removing or adjusting the ride height bolts discovery!
11-03-2011, 01:37 PM
#1
Cruising
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removing or adjusting the ride height bolts discovery!
removing and replacing ride height bolt discovery!
ok.. i haven't had my vette for to long but i just wanted to do a quick post on removing or adjusting the ride height bolts/ lowering bolts. kinda a cool discovery that i made that i haven't hear on here yet.
i bought Hardbar bolts because the way they are designed is way better then the factory design. Hardbar bolts are installed from the top, they have a large 22 mil head in comparison to the factory 10 mill. plus the bolts is made of stainless steel unlike the factory bolts that will rust weld in your mono spring.... needless to say during the battle in trying to remove the bolts i tried a few different techniques to get these bolts free. the front driver side i ended up rounding the 10 mill head so i had to use a 18 inch pipe wrench on the lower portion of the bolt in order to work it free. as im thinking to my self this is f-ing crazy! the next day i work on the front pass side expecting the same difficulty. my plan was to remove the shock, the upper A arm, disconnect the sway bar linkage to open up as much space as possible. i cleaned the bolts with a steal brush and PB blasted the hell out of it. then i had a friend use a 10 mill bit with a torque bar on the top and i had the pipe wrench on the bottom. well the bolt didn't move and i was using so much strength i twisted the bottom of the bolt off!! my friend rounded the top off as well!! so we where left with basically a peg just stuck in the spring. i was SOO PISSED.
this is where the discovery comes in!
in our last stitch in trying to remove the bolt and not have to buy a new spring for 380$ some odd bucks. we filed a flat on one side of the bolt and then the other side. i was getting ready to put some vise-grips on it and go to town when i remembered a post i read about heating the bolts. i had avoided doing this because it sounds kinda creepy, buy at this point i was like F-it.
the bolts are hard to remove or adjust because of a two reasons.
reason #1: over the years of heat, water, and the weight the bolts start to weld them selves to the threads in the spring
reason #2: the reason you cant buy the factory bolts separately is because the bolts are a full assembly with the spring. and the supplier that puts the bolts in the spring uses some kind of glue that holds the bolts in place before the spring is shipped for the full vehicle assembly.
to make a long story slightly less long... buy using a propane torch to heat the bolts you will see the smallest amount of liquid bubble out were the bolt screws into the metal boss in the spring. at this point you can put the 10 mill socket and a torque bar and work the bolts free.
the glue or lock tight or what ever is what keeps you from moving these bolts. some people may not have had this problem with the bolts... all i can say is, if i knew this befor i wouldnt have had the crazy problem i ran into.
ok.. i haven't had my vette for to long but i just wanted to do a quick post on removing or adjusting the ride height bolts/ lowering bolts. kinda a cool discovery that i made that i haven't hear on here yet.
i bought Hardbar bolts because the way they are designed is way better then the factory design. Hardbar bolts are installed from the top, they have a large 22 mil head in comparison to the factory 10 mill. plus the bolts is made of stainless steel unlike the factory bolts that will rust weld in your mono spring.... needless to say during the battle in trying to remove the bolts i tried a few different techniques to get these bolts free. the front driver side i ended up rounding the 10 mill head so i had to use a 18 inch pipe wrench on the lower portion of the bolt in order to work it free. as im thinking to my self this is f-ing crazy! the next day i work on the front pass side expecting the same difficulty. my plan was to remove the shock, the upper A arm, disconnect the sway bar linkage to open up as much space as possible. i cleaned the bolts with a steal brush and PB blasted the hell out of it. then i had a friend use a 10 mill bit with a torque bar on the top and i had the pipe wrench on the bottom. well the bolt didn't move and i was using so much strength i twisted the bottom of the bolt off!! my friend rounded the top off as well!! so we where left with basically a peg just stuck in the spring. i was SOO PISSED.
this is where the discovery comes in!
in our last stitch in trying to remove the bolt and not have to buy a new spring for 380$ some odd bucks. we filed a flat on one side of the bolt and then the other side. i was getting ready to put some vise-grips on it and go to town when i remembered a post i read about heating the bolts. i had avoided doing this because it sounds kinda creepy, buy at this point i was like F-it.
the bolts are hard to remove or adjust because of a two reasons.
reason #1: over the years of heat, water, and the weight the bolts start to weld them selves to the threads in the spring
reason #2: the reason you cant buy the factory bolts separately is because the bolts are a full assembly with the spring. and the supplier that puts the bolts in the spring uses some kind of glue that holds the bolts in place before the spring is shipped for the full vehicle assembly.
to make a long story slightly less long... buy using a propane torch to heat the bolts you will see the smallest amount of liquid bubble out were the bolt screws into the metal boss in the spring. at this point you can put the 10 mill socket and a torque bar and work the bolts free.
the glue or lock tight or what ever is what keeps you from moving these bolts. some people may not have had this problem with the bolts... all i can say is, if i knew this befor i wouldnt have had the crazy problem i ran into.
11-03-2011, 04:03 PM
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St. Jude Donor '17
That was a problem and maybe a cure to that situation. On the 6 or so Vettes I've adjusting the height on not including my 3 I just jacked the end of the spring up off the lower control arm and adjusted/replaced the bolt accordingly. Easy breazy for me, I guess luckily...
11-03-2011, 07:13 PM
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Cruising
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ya i have hear some vette owners having no issues at all. haha wish that was the case with mine. god it was a pain in the ***. but i have also heard vette owners having a really hard time with them. so for the people out there that have tried and given up or the people that are having a hard time right now...this technique works.
11-03-2011, 08:09 PM
#4
Le Mans Master
That was a problem and maybe a cure to that situation. On the 6 or so Vettes I've adjusting the height on not including my 3 I just jacked the end of the spring up off the lower control arm and adjusted/replaced the bolt accordingly. Easy breazy for me, I guess luckily...
Jacking the spring relieves the pressure, I have done 4 C6s with this technique no issues at all 
11-04-2011, 06:22 AM
#6
Burning Brakes
mine
Jacking the spring does relieve the pressure but I let mine soak in penetrant for three months and they turned easily after that.
THANKS RAYZZZ MY CORVETTE LIKES MY MONEY
THANKS RAYZZZ MY CORVETTE LIKES MY MONEY
11-04-2011, 08:03 AM
#7
Did you jack the end of the spring up from underneath before attempting to turn the bolts? Hate to ask what might seem like a dumb question, but you didn't specify in your post. Mine spun by hand once the spring and bolt were not longer touching.
11-04-2011, 08:45 AM
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yes.... i put jack stands under the spring to relieve the pressure from the bolt. i could stick my hand underneath the spring. there was NO PRESURE on the bolt. it is clear that all of you where able to move your bolts with ease... all i can say is that was not the case for me... and i know there are others that have had the same issue. and about the glue / loctite i cant say thats exactly what it was but there was certainly a small amount of liquid that came out from the top and the bottom. i suppose it could be something else ... like water or oil trapped in there.. maybe. it would make cense for there to be a small amount of some kind of adhesion on the bolts from the factory. but who knows.
11-04-2011, 10:08 PM
#9
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St. Jude Donor '13
2009 Coupe Z51, 35k miles.
When the dealership went to adjust my ride height (at my request) they found either the front or rear bolts frozen, I can't remember which. He got them loose but did not explain how.
When the dealership went to adjust my ride height (at my request) they found either the front or rear bolts frozen, I can't remember which. He got them loose but did not explain how.
