This is not recommended for steering and suspension components that will be re-used. The heat can affect the temper of the metal and possibly result in something getting weakended and breaking later.
IAA Mechanic!
First, WD stands for water displacement.
It’s fine for keeping tools and stuff rust-free, butPB- Blasteris a must-have for any removal or disassembly projects. It penetrates where nothing else will.
Second, Gary’s link won’t link for me, but I assume it’s like thisfrom Sears.
Usually effective, but you must really hammer the socket on to get a good grip.
Third, heat can be your friend. I’d let the PB Blaster work for a couple of hours, then a simple propane torch to heat the nut for 3-4 minutes. Get that sucker good and hot, tap on the remover (hard), and gently but firmly rotate and remove.
Another option if you have the clearance, Clarence, is parrot-beak pliers.
Theseare at Sears, but you may find some somewhere else. Vise-grips and regular Channel locks won’t work. The key here is the shape and offset of the jaws. Vise Grips clamp the nut tighter to the bolt - you’re fighting yourself.
Normal groove-joint (Channel lock) pliers hold the jaws parallel, and will slip right off. The parrot-beaks work one way, tightening into the nut as you push on the handles. They’re handy to have around.
I know this is all a PITA laying under a car, done correctly, you should be rolling tonight, keeping your pesos in your pocket, not the garage’s.
All true if welding or heating the suspension components themselves, but carefully heating the offending nut won’t transfer the kind of heat necessary to adversely affect the suspension parts.
Looks like the links are only about $15-20. It sounds like you’ve already spent that much in tools to save the old one.
Thanks for all the help. Here’s the final outcome.
It was only late last night, after doing some research at my favorite 350Z forum, that I realized that by undoing the other end of the stuck endlink, I could take the sway bar and the endlink off the car!
D’oh!
If I had thought of that before trying the vise-grips, I probably could have saved myself a lot of trouble! However, even with the parts off the car, I still wasn’t able to undo the damn thing.
The nut remover tools I mentioned didn’t work. I bought two sets from different stores: with one set the smallest was too large, and with the other the largest was too small. Typical Murphy’s Law!
I had been hoping in the latter case that I had rounded enough off the 17mm nut that the 16mm tool would work, but no joy. (Fortunately, I was able to return them all, since I never actually used them.)
I used the PB Blaster, and banged on it with an impact driver, but nothing worked.
Finally, I brought it to the mechanic I’ve been going to for the last 30+ years, and he got it off, apparently with a Snap-On socket and a larger impact driver. (I wasn’t there to watch.) However, his comments echoed Stranger’s and Projammer’s suggestion to use a six-sided socket. I’ll remember that next time.
With the endlink finally freed, I was able to install the new sway bar with only a little more knuckle scraping, muttering, and cursing. I’ve been out for a test drive, and everything seems fine.
I didn’t realize until my late-night research that the stock endlinks are so cheap. The retail price at my local dealership is about $40, but that would have been a workable solution if I had had to cut off the original one. But the stock links are not strong enough for regular track work, and aftermarket ones, which I’ll probably order in the next week or two, are around $300!
Anyway, all’s well that ends well, and the worst of this was the annoyance and frustration that a job that should have taken a couple of hours, at most, stretched out to three days.
Thanks all for your suggestions.