Any body got any ideas how to undo a rounded off nut holding the bottom of the shock on front axle. the bloke before me had fitted the lift kit and didnt do the bottom nut up in the process they have rounded the nut off and its proper tight every attempt has failed. any help or ideas would be appreciacted.
A lot depends on whether the nut is severely rusted. Now I'm a Senior Citizen who used to work in Technical Support at British Leyland and other places. There are many many methods available.
(1) You could try British made genuine Mole Grips (these are made from high quality steel and other makes don't measure up)
(2) It is possible to buy Irwin bolt grippers. These are a peculiar socket that grips onto the rounded nut or bolt. They are not cheap.
(3) Nuts are cheap so why not split it? OK this is easier said than done and it might be that a nut splitter is too big to go in.
(4) One good method is to weaken the nut by drilling it. Unfortunately 8.8 strength steel is not the easiest material to drill. Nevertheless if one buys some High Speed Steel COBALT drills the metal can be defeated fairly easily. Look for HSSCo. Once the nut has a hole drilled in the side of it there is a fair chance of being able to split it with a cold chisel. Woolworths quality drills will be a waste of space so one needs either HSSCo drill bits or old British drill bits made by Dormer, English Steel or Intal. The drill bits must be sharp, not rusted and blunt.
(5) One excellent and cheap way of defeating a rusted nut is to hacksaw it. One makes the cut along the axis of the bolt. Try to just cut away the side of the nut without cutting into the bolt. Once one cut has been made the nut can often be unscrewed with Mole grips.
(6) If one has access to a spot welder it might be possible to grip the nut in the pincers and heat it red hot.
(7) The automotive press has been advertising an Induction Heating pistol which is especially designed for heating nuts. The cost is likely to be well beyond the pockets of DIY users however.
(8) Sometimes an old "buzz box" arc welder can be used to devastating effect. Unlike oxy-acetylene it won't set everything within a three foot radius alight!
Above all DON'T PANIC!
Good luck!
