Likewise, the bolt that holds the compliance bushing into the frame took even more force to break it free and back it out.

Once removed, I could see that the threads are corroded and can't be chased with a nut even with the bolt in a vise, so I'll be replacing that bolt. I still needed a 5-foot breaker bar to remove it 1/16 of a turn at a time. It took 2 hours to remove the forward one after lots of lube, heat, and picking rust with a dental pick out of the exposed threads of the bolt before it entered the retaining nut that's welded to the frame. However the driver side had really rusty bolts on the two places where the control arm connects to the frame. The passenger side removal and replacement went great, no problems other than requiring lots of brute force, PBBlaster, and breaker bars, pickle forks, etc. The tie rod joint boots were also badly torn and leaking, as well as the rubber on the top and bottom of both end links, so I replaced them, and also replaced the struts while I was there. I've included photos to help show the issues.įirst, the rubber was badly cracked on the compliance bushing on both arms, and both ball joints were torn and leaking, hence the reason for the repair.

I was changing out my front control arms last night on my 2004 PIlot, and encountered the following problem.

T slot bolts ace hardware