The Woeful woe of dampner forks and driveshafts

[dosh8er]

FSCK! Yeah, that's a bitch that makes me wonder if this is really worth it..

I had no problems taking the 32mm nut off... i've had it off MANY times before. I had a little trouble with the castle nut on the lower ball joint, but it came off. That's good.. now the bitch of them all, the mofo.

HOW THE HELL do you get the CV joint/driveshaft OUT through the dampner fork?!?!?!?

Answer: I haven't yet... I pulled out the old torch (oxy), heated some bolts up, and damn.

So here's my dilemna, yes, I have a problem: I NEED that damn fork apart so that I can slide the old driveshaft out/new driveshaft in. But I fscked up the bushing now since I used that torch. And Now the bolt turns and turns, but no progress. I think the treads are shot, which isn't a big deal since there's that nut on the end of the entire assembly. So I need to get a new bolt and I should be good, BUT I NEED THE BOLT out first..

Anyone? I am in need of some advice/comments/suggestions/etc.

Good thing I decided to venture in on this during spring break. But being 15 degrees outside makes it very very cold, and very very... well, you can imagine, I'm sure many of you have been there with me.

[ACCORD EX]

do you mean the lower bolt ! can't you just take the head off using a saw and buy a new bolt with a nut ! ?
i know it's a bitch ! i used a meter pipe to loosen the SOB !

MIKE

[mzabeefy]

i recently did mine. the mechanic dude at the junkyard i work at helped me. he had to cut out my lower arm(the back bolt was stuck in the bushing too) and replaced the whole lower arm and the strut tower with another accord's in the yard. i took my old lower arm and tower back home and whacked on it for hours, and i still couldn't get the bolt unfrozen from the bushing. i didn't use a torch or anything though.

[dosh8er]

well, i got it out. After using a torch, hacksaw, and much blood and sweat. Luckily my old man was around to give me a hand. From what we can gather, the design makes it so that if you were to hit a bump, that bolt would get bent... which makes a lot of sense.


But now the challenge is the parts I must buy and the waiting... damn waiting.

So, now I would like to know how all of you "experienced" 3geezers have overcome the driveshaft hell???

That's insane. I'm almost ready to take the other side (drivers) to a shop. That much work is too much work. Stupid honda drivetrain/suspension engineers.

[dXsquared]

i just take the cv shaft apart... then put it back together after its on.. no big deal

Travis

[dosh8er]

I am going to seriously consider doing that! Much less work, MUCH less pain and time, and hell.

[dXsquared]

its tricky tho... it takes a skilled person

Travis

[carotman]

that's just because the sleeve has rusted and bonded with the fork bolt. You will need to change the bushing anyway.

[88LXi68]

Originally posted by DXHATCHBACK
i just take the cv shaft apart... then put it back together after its on.. no big deal

Travis

Thats what I used to do before I just took the whole lower arm off and got new bushings pressed in. Have a friend help you with the taking apart of the axle, so one can guide it in and the other re-assemble it.

[danronian]

I just put a jack beneath the lower control arm, got that off, took the dampener fork off, pryed the axle and it comes off. I left out a few steps but they were all trivial. The only problem I had is when I was pressing the once lower ball joint out, it was soo stuck that the castle part got mushroomed by the press and I had to file the threads off of it and re-drill the cotter-pin holes just to get the hole thing back together. I just did it last weekend and I'm hoping it lasts another 140,000mi. I also put on a new upper control arm which I found out when I bought the other side, is missing a piece, so this week I have to take that apart to put these metal and rubber washers from the old control arm on it from. Damn NAPA! I wondered why my brand new upper control arm was squeeking so!

[anchovies]

Originally posted by dosh8er
well, i got it out. After using a torch, hacksaw, and much blood and sweat. Luckily my old man was around to give me a hand. From what we can gather, the design makes it so that if you were to hit a bump, that bolt would get bent... which makes a lot of sense.

If you need the bushings, I'm selling those in the market section
Good luck.

[dXsquared]

ohyah.. thats what i do.. un do the lower BJ and its swings aside.. i remeber taking axles apart... that was for my lude.. i just wanted the tranny out,....


Travis

[dosh8er]

Quick question on the damper fork bushing... does that have a metal insert on the outside of the rubber bushing itself? Cause if it does, then I probably will have to chisel out the old metal in the bushing housing... and that would suck. OR, is the bushing just completely rubber with a core?

[mzabeefy]

it has a metal part on the outside. my driver's side damper fork bolt wasn't frozen in the bushing for some reason, but the passenger side was. you might want to try yourself before you take it to a shop.