Following the wiki, I have undone the two large (22mm) nuts from the lower air bag/shock assembly (ready to replace with a new one), but cannot get the lower bolt to move at all. So far I have tried:
- Soaking the bolt overnight in kerosene
- 5ft extension bar on breaker bar (did not budge with a 6 point socket)
- Impact wrench at a local garage and more penetrating spray (no movement)
- Lower nut has been left slack, lowered all the suspension by 15mm (helps with the leaking air bag) and driven gently around to use the car weight to loosen the bolt

It's still stuck!

I haven't tried heat to the bolt head yet (it's very close to the gaiter around the prop shaft and I haven't got access to an oxy-acetylene torch) - so I'm now considering the drastic option of using a 1mm cutting disc on an angle grinder to slice the bolt head and then hours of drilling out. Does anyone have any better suggestions?

try heat pal , it should shift it but im not surprised its so tight

Thanks - would a hot air paint stripper gun (nozzle over bolt head) give enough heat?

no sir , you need a blow lamp like plumbers use , be there all day with that

When I did mine I ended up with SWMBO holding the steering at full lock so that I had sufficient clearance to get at it with a sledge hammer. It was the only way in the end.  John
2008 Stornoway Grey 3.6 Tdv8 Vogue
2005 TD6 Java Black Vogue - Written off!!
GAP iiD BT
2003 Discovery TD5 Auto, Nanocom Evolution - gone to a new home!
MasseyFerguson 152 - No electronics!! - Sold

Thanks - blow lamp and sledge hammer it is then (with the angle grinder cutting disc in reserve if that doesn't work)!

I don't trust the electronics enough to use a MIG welder to heat up the bolt head for fear of blowing up multiple ECUs (even with the battery leads disconnected and shorted together)...

.....Tiptoes in gently to say..... I come from 18 months of nightmare ownership of a Jeep Grand Cherokee. The traditional joke is that Grand refers to he cost of any repair.

After visiting 3 branches of ATS, 2 normal garages and the local (beyond useless) main agent, no-one could free the one vital bolt to adjust the tracking. All said that it was too close to pipework/cables to be safe to use traditional heat techniques.

I was then told that the official Jeep UK fix was to use an induction heater. I finally found an ex-official service agent (Lookers, would you believe) that had the recommended heating tool and who did the job while I waited. Of course, that branch was closed about a month later.

I am too old and decrepit to do my own maintenance, but I am tempted to buy one of the Chinese Induction heater pcb's on ebay just to play with. They are about a fiver.

if it were mine I'd be getting the 3/4 drive socket set on the job and a scaffold bar

ignore .
Experience is the only genuine knowledge, but as time passes, I have forgotten more than I can remember
Volvo V70 P2 2006 2.4 Petrol 170bhp Estate SE
MG Midget Mk1 1962

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bembo449 wrote:

if it were mine I'd be getting the 3/4 drive socket set on the job and a scaffold bar

When I did mine I used a 12v rattle gun. I thought this tool was a bit of a gimmic but have used it so many times now for various jobs and its excellent. Not much of an investment if it does not work for you..
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HAWK-TOOLS-1-2-E...SwuZhZlsbr 2007 TDV8 VSE
2003 TD6 gone.
2002 P38a gone
1999 P38a gone
1997 p38a gone
1993 VSE gone
1992 VSE gone
1966 Series 2a with V8 conversion gone

Unnecessary quote removed

yes clive , for what a 3/4 drive set can be bought for its worth its weight in gold imo , transit tipper rear wheel bolts are ridic tight ( by design ) but a 3/4 drive and a scaffold pole will undo them easy

I found that jacking the car up and trying to remove the last bolt (upper or lower) was almost impossible as the weight binds it in place. I used a second jack to move the lower arm up until the bolt could at least turn fairly freely, then used a drift to knock it out. Plus Gas first of course. To get it back in, same problem. A ratchet handle through the upper bolt hole acts as a lever to align the lower one, then jack again to take the weight.

I undid the bolts by undoing the nut a few turns a then hit the nut with a large hammer and progressively drove the bolts out using a fair bit of release oil as I went. As I was only making the bolts come out for future undoing if the need arose I then copper greased the nuts and bolts and put them back.
The reason the bolts are so sticky is simply surface corrosion.

Billaboard wrote:

.....Tiptoes in gently to say..... I come from 18 months of nightmare ownership of a Jeep Grand Cherokee. The traditional joke is that Grand refers to he cost of any repair.

After visiting 3 branches of ATS, 2 normal garages and the local (beyond useless) main agent, no-one could free the one vital bolt to adjust the tracking. All said that it was too close to pipework/cables to be safe to use traditional heat techniques.

I was then told that the official Jeep UK fix was to use an induction heater. I finally found an ex-official service agent (Lookers, would you believe) that had the recommended heating tool and who did the job while I waited. Of course, that branch was closed about a month later.

I am too old and decrepit to do my own maintenance, but I am tempted to buy one of the Chinese Induction heater pcb's on ebay just to play with. They are about a fiver.