I spent this afternoon attempting to get the original shocks off my blazer. Obviously for a 2000 model it should have been done long ago.
Anyways, on the left side, I got both of the upper bolts out.
The lower bolt, I got the nut off of it, but the bolt is seized to the metal collar that is inside the rubber bushing on the shock. Burn it out? I cant really hammer it out without bending the bracket that the bolt runs through. Hit it with plenty of PB everywhere.

Second problem, right hand side, got the lower and one upper bolt out.
The clip with the threaded collar on it that the upper bolt goes into snapped, and the collar just turns with the bolt now. I am thinking cut/grind it out, but I am afraid I will have problems getting new parts, but I guess at this point I already need the new clip so I might as well hunt down the bolt as well.

I have appreciated this forum for several years, this is the first time I have been stumped so I decided to register to see if anyone could give me any tips.
Thanks

 

Ugh, yeah I'd say burn it out, or just apply heat to it & see if that helps. If it's been soaked for a long time & not budging what else can you do? Just play it safe with a torch around a vehicle, fire extinguisher, extra person (common sence is far too uncommon nowadays it seems) & make sure you have the extra parts already there. It's always good to replace the bolts/hardware with new ones & plenty of neverseize with shocks or leafs as they see a ton of road debris, salt etc.

 

Soak the bolt that is rusted in with a penetrating oil. As for the clip I'm sure you can find a new one. Check with a NAPA store. It doesn't matter is it is metric or Standard get a clip & bolt together. Lowes, Ace hardware carry a lot of stuff like that also.

 

Thanks, I have it rigged up for the night with a wrench applying constant rotating pressure on the bolt along with oil just to see if it will come free. I will go out tomorrow and hope to find the parts I need on a Sunday.
Once I have the parts I need ill try heat.

How hard is the mount on the bottom of the shock? Would it be faster and cleaner to use a cutoff wheel on that vs burning the rubber out?

 

Update
I used my Harbor Freight "heavy duty" grinder and some cutoff wheels and just cut everything out. After cutting the bottom bolt, I am glad I bought new, because those bolts were way too easy to cut. 15-20 seconds on the grinder and they were off.