Nothing working correctly.

DGC

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 10, 2004
trying to find a tool that will secure the bolt head for upper control arms. access is the problem. adding or removing alignment shims requires tire removal and using a
19mm socket to access bolt head from inside the fender well. problem is that 2 people are needed, one in the wheel well and the other in the engine compartment
for loosening/tightening the 19mm nut (which can be done with a deep socket or box end wrench). alternatively an orangutan might have the wingspan, but is, without question,
harder to get. If anyone has had success with a spanner wrench or a spanner socket or a hex style socket or a very short 6 point 19mm socket.

fyi, there are many posts about the fact that the knurled bolts are useless once the bolt is turned (as often will happen at an alignment shop). as a result there
is no resistance for loosening the nut. unfortunately i have not found any blogs with helpful suggestions for dealing with this issue.

so far, gripping the threaded end with vice grips works, but factory torqued bolts on a 30 year old car are stubborn and this technique mangles the threads.

helpful suggestions are appreciated.

thanks,
dgc
 
I cut the end off of a 19mm box wrench short enough to fit inside the frame on the head of the bolt. Worked great.
 
Bushings.jpeg
 
I've experienced the same issue on several Gbody cars. Tack weld the head to the frame.
 
trying to find a tool that will secure the bolt head for upper control arms. access is the problem. adding or removing alignment shims requires tire removal and using a
19mm socket to access bolt head from inside the fender well. problem is that 2 people are needed, one in the wheel well and the other in the engine compartment
for loosening/tightening the 19mm nut (which can be done with a deep socket or box end wrench). alternatively an orangutan might have the wingspan, but is, without question,
harder to get. If anyone has had success with a spanner wrench or a spanner socket or a hex style socket or a very short 6 point 19mm socket.

fyi, there are many posts about the fact that the knurled bolts are useless once the bolt is turned (as often will happen at an alignment shop). as a result there
is no resistance for loosening the nut. unfortunately i have not found any blogs with helpful suggestions for dealing with this issue.

so far, gripping the threaded end with vice grips works, but factory torqued bolts on a 30 year old car are stubborn and this technique mangles the threads.

helpful suggestions are appreciated.

thanks,
dgc

I've had mine aligned between two and four times a year for a decade because of all the suspension work I've done.

The alignment shop has never needed two people to align the car. Ever. The wheel does have to come off to make the adjustments, but shorty wrenches on the back side and an impact gun are all that's necessary to deal with the upper control arm mount bolts.
 
I've had mine aligned between two and four times a year for a decade because of all the suspension work I've done.

The alignment shop has never needed two people to align the car. Ever. The wheel does have to come off to make the adjustments, but shorty wrenches on the back side and an impact gun are all that's necessary to deal with the upper control arm mount bolts.
The problem is the serrated area under the head of the bolt and in the frame which normally keeps the bolt from spinning gets damaged for some reason and the bolt spins in the frame. There's not much room with the engine in the car to get at things. I have had a couple of cars come in like that. You normally don't have to remove the wheel unless you are removing the arm.
 
thanks to all for your helpful replies. i took mickstertwo's advice to 'modify' a 20mm combination wrench.
tight fit but works fine. probably will cut open end off to shorten.
View attachment
ordered a deep offset 20mm wrench, but will not see it for two weeks.

dgc
 
fwiw,

mine is a canadian mfg. model. bolt heads are 20mm, nuts are 19mm. picked up a set of bolts from mikes's montes and they are the smaller version. i will stick with the larger bolts.
 
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