Shock absorber removal

Well, i had a couple of hours spare tonight, so i thought i would take off the rear shocks and replace the bushes...... Holy cow.....!!!!!! These things aint budging....!!!!!

I thought it would be a nice easy job....!!! The upper bolts are completely seized in place. I managed to get the nuts off no problem at all, but the bolts are completely seized in place through the chassis rail, and won't budge. I've tried hammering, heating, air wrench and great big extension bar and nothing is moving them.

Does anybody know if the sleeve that the bolt goes through is a solid tube that goes right through the chassis rail, or is it just two seperate sleeves welded on the outside of the rail....? Just wondering how seized up this is likely to be, and how much of a problem it would be if i shear the head of with too much force.

I think it may be one... PITA to shear them off. I actually broke off some bumper bolts where the speed nut is welded within the frame channel... I'm not looking forward to that. Back on point, I would use liberal amounts of penetrating fluid, replace the nuts (to the end of the bolt so you don't damage the threads) and use an air hammer... there is a lot of surface area that will be corroded to that bolt.

Well that turned into a majob job. Just spent the last 3 hours with my brother-in-law and myself attacking that bolt from both sides.....!!!!
We heated the area up until it was cherry red, attacked it with air chisels, air ratchet, lump hammer etc and it still wouldn't shift. In the end i got fed up and had a go at turning it with a big breaker bar. The head of the nut sheared off and the shock fell to the floor. Oh dear...!!!
As it turned out, this was probably the only way it was going to come out, as it still wouldn't budge with heat and hammering. In the end we had the idea to put the nut back on the other side, with plenty of washers and copious amounts of grease, and then tightened the nut right up. I then drilled a hole in the other end that used to be the head, which allowed me to use an air chisel on this end to push the bolt through. With Tom turning the nut, and me using the air chisel it eventually moved ever so slightly and we knew we had it beat....!!!
So it came out eventually, in 2 pieces...!!! Need to find somewhere that sells big bolts in imperial sizes now..... Oh, and i still haven't removed the other side yet....!!!!

Wasn't there a Beatles song "Hammer and Twist and Shout"?

Good thinking on the two-pronged approach.

As a resident of the UK, I'd think you were used to rust!

I try to plan ahead and soak the upcomming projects a while beforehand.
In fact, I tend to wander around a new purchase and soak all possible threads as part of a full inspection. Amazing how many little things you spot that are loose, missing or rusty when crawling around, and this gives you a better karma for the lump that is now yours.

I did soak it in Plusgas for the last few days, but it was just impossible to get anything to soak in. This bolt is 6" long, and about 4" of that was stuck inside a very tight tube. Whe we got it out, you could see how far the oil had penetrated, and it was only a few mm....!!!
I will have a look for one of those tools, does the left hand end just have a big hole in it...?

Yeah, that might have worked, although this one was really stubborn....!!!!

I have just come in fom the garage again. We decided to tackle the other side tonight. I was ready for the worst, and the bolt just slid out with a little tap. Very happy with that....!!!! I managed to get some bolts from a local tractor repair shop who still use UNF bolts, and the shocks are now rebushed with poly bushes and gassed up to about 70 psi.
I have taken some measurements so i can buy some better shocks in the near future.
Just waiting for the leaf spring bushes to arrive from the states now.....

Sy

Sy, Im curious, are you dealing with air shocks? I kinda checked around here and a couple of places said they didnt have a listing for air shocks for our vans.

Yeah, the existing shocks on my van are air shocks. They have a thin plastic line which connects them both together and then T's off to an air valve at the back of the van that you can just attach a normal tyre inflator to and adjust the pressure. They seem to work ok, although i am planning on fitting some adjustable Avo Gas shocks at some point.
Just bought one of those tools. Not easy to find over here, managed to find one person who sells a similar kit, although it was about twice what you paid for yours donivan....
Reckon it will help when i tackle the leaf spring next....!!!

Sy