95greenxj

i had to loosen my pass side shackle bolt in order to line up my new spring pack and for some reason it would only loosen and come out like 3/8th - 1/2inch, and now it wont even turn.. iv'e been using a air wrench/breaker bar and everything else i could imagine, itll slowly turn but all it does is make a cracking noise(while i try to tighten it back in) i have to put all my weight into it....

what im trying to find out is, how far it actually "threads" into the body(nut).... im scared if i keep trying to tighten it, ill snap it. then im ef'd.

i was thinking about leaving it, but keep checking on it on a regular basis to see if its moved, or anything.. even if i put a prybar btween the leafspring and shackle mount it wont budge.. so i believe its still threaded into the nut... i just dont know how far.

any idea's on what to do?

thanks in advance!

MasterShakeXJ

spray the hell out of it with some pb blaster or something of equal power and see if that helps. is there a lot of rust present? if so, you might just need something like pb to coax it out.

familyxj

x2 on the above but PLEASE DO NOT JUST LEAVE IT!!!!!! I would let it soak and try to get it out so you can properly evaluate what is going on.

95greenxj

yea ive been thinking about it, and im def not gonna leave it.. because i think over time as the leafs level out the shackle will move too, and i take the chance of one side of the jeep being higher....


how hard is it to break a grade 8 bolt?

XJ Stryker

Cut it out!

This is like the third thread I have seen about this lol.

Review this thread!

Post 18

https://www.cherokeeforum.com/showth...?t=3065&page=2

95greenxj

ok.. so say i cut it out?...ill then need to cut into the body to axcess the rest of the bolt in the nut, which i dont want to do... but if i have to, then i have too.

are the shackles suppose to move at all? or do they stay in one position once they are tightend down?

XJ Stryker

It is prolly free from the nut and just siezed to the bushing. If you could take some pics of what you are dealing with (unless it is the same as what i have pictured) it would help out a lil.

It is not uncommon at all to have to cut and grind stuff out when doing a lift for the first time on an XJ.

95greenxj

damn, ill try to get some pics.. but new springs and everything have already been put on.. so i coukd tighten all the bolts when i took it off the jack stands...

whats the best way to tell if it just siezed in the bushing?

isnt there a small access hole behind the bumper that i could use a flashlight to look in to see if the bolts still in the nut?. and even spray pb blaster if it is.

JCruise

Here is what you are looking at with the bolt and nut for the rear shackle. This is currently what I'm dealing with right now trying to install 2" shackles in my rusty 95 from Maine lol. It is a headache at best, I went through the floor board since it was already rusted out but if you have a sawzall and a metal cutting blade you could just cut the bolt out, however, then you are still left with having to get in there and fix the nut if it broke the tack welds holding it to the frame... the ridiculous part is it has an access hole through the frame rail but you can't fit a deep socket into it because the bolt sticks out too far!!! lol Damn ***** with the pencil that designed this!!! Anyways, good luck on getting it out, be prepared to weld up a new bracket though if it's as rusty as mine you'll find that it wasn't the welds that broke but the housing itself lol

RTorrez1

I think he may have already fixed his problem since his post was from 12-30-2008.

JCruise

lol reading... it's fundamental...

McGeeXJ

Oh man that's funny