Easy Outs

[spowers@spdg.COM (Steve Powers)]

Well, it _was_ inevitable. I broke a bolt off while removing the ball
joint from the left rear strut housing. The ball joint is pressed into
a cavity and held in place by two 8mm bolts. Due to the geometry of
the strut housing, one bolthole is threaded though and the other is
blind. Of course, I broke the blind one.

I've used Easy Outs (screw extractors) in the past with mixed results.
The score this time is Easy Outs : 1, Steve : 0. I broke the Easy Out
in the hole. As the strut is mounted to the car and I don't want to
re-remove the rear sear, package shelf, etc., I tried several things.

The bolt hole is on the bottom of the strut housing. Getting any
penetrant into it was tough. I did spray some in and plugged the hole
with a bit of rubber before trying the Easy Out. I also discovered
that a carbide tipped dremel bit would cut the extractor. I removed
a bit of the extractor tip (stuck inside) and ground down the remaining
extractor so it wouldn't collide.

The thing is still stuck and twists a bit too much. I tried liquid
nitrogen and a center punch - no luck. I even tried heating, although
I was reluctant to overheat with a new bearing nearby.

Given 1) that I would have to remove the strut housing and go to a
machine shop to get it properly removed, 2) the balljoint is held in
place by 2 screws, a precision fit, the control arm and the weight
of the vehicle (1/4 anyway) and 3) I'm not likely to have to re-do
this for another 100K miles or so, I think I'm going to tack-weld
the balljoint in place.

If I have to do it again, I can grind off the welds and make it as
good as new. If I don't, well I've saved myself some time and grief.

These are my current thoughts - haven't actually done this yet. I
have access to _any_ kind of welder I want. Any suggestions or
admonishments?

thanks

- steve powers                     stratos product development group
spowers@spdg.com                   seattle, wa "home of the 5.0 !"