Just a rant.

So awhile back as some of you know I wrecked my Z. Well it's coming back together, just waiting for Stance to get in some replacement parts for one of my coilovers that I royally fubar'd.

Anyways....on the driver side rear, I bent my toe arm so I'm replacing it w/ another OEM toe arm. Anybody that's familiar w/ the toe arms know these things are thick....amazing how I bent it. But that's besides the point.

What's stressing me the eff out is the fact that the bolt that goes into the chassis is on there like you wouldn't believe. The nut on the backside stays in place which is good b/c you can't access it anyways. But the bolt head itself is in a tight spot and I'm having a hell of a time getting it off. You can't use a socket wrench b/c there is not enough space so I'm left w/ just a regular 17mm wrench which needs about a 5 ft pole on it to break it loose. Problem w/ that is, you can't fit any extension onto the end of the wrench b/c of the orientation in which the wrench has to sit due to the tight space.

**** my life man lol. Oh and I have to replace my front passenger compression rod due to a busted ball joint. Well while trying to remove the broken spindle/knuckle I can't get the damn nut off the LCA ball joint b/c it's just spinning freely inside. I've spent three days hosing it down w/ every type of WD-40 PB Blaster break free **** I can think of. Any suggestions would be great.

I'll get some pics of the bent SPC camber arm and OEM toe arm when I get the toe arm off....but here's how the wheel looked when it happened....solid impact lol.

 

ouch. that looks like it hurt. why didnt you take it to a shop?

 

I remember looking at that toe arm while doing my brembo swap and thinking what a PITA it would be to change.

Good luck bro, I hope you find a way to get it w/o having to drop the whole sub-frame.

 

I haven't seen or worked on a toe arm on a 350z before. But when it comes to tough bolts, you can use a few different things to help you out.

Heat - get the toe arm/bolt section extremely hot and then try and break it loose.

Hammer - Just make sure you don't round off the bolt. Shake things loose with this one first.

Penetrating Lube - Self explanatory. Let it sit for a while.

Leverage - This one is usually key. You said you can't put an extension on it though. There's gotta be something you could use. I'd get creative.

I usually use penetrating lube, hammer, leverage in that order and it usually breaks free whether it's in tact or snapped haha Which would make things worse. Are you using a jack and stands or a lift?

 

well guys I got it....just so happens my light weight jack's arm/extension worked perfect as a breaker bar. So this is what I have accomplished so far

Rear:

-Swapped out toe arm

-Swapped out SPC camber arms to Kinetix camber arms

-Re-adjusted height of rear coilovers

-Mounted wheels back onto rear


Front:

-Removed whole front passenger suspension

-Disassembled coilover as I wait for a new strut and spring bucket to come from Stance/TH Motorsports

-Removed front under brace and windage tray

-Then removed compression rod and put new OEM one on

-Removed broken spindle/knuckle from end link and LCA

-Removed broken ABS sensor line and installed new one

Now I'm stuck and need another set of hands to pull off the broken piece of the spindle that attaches to the upper control arm. Right now trying to turn the nut loose just spins the broken piece as it's still attached. So it's soaking in PB Blaster and once my buddy gets home I'm gonna have him hold it w/ pliers while I go at it w/ the wrench.


Thanks for the advice and encouragement guys. Almost back together.

Reason I didn't take it to the shop was b/c I'm quite a DIY'er and to save a shitload of cash on labor....plus it's been snowing off and on here in the chi-town area so I couldn't drive the Z anyways.

And I pretty much now know the whole suspension and bracing setup on the Z lol.

 

only thing better is a stripped bolt in a tight place FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU i had a bolt under the greddy manifold that was stripped. OMFG! what a pain in the a$$. to tight to get a knifed socket in there and break it out. I spent like 4 hours removing that bolt... Should of just gas axed the pipes.

 

that sucks dude and I'm feelin your pain right now. Seriously I had to pound the hell outta the end link bolt to get it off the knuckle and I smashed in a thread....hoping the tap and die set will re-thread it correctly...if not it's time to get a new endlink


Other than that....car is back together minus coilover. yay

 

Thats a good enough reason for me. I feel you about working on your car rather than taking it to a shop because you get the warm awesome feeling after you've accomplished what you wanted and on top of that you save money. Good luck!!