in a few months illl be upgrading the majority of my suspension system on my 1986 trans am.



basically both sway bars will be removed (replacing bushings and links)

replacing springs

replacing struts and shocks

replacing tie rods and center link and idle arm

my biggest fear is those 20 yr old rusted bolts will snap in half and ill be stuck drilling and tapping new threads


any tips to put my worries to rest?

 

Be careful, and buy endlinks for the sway bars...trust me. If you think its going to snap, stop trying to turn it and apply some heat.

 

all suspension bolts have a nut on the other side, so if it snaps then go buy a new bolt and nut, no threads to save Just use a chisel and pound out the broken piece.

 

load those with some PB blaster, u can get it at just about any parts store and it works great.. just let it sit and u should be fine, if u still think ull break them thne add some heat

 

impacts work good too. pb blaster will be your friend.

 

what is pb blaster. oh i already bought new end links for the sway bars.

what about the four bolts that bolt the center of both sway bars to the frame? do they have a nut as well?

 

the four bolts for the center mounts on the front sway do not have nuts. pb blast works great you can get it at walmart!!! having a 3rd gen thats one of the things you learn is a necesity in the garage. its a very good penetraiting lube

 

ive never broken any bolt on my 86, and had almost all of them off at least once, it just depends where the car spend its lift and how rusty things got. now i just screwed myself by saying that....

 

They're not real bad about "snapping".... the main thing you're likely to have to fight, is bolts that get rusted solid inside the sleeves. Either the sway bar end links, which are nbd because new sets come with new bolts anyway, so you can destroy them however you have to to get them apart; or the control arm and Panhard bar bolts. Those might be a different story. If you have to use a cutoff wheel on those, about the only option is to get new ones from GM. Although, some one of the board sponsors or somebody like that, might possibly have them. But they're not "hardware store" pieces. They're special.

 

i acturally just replaced my whole front steering part.
center link, ball joints, tierods, springs, swaybar end links. and the idle arm.
none of the bolts broke. only thing that broke where the sway bar end links.
but thos are really cheap to replace anyways $10 or $15 is what i pay for a set of end links.
it was a real pain tho trying to take off the tierods when yhou dont have the right tools tho haha. used a hammer and that still took along time.
i dont know about the other parts tho.
wont hurt to replace the bolts and nuts eather. there really cheap anyways.

 

PB blaster is glorified WD-40. I've never actually seen it in stores, but it's supposed to work better.
Cutoff wheels will be your friend. But try to shoot some WD-40/PB into where the bolts are for a few days before you tackle the job.