,
but
that would just as easily melt the strut hole, taking it out of clearance.
The
steel is FAR FAR too hard to even think of drilling it, as far as I can tell
(though the vise grips did score it a little).
I'm really not looking forward to the thought of having to find a used strut
to
replace this one with.
                        A very weary Tom Byrum
                        1987 315is with no control arms (or one too many)
- -----------end--------------



- ---
Rodney Moore
BMW CCA #86830
Golden Gate Chapter
m6bigdog@domain.elided

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