Removing seized shackle bolts?

kfp673 wrote:
Hello All,

Looking for recommendations. I purchased the MorRyde CRE3000 with wet bolt / shackle kit. Jacked the camper up and the axels up, pulled the wheels, and did not get past the first shackle bolt. I have an air impact and a battery impact and could not get it to brake lose. It just spun. It was getting dark so I just put the wheel back on. I do not have a torch, so is there any other way for me to get these off? We leave for a trip in a few days and I would really like to have this installed, however because we leave so soon I also don't want to get my self in a half finished project situation.

Thanks for any help you can offer!

When you tried to loosen the shackle bolt by using an impact and no wrench on the nut, you just spun the bolt/nut together. You have to secure the nut before you can loosen the bolt, in fact you should hold the bolt and loosen the nut. As was mentioned by several people, the bolts are knurled near the hex end to keep them from spinning. Once you do that you shouldn't have any trouble removing the bolts.

Once the bolts are removed, the nylon, probably nylon, old bushings are removed, you can start the reassembly. Again when assembling try to align the splines/knurling with the old, and hold the bolt and turn the nut. Do not hold the nut, and try to turn the bolt.

When I did my wet bolt kit, I used a reamer to make sure the new bushings were a good fit to the new bolts. Mine were tight going into the shackles, so the reamer just cleaned out the tight spots where the bushing may have been squeezed while installing.