Lower Control Arm

Hello. :icon_smile:

I'm here trying to help out my husband a little bit. Unfortunately, I don't know a lot about cars(and hopefully,I'm on the right section of the forum.) So,I decided I'd best be helpful looking online for a solution. I've been searching online for hours(and hours and hours,ugh) He's not really an internet kind of guy, so I decided I'd join here.

So,the story so far:
We have a 2010 Chevy Aveo. The bushing needed to be replaced to pass inspection. Instead of going somewhere to have it pressed in, we opted to buy a whole lower control arm. We picked that up the other day. So far, so good.

We bought an impact wrench to hopefully help make things easier. Then,when it came time to remove the old lower control arm, the bolt would not budge. I found a picture of the lower control arm online, it's a Moog Lower Control Arm:
http://www.carid.com/images/moog/sus...s/ck620165.jpg

This is the section of the lower control arm where the bolt going through it will not budge on the old control arm. It is the same as the old one on there:
Attachment 9493

So, what happened was that the bolt would not budge. Also, the impact wrench rounded off the bolt. So, basically ,the head of the bolt is stripped.

What he tried after that happened was to weld a nut on the head of the bolt. The weld on the nut broke about three times. So, finally he welded a socket onto the bolt. That was successful, the weld has held on that. So, using the impact gun the bolt wound out a little bit, but would come out no further. So, he wound it back in, thinking that he'd bump it into reverse, and that would get it to wind out further. That is where the real trouble began.

After winding it back in, when he tried to wind it back out again with the impact gun, all it does is spin around. I believe that the steel sleeve that goes around the bolt came lose. Now, the bolt just spins, and does nothing else.

So, I've gathered from looking online that the situation is pretty hopeless. I've read posts online that some people cut the subframe, but if our welder cannot make a weld strong enough to hold the nut onto the bolt, then it just really would not be safe to cut and weld the subframe, so that really doesn't seem like a viable option for us. Funds are limited at the moment, so going to a garage right now isn't really an option right now, either. We would need to try to save up. I'm assuming that would cost quite a bit?

Anyways, I hadn't intended to write war and peace, but I also wanted to post a good recount of the situation. :iconbiggrin:
I have found some things online, but none seem to apply exactly to the situation. I have found videos,etc online, but even using boolean isn't working to well for me - "Chevy Aveo lower control arm bolt stripped" gives no results, and then I have results without quotes, which is bringing up other makes and models of cars. These don't seem to have the same problem with the bolt being in the subframe. Those ones seem to have a nut on the other side of the bolt that can be gotten to. "Chevy Aveo" lower control arm bolt stripped is also another excercise in frustration, and besides that, it's not much use since it's at the whole sleeve and bolt turning stage. Googling Lower control arm sleeve keeps turning along with bolt has not been helpful, either.

I have noticed some people mentioning elsewhere about cutting off the old control arm, which we are desperate enough to try. However, on an Aveo with the bolt in the subframe, we would have a cut off control arm with the bolt still in the subframe, so I would guess that would not work, or else I've not wrapped my head around the concept properly.

Soooo......I decided I might as well register here and ask about it. It's an Aveo forum, so I think this is where I ought to be.

Any suggestions will be duly considered. Don't get me wrong, I love our little Aveo. But at this point, lighting it on fire and driving off a cliff, I would consider for a couple moments at least. :iconbiggrin:
And if I'm in this amount of depths of despair over one measly little bolt turning our car into a paperweight from the looks of things, I can only imagine how frustrated my husband is feeling at this point. :sad7:

Okay, cut the lower control arm off the car. So, progress of sorts. Now, attempting to cut the bolt in two, and pull it out. I think this is going to be the problem part of things.

Later edit:Annnnd the bolts off. Came off in three pieces. Woohoo! :)

I'm not sure if we need to order in a lower control arm bolt from the dealership or a car parts place, or if it's just an everyday ordinary bolt. I do see it has a lock washer on it, so we'll get one of those.

Order one from the dealer to be certain of getting the right grade of bolt. Less chance of getting an inferior Chinese counterfeit bolt that will break on you.

Thanks. :)

We did luck out, and found a pretty exact one at Home Hardware. There's a guy there we know that we could tell about needing it for the lower control arm since he likes to work on cars, and he found the same size and grade bolt. Knock on wood, hopefully it will work. If not, we're definitely going to order one from the dealer. Better safe than sorry. :)

Please ensure it is a grade 8 bolt or better, otherwise it could shear under stress.

Yup, it's supposed to be a grade 8 bolt. The guy at Home Hardware was specifically asked. Though I do feel quite iffy about it coming from Home Hardware, and I am worried about it. I dunno exactly why, I just feel like it would be safer or better from the dealer. But, hubby was excited to get one on a Saturday. I didn't kick up too much of a fuss, since when it comes to cars I don't really know what I'm doing. I'll ask about it again after it's in, just to be extra sure. :)