but after searching and searching on how to remove my shackle bolts, not any method has worked for me. Everyone suggest torching it, but what exactly am i torching? heating the bolt will just make the bolt expand, and i already have my nuts off (came off easy) but the bolt it self wont slide out. i can get the bolt to spin with a breaker bar, but it wont budge!!!

i have the blazer up on jack stands, and then I'm using a jack to raise and lower the back end. its almost like there is tension on the bolt from the spring. how would i go about removing the tension? and if i do use more heat where should i apply the heat?

 

Burn out the bushings & get a drift & a BFH. Hammer it out & if you have to cut the bolt head off so you can hit it back n forth. You can try heating the the material around the bolt.
Just make sure you already have new hardware.

 

Try using a big hammer and an extension if you cant get a good angle on it.
the bolt cam rust in there pretty good.....nevermind ten seconds to late

 

Lol hey, someone else saying it just reasures him about a way to get them off.

 

When I installed my rear shackles, I tried the ol' soak with penetration oil with no luck. I ended up using a torch and burning the bushing out as previously stated, and then smashing everything apart

-OSS

 

air hammer works wonders too. the problem is the bolt actually rusts to the metal sleave inside the bushing. so you can spin that sleeve inside the bushing but very hard to get it out. what ive always done is just take my 4 1/2 inch angle grinder with a cut off wheel blade on it and just the bolt out of there then you can press the bushings out in a press and get new bushings. most the vehicles i work on are like 30 years old so they usually need the bushings anyways

 

one bolt obliterated! 3 to go! burnt up the grinder and had to stop for the night. Not sure why everyone insist on using a big hammer though, with the bushing in there it absorbers all of the blow.

i ended up removing the spare (glad i did to, because it was flat), and grinding away the inner bolt head, and then cut the bolt flush on the other side. this allowed me to pop the bracket off, and drill out the bushing. plan on doing this for the top bolt as well, except I'm also going to cut the bracket in half.

 

Done... still need to do the torshion bars, but that will have to wait. pictures will be here soon