BostonVette

Hello Guys,

Trying to drop my 08.

Jacked er up and unloaded the spring with a bottle jack, actually raised it so there was day light under the bolt.

I can't budge the 10 mm bolt, I put a breaker on it,
I used a little WD-40 on bothe ends of the bolt - NG

Before I round the hex I thought I would check to see if there are any words of wisdom.

(no leave it alone comments please).

Thanks

pewter99

just out of curiosity are they all this tight or just the one you decided to start with (thats how my luck runs)

I seem to recall the ones on my C5 were not to bad...one was kind of hard to get started though

BostonVette

The first one is the one not budging...

I went to the other side and that one moves, I left it alone until I can get this one going, if ever.

Just bought a 6 point box wrench to minize rounding, still won't move.

taken19

Try PB Blaster for a day or two. If that doesn't immediately work, use a little heat to help it wick in then tap it a few times lightly with a hammer. Just enough to break any crap loose.

kevakasper

Make sure you use a 6 point socket, I broke 2 (sockets) to get one of mine loose. I just swapped out a base spring for a Z spring on a buddies car yesterday and his was without bolts, so I needed to swap out his original ones. There was thread lock on the threads. Try tightening up the bolt first and then clean off any crap where it was set, There was quite a bit of stuff on the thread, and by lowering you are forcing the goo into the threads only making it tighter. Just my experience I don't know if they are all that way.

8850

You probably had too much load on the spring. You have to get the load right with the bottle jack. Too much load or too little and the bolt is tight. Most likely it's not corrosion or rust making it hard to turn.

Have you wrench on the bolt while loading it and jacking the bottle jack slowly up. Once it reaches the correct load the bolt will turn.

BostonVette

The 6 point box wrench together with alot of wd-40 and a little muscle broke it loose.

The others were tight but once they broke loose they turned fairly easy.

I bottomed the rears and took 5 turns on the fronts.

I'll let it settle and see what I get

Thanks

JUIC3D

I had to do the opposite. I slammed the front, and raised the rear about 4 threads. With both bolts all the way down, the rear was actually tucked under the fender and the front had about a 1/2 finger gap. It looked silly that way

pewter99

05cammedc6

i have raised mine and lowered it about two times in the front, if its too tight, u have too much pressure agianst the leaf spring, it should almost be finger loose if there is no pressure on it, thats ur only problem, just move the jack to another location, trying to get the load off...problem solved..

jsnolan

seems like the way to go, with a six point socket or wrench, but if it is that tight, definitely penetrating oil and an impact socket. in a 1/2" drive and gives better leverage(if you can get the breaker bar in there)

as far as don't, would think of it, I Love the look of mine and with a little careful driving nearly no scrapping.(we all know thats the inevitable)

JUIC3D

Not 100% true. Just because you take the load off the spring, that does not mean the bolt will come loose. Many times, these threads will get rusty and essentially weld themselves to the threads.

Patience, PB blaster, and perseverance are the tools you need.

mad11C6

Did my 2011 last weekend on a lift, no issues. Only drove it approx 50 miles since but can already tell it should sit about an inch lower for my taste. Looks like I'll be ording the aftermarket bolts.

z0ate

i just did my 08, and every bolt was seized...so i broke out the MIG and welded 3/4 nuts on the top of each bolt, and they STILL were pretty tough to turn. 4 hours, and a cpl beers later, my car looks great lowered on stock bolts.

m R g S r

After trying everything without success I had to remove my front leaf spring from the vehicle, cut two parallel flat spots in the round metal backing plate of the end bolts, place the flat spots tightly in a vice then put pressure on the opposite end of the leaf spring in order to Get them to break free. It was a pain in the ***, but spring removal was actually quite simple.

m R g S r

GM should really put antisieze and a locking nut on these things from the factory

FRDnemesis

How far is too far before you require aftermarket bolts? Mine was lowered from the guy I bought the car from but I'd like to close the fender gap a bit more.

jeff

Da_Bob

There is a tool called a "Old Man" Screw Knocker/ Remover
that kicks ***. It attaches to an air hammer and I have yet to find a screw or bolt that it will not loosen without stripping it. I'm restoring a 67 mustang and once I got this tool from ebay for about $25 my blood pressure dropped way down while working on the car removing bolts that haven't been removed in 40 years.

Gearhead Jim

Hey, after a couple of beers, even my car looks great.