Renedave
Member
I love three links. But, when the rear boomerang breaks maybe it's not the best thing ever. We have the two side bolts off pretty easy, but is there a trick to getting the center bolt out?
Rear boomerang removal
- Thread starter Renedave
- Start date
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Just had this last week on here I think
rear tri-link removal
remove balls,
remove the three bolts that hold bracket on that attaches the ball joint
and then you can get it out where you can actually work on it easily
remove bolt, and then can easily get the bolt out even if rusted
sounds like more work but in the end it makes a hard job easy if bolt is rusted or can not get the ball joint down out etc
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How bad are the bolts usually in? Is it something a good long breaker bar and some hits on the bolt heads can break free? Or do I need some air/electric tools?
Renedave
Member
Dang, I'm kicking myself for not thinking of that. Thanks, I'll give it a shot!
Usually , LOL you can remove them with a regular ratchet, they have blue loctite on them from factory
BUT I have found some due to rust etc that took breaker bar to break them loose.
Then have found 2 over the years that had bolts cross threaded from factory
I have a " cradle" that I built out of 2x6s to lay the tri-link in, so you can beat the ball joint out.
Once out then clean bracket up good and goes back together easily
Renedave
Member
As soon as I get a free moment away from work I'm going to try the ball joint C-clamp style press on it. If that doesn't work I'll cut the arms off the boomerang and put it in the lightweight 20 ton press. I was tempted to just buy a new bracket until I saw the price on them. Gah! Is it safe to assume that since the bracket's cast and the balljoint is junk anyway I can apply a MAP gas torch to it for a little extra persuasion?
New little bit of joy: while under the Jeep I noticed the rear brake dust shields were wonky and loose. Pulled the driver's side rear rotor off, and every bit of the parking brake apparatus came tumbling out in mangled pieces sans any friction material, but including pieces of the wheel speed sensor and star adjuster. I just changed the front and rear brakes in July when I gave the Jeep to one of the kids to drive, and the parking brake pads were fine then, so that's pretty impressive amount of destruction in a pretty short amount of time.
Renedave
Member
While the wife was out getting her nails done this morning I got to work on the KJ. Taking the boomerang bracket off was the right thing to do, required removing the rear axle damper and sway bar to get to all of the nuts. I thought about removing the rear driveshaft as well to let me get an impact gun on the bottom bolt, but I sucked it up and used a cheater bar and countless socket turns until I got it loose enough to use a ratchet. There is a ton of blue locktite on the bolts, more than I remember seeing on any other factory application.
Once out I put the bracket in a small vice. A 3 pound sledge made quick work of the bolt, then I used a cold chisel to spread the "ears" and a small punch to drive the balljoint stud out. Not too bad at all. I about scared the crap out of myself when I noticed the "bend" in the bracket, but a quick dry fit showed that's just the way it is. The bracket is back on now and I'm just looking up torque values before I put everything else back together.
Pics of the remains of the boomerang and parking brake, and how I separated the bracket attached.
Once out I put the bracket in a small vice. A 3 pound sledge made quick work of the bolt, then I used a cold chisel to spread the "ears" and a small punch to drive the balljoint stud out. Not too bad at all. I about scared the crap out of myself when I noticed the "bend" in the bracket, but a quick dry fit showed that's just the way it is. The bracket is back on now and I'm just looking up torque values before I put everything else back together.
Pics of the remains of the boomerang and parking brake, and how I separated the bracket attached.
Attachments
None of mine have the rear sway bar nor the balls, removed first time I have them off
No need to remove the driveshaft unless it is sitting way low , I have removed a slew of them and never did
Also I never spread the ears, have heard of many of them breaking when folks tried it and found no reason to,
No need to remove the driveshaft unless it is sitting way low , I have removed a slew of them and never did
Also I never spread the ears, have heard of many of them breaking when folks tried it and found no reason to,
Renedave
Member
The funny thing is I bought a new damper years ago after I bent mine up while wheeling, and I stuffed it in a parts bin because you said you just removed them anyway. I dug it out and installed it out of spite yesterday, both because the kid's not going to do anything more serious than drive across a lawn for a tailgate and because I didn't want to find it ten years down the road and kick myself for spending the money on something I never used.
Understood how someone could crack an ear on the bracket using a chisel. The amount of force I applied was just enough to get the chisel to stay in place while I drove out the stud with the punch, and since it was my part to replace if I broke it I was willing to take the risk.
