So I spent my weekend installing an old man emu 1.75" heavy duty lift kit. I also figured since I was in there I would replace my clicking/ripped cv shafts, loose ball joints, and loose tie rod ends. Install was easy as pie. The removal of 12 year old bolts was anything but. The ones that gave me the real prob were the lower bolts on the strut to knuckle attachment. What a B!%ch!! FIVE hours of penetrant, breaker bar extension, torching. And that was just to get to the point where the bolt heads sheared off!! Mind you that I had gotten the nuts off without much difficulty. It was the bolts themselves that wouldn't budge. The winning combo was an overnight soak in PB blaster penetrant, 30min solid of torching the knuckle, and a 10lb sledge with about 30 full force swings. That was when one of the bolts finally budged. Then I just worked it back and forth until it finally squeezed out. I don't know that I have ever had a job be so unbearably frustrating and yet so rewarding. When that second bolt popped out and I knew I was ready to reassemble it I had the most wonderful feeling go through me. Or maybe it was the dehydration/exhaustion, either way. I went from totally demoralized to totally stoked in about the time it took the bolt to hit the ground after I popped it out.
I am very satisfied with the results and if anyone has any questions about Any of the work please ask. I feel like I got in touch with every nook and cranny of the suspension, front drive, and ball joints/tie rods. My biggest warning to all would be to beware the bottom bolts on the strut to knuckle assembly!! STICKY AS HELL!
Also I would like to note that all the suspension components that I removed(which was all of them) were ORIGINAL at 187,000 miles. The ride has improved so much that I feel like I am in a new truck. Definitely worth the hassle. And I saved myself at least a grand doing all the stuff myself. Happy wrenching!
