broke damper fork bolt!

[brianc85]

I broke my damper fork bolt!!!! Does anyone have any tricks on how to get it out of there now? I broke the head off. I beat it with a mallet but it wont budge. thanks

[AZmike]

PBlaster penetrant and/or a two prong puller might do the trick.

Is the nut stuck too or does the bolt-nut assembly spin freely, but won't come out of the fork and lower arm?

[YK86]

Same thing happened to me. I cut inbetween the fork and the lower arm with a grinder and drilled the bushing out of the lower arm and bought a new bushing and bolt.

[brianc85]

I got the nut off of the end of the bolt and broke the head off so there isnt anything that should be holding it in there... The bolt wont spin at all. I tried to put some liquid wrench in there but it still wont budge.

[Neuspeed87lx]

Originally posted by YK86
Same thing happened to me. I cut inbetween the fork and the lower arm with a grinder and drilled the bushing out of the lower arm and bought a new bushing and bolt.

thats exactly what i had to do ...that stupid bolt is such a pain

[Greg]

Basically, I think your best bet is to torch it. I had to deal with this once on an old lude that i was working on, and I could have soaked it w/more and more pb-blaster or whatever for weeks and it would have done jack shit.

I don't know how rusted yours is, but they can get real bad.

You're gonna basically have to change your bushing, and this is a PAIN IN THE ASS.

If you don't have an oxy-acetylene torch (I sort-of doubt that most people have 'em. I don't.) then go buy one of those MAPP-OXY torch kits. THey're like $40 or $50, and they burn a mix of MAPP and OXYGEN to get almost as hot as a regular oxy-acetylene torch.

I guess you could try it w/just a mapp torch, but this bushing is a bitch, and I'm not sure if that would be enough.

Anyway, get a gas mask too or make sure you absolutely don't inhale as you're torching the bushing. The smell is godawful, and you can just feel yourself losing brain cells as you breath it.

I would torch the shit out of it, get a big hammer (like a 3 or 4LB engineer hammer) and a long punch, and try to knock it out when you heat it. Just keep hitting and frying, and it will come out.

You could mess with changing the bushing yourself, but it sucks. I'd basically see if a shop that had a press could do it for cheap, and bring them the whole control arm w/new bushing. Otherwise, you basically have to start cutting at the edge of the bushing w/something (torch, sawzall, cut-off wheel... whatever), and then get a heavy hammer and a SHARP chisel and sort of slice through the whole length of the thing, peel it inward, and then knock it out. Then you have to press the new one in carefully with a vise or whatever you have.

OR just go to a boneyard and see if you can get a control arm w/ a bushing that isn't messed up.

It's a bitch of a job. Good luck!

[anchovies]

I've got those front fork bushings for sale. Brand new from Honda. PM me if you want it.
Also got the rear.

[anchovies]

And good luck trying to take that bolt out. I've given up on that after trying for few days.
I hate stripped bolts.

[YK86]

The bolt shaft gets seized in the bushing which is why it gets stuck. And hammering did no good for me since the rubber bushing was absorbing all the blows with the hammer. You're best to save your energy and just either drill out the old one or take the arm off and get the old one pressed out and a new one pressed in.

[offthahook]

Originally posted by Greg
Basically, I think your best bet is to torch it. I had to deal with this once on an old lude that i was working on, and I could have soaked it w/more and more pb-blaster or whatever for weeks and it would have done jack shit.

I don't know how rusted yours is, but they can get real bad.

You're gonna basically have to change your bushing, and this is a PAIN IN THE ASS.

If you don't have an oxy-acetylene torch (I sort-of doubt that most people have 'em. I don't.) then go buy one of those MAPP-OXY torch kits. THey're like $40 or $50, and they burn a mix of MAPP and OXYGEN to get almost as hot as a regular oxy-acetylene torch.

I guess you could try it w/just a mapp torch, but this bushing is a bitch, and I'm not sure if that would be enough.

