im removing my leaf springs and the front bolt is turning inside the unibody. the bolt must not be broken since the head will not pull out, but it now turns freely. is there a nut welded to the inside of the unibody? do i need to cut an access panel to get to the back of the bolt and then weld it back together?

thanks,
travis

 

DO not cut. i just did this. you need to PRY the Leaf around to pull the bolt out. it takes some wiggling. but its stuck in the hole because the tension the leaf has on it.

 

You may have to cut the bolt out though. Mine was siezed to the bushing and no amount of prying would get mine out. I just used an angle grinder to cut the bolt out.

 

I had to cut a hole out in my floor. and no the little Matchbox car and cookie crumb wasint there when I did it.

 

Ha! How did they get there?

 

the nut is still stuck on the bolt. the whole thing turns freely. i cut a hole to see what was goin on and why it was turning freely. i couldnt get a socket in there at all so i just pried the head of the bolt out as far as i could and put a bead of weld around it. that should hold it for now.

 

Im having this same problem! Can anyone elaborate on what he^ meant?! Or does anyone have any better methods that dont require cutting, drilling or heating?

I know this is an old thread, but hey atleast i searched!

 

Anyone? Im trying to get this done today!

 

A misaligned leaf spring puts tension on the bolt... kinks it I guess. If you move the leaf spring (put some elbow grease into it) left and right (driver/passenger) you can slowly dislodge the bolt. I did it with a buddy pushing out on the bolt with a crowbar at the same time, but that was after a couple days of PB blaster soaked in. Those bolts are gnarl to get out.

 

Got em out and lift is all done!! I ended up using a jack to releave the tension on the bolt!

 

nw-xj-scott posted something about rotating the leaf. I have to either get the springs off or back on today. I've got the typical problem: the bolts came out about 1", then started turning freely but not coming out any more. I have managed to separate the sleeve from the bolt by squeezing pliers in between the bracked and the spring/bushing and grabbing the sleeve, which had come loose, and then turning the bolt while holding the sleeve. So the two turn separately. But the bolt still won't go in or out and I would love any suggestions. I do not have a torch or cutting tool and I don't have access to tool stores (nor the time.) I do have hammers, breaker bar, cheater bar, sockets, ratchets, prybar, and other hand tools. Any suggestions? Thanks!