Okay I am now on the last straw with these front cradle bolts. I snapped off the nut on both of them, but the bolts will not come out. My neighbor let me use his sawsall, and I went to the store and bought some blades for cutting metal. Nothing is happening at all. I scratch the damn thing and thats all. I tore most of the rubber bushing away so that I can see and dont burn the rubber while doing this. What are these damn bolts made out of?? I cannont believe that the saw isn't working. I know that it cuts metal as I tested it on some different bolts and it cuts them just fine, but not the front cradle bolts. Anyone have any tips on what to do now? My dremal is to small, so I put a cross on the bolt head itself hopeing I could snap it off. No luck with that either. I don't have access to heat so thats out of the question. Do I keep going with the sawsall?? Someone please help me.

Thanks Ken

The sawsall will cut through the bolt no problem. Its the damn bushing sleeve that is impossible to scratch (or so it seemed to me) I ended up having to go with a cutting wheel on my die grinder.

Good Luck.

Edit... maybe try to get the blad between the frame, and the bushing, so it attacks just the bolt area...

[This message has been edited by Jncomutt (edited 01-03-2004).]

I am just going to go by a attachement piece for my dremal for a larger cut off wheel and do it that way. If that doesn't work then I will be at a loss of words. Wish me luck.

Thanks Ken

Not sure how it is where you live but I went to the local Canadian tire and bought a Jobmate 4.5" grinder for $30. They are failry cheap and one of the best things to own. The same store sells cutting discs for $5 a piece... They last a whole 45 seconds. It will cut through the bolt like butter.

werd

use the hillbilly ratchet set (cutting torch) thats what it used.

quote Originally posted by MooCow: I am just going to go by a attachement piece for my dremal for a larger cut off wheel and do it that way. If that doesn't work then I will be at a loss of words. Wish me luck. Thanks Ken

Bingo. This is what I did. Dremel has two grades of cut-off wheels; make sure you get the reinforced type.

-Jeff

quote Originally posted by crzyone: Not sure how it is where you live but I went to the local Canadian tire and bought a Jobmate 4.5" grinder for $30. They are failry cheap and one of the best things to own. The same store sells cutting discs for $5 a piece... They last a whole 45 seconds. It will cut through the bolt like butter.

Harbor Freight frequently has their Chinese version on sale for ~$18. I bought one a year ago and it's still going strong. Very hanfdy to have around for welding projects too.

a cheap angle grinder would cut it

The sawzall is not working because the bolts are vibrating or rotating back and forth with the reciprocating motion of the blade.

The reinforced cutting disks for the dremil is your best bet. Don’t get the thin disks as they will shatter at the slightest little bump as you try to get the disk in place to do the cutting,

It may seem like it is taking forever but it will work.

HINT
You will start with a disk about 1” diameter, once the disk wears down to about 1/2" replace it and keep the small disks.
After the head of the bolt is completely gone and the shaft of the bolt is flush with the eyelet of the frame bracket. Use the small disks again to cut in to the shaft of the bolt without cutting in to the hole in the frame.

That sleeve is hardened steel. Use an angle grinder with a small cut off disk and zip the bolt head off and grind it flush without grinding into the mount.

[This message has been edited by Tigger (edited 01-03-2004).]

Yes... the sleeve is very hard. Standard blades of any type won't cut it. The blade has to be harder than the sleeve. For hardened stuff than means a diamond or carbide saw or a grinder of some type.

If there is room to use it... Stanley still makes carbide blades for standard hack saws... They are not very expensive. The harder a metal is the better the carbide cuts. I'm not sure whether the rod or the blade style would work best for this. The blade is stronger.

I don't know if anyone makes carbide grit blades for sawsall... if they do it wouild make very short work of it.

To stop it turning... put a box end wrench on the bolt and clamp/brace the wrench tight to the body or frame.

Also... read in my cave. if you split the seam as described it will often release the bolt. This may not work for you since you snapped the nut end off.

Dremel actually makes at least 3 cutoff wheels. You can get a bunch in a small set of wheels for about 15 dollars. Black and Decker also has cutoff wheels of at least a couple types. Their kit is about the same price.

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The Ogre's Fiero Cave (It's also at the top of every forum page...)

The Harbor Freight 4.5" grinder (about $18) works well... just add a couple good cut off wheels (less than $2.00 at Home Depot). I recently tried this setup on a couple old coil springs. Cut through them like they were butter. However, the 4.5" wheel may be too large (e.g. may damage the metal in the immediate vicinity). If so, try a 3" cutting blade.

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FierOmar