Anyway, get a gas mask too or make sure you absolutely don't inhale as you're torching the bushing. The smell is godawful, and you can just feel yourself losing brain cells as you breath it.

I would torch the shit out of it, get a big hammer (like a 3 or 4LB engineer hammer) and a long punch, and try to knock it out when you heat it. Just keep hitting and frying, and it will come out.

You could mess with changing the bushing yourself, but it sucks. I'd basically see if a shop that had a press could do it for cheap, and bring them the whole control arm w/new bushing. Otherwise, you basically have to start cutting at the edge of the bushing w/something (torch, sawzall, cut-off wheel... whatever), and then get a heavy hammer and a SHARP chisel and sort of slice through the whole length of the thing, peel it inward, and then knock it out. Then you have to press the new one in carefully with a vise or whatever you have.

OR just go to a boneyard and see if you can get a control arm w/ a bushing that isn't messed up.

It's a bitch of a job. Good luck!

My man is on point. I got a set of good ones from the boneyard with good bushings. That lower control arm is the bananas with all that can go wrong on it!!

[rutterg]

I did the same as YK86. cut what was left of the bolt between the arm and fork. i used the angular grinder (you know, with the black discs), very tough steel that bolt is. impossible to cut with the handsaw. very little space so be careful not to damage too much. drilled out the bushing and had the dealer pressed in the new bushings.

[markmdz89hatch]

wait wait wait... I just had the same thing happen to me and was able to get it out. (Much props to my dad for that one).

First question, were you able to get the nut off? If so, put that torch down, I've got a trick up my sleve. It worked on both sides of my coupe.

[2old_honda]

try to put the nut back on and TIGHTEN the nut, that might draw out and loosen the bolt a little and then just push it the rest of the way out with a hammer and a punch.

[markmdz89hatch]

Originally posted by 2old_honda
try to put the nut back on and TIGHTEN the nut, that might draw out and loosen the bolt a little and then just push it the rest of the way out with a hammer and a punch.

...by gollie he's got it!! No seriously, he's saying to do exactly what i did, and it works. Just break out the rust penetrator, and hose down the end where you broke the head of the bolt off. Go get a shit load of thick washers that will fit over the bolt, take the nut completly off. Now put a few washers on basically enough so that the nut will only go on until the nut is completely threaded, now break out that breaker bar and a 17mm socket and tighten away. Tighten it only until the amount of the bolt showing past the nut is equal to the combined with of the washers. Then take off the nut, add a few more washers and repeat until you completly draw the bolt out of the bushing. Go hit up honda for the bolts, and nuts (about $10 for @ nut/bolt combo, and ur set. Just hit the fluted part of the bolt with a little never-seize, and ur set to go. Good luck, and let us all know how it all turns out.

[DoktorC]

Ok...I've done this a few times...I do like the idea of the nuts and washer but if that doesn't work and you don't have a torch try this...put a 2 jaw puller on one side of the fork and push on the broken bolt, if the bolt doesn't move it will open up the fork to allow you to get a grinder between the fork and lower control arm to cut off the peice of bolt that is sticking out of the bushing. Do this for both sides. This will allow you to remove the shock assembly. Use the same 2 jaw puller, attach it to the lower control arm and push on the bushing/broken bolt. This should push the bushing out of the arm and allow you to drill out the remaining piece of bolt on a drill press or in a vise. I had to do this to my "winter" car so I didn't want to spend a dime...if you've got the time or are on a budget this works.

[markmdz89hatch]

that too sounds like it'll work... and ur at the same cost with each option.... ...thanks DoktorC.

...only Q is, by pulling apart the fork that low, do you risk snapping it? I mean, i know it's a tempered cast fork, but I would think that it'll become a little brittle over the years. Or at least, would you risk bending the fork for good? Don't know, just curious.

[DoktorC]

I bent mine goooood the first time b/c I didn't realize what was happening (I thought I was moving the bolt). It seems to be very durable but I wouldn't go too far...just far enough for the grinder to fit. I bent mine so far that I needed to use an extra long bolt to pull it make together...and it seems to be holding :)