[tommyleea]

02 Sporty 4x4..While I am at it..I am replacing the struts. The lower mount bolt is frozen in place. I know I don't need to remove it, but I would like to be able to remove it and antisieze it. Any ideas on removing it?? This is the bolt for the bottom of the fork on the lower control arm. Thanks

 

[Galf]

This topic was already treated in the past on this forum. Anyway that bolt was torqued to a high value at the factory, look on kiatechinfo for the specs, and you should just need a good breaking bar, better a 3/4 inch one, and WD40 to loosen it. On the side with the ball joint that bolt is shaped so that you can put a spanner to prevent the bolt from rotating while you loosen or tighten it.

 

[Galf]

I looked on kiatechinfo and that nut was tightened at 197 N·m, more than I thought, so, if it has not been loosened before, you definitely will need a 3/4 inch breaking bar to loosen it.

 

[tommyleea]

I already have the nut off, and strut removed. It is the thru bolt that seems to be siezed up in the lower control arm. I don't have to remove it, but would like to free it up and antisieze it.

 

[Galf]

Then you should remove the whole bushing, and the proper way to remove it should be removing the lower suspension arm (the inner nuts were torqued at the factory at 300 N·m!), and remove the outer bushing using a press; or you could use the not proper way of burning the bushing rubber, as you can see on YouTube, but then you should use a press to install the new bushing, so in any case you would have to remove the lower arm.

 

[tommyleea]

So, should the bolt just slide out on its own, or is it held in some other way that I am not seeing? Thanks

 

[Galf]

Yes, the bolt should slide out on its own. Only the fork pushes against that bolt and makes difficult to remove it, so you can remove the fork to make easier removing the bolt.

 

[upyourkia]

It is not uncommon that these bolts seize up in the bushing. Best this is to replace this and the lower control arm bushings while your at it. During reassembly, use anti seize to help prevent future problems.
I pounded mine out the first time with a brass drift and hammer. Real pain in the @*%.
I believe they are called sway bar links or stabilizer link kit. You can get them off ebay for about $20 for 2 with free shipping in the US.

Might as well lift it while your taking everything apart!!!

upyourkia

 

[tommyleea]

Well, moved over to the passenger side to replace wheel bearings, balljoints, and struts. Everything came loose. Went back to the drivers side, and the strut fork mount bolt (frozen earlier) finally spun free after setting and soaking. Glad I am not in a hurry. Still haven't removed the upper control arm bolt from the drivers side (hits the steering gearbox). I ordered a new bolt and am waiting to see if maybe it is a different size. Maybe they made a mistake at the factory. Looking in the service manual it just says to remove the bolts. Nothing about the steering gearbox being in the way. More to follow. Cheers.

 

[Galf]

I just removed the left upper suspension arm, I removed the four bolts that fasten the steering gear, then I moved the steering a little and the steering gear moved enough to remove that bolt. The only problem is to reach the four nuts of the steering gear four bolts, but they can be easily reached from the front of the car, from under it, you just have to remove one of the two stabilizer bar supports; but I have not reinstalled the steering gear yet, so I still do not know how difficult that is.

 

[tommyleea]

Thanks for the info. I was hoping the nuts were part of the frame, but noticed also that they are separate pieces. I am sure that is probably the way to go, but should receive the new bolt any day now, so I'll just wait. Thanks for the info..

 

[tommyleea]

Well, I received the new bolt, and it is the same size. Today I will loosen the steering gearbox and continue on. Cheers..

 

[tommyleea]

Well, mission accomplished. Moved the steering gear out of the way to get control arm bolt in. I used a magnet on the flats of the two upper nuts of the steering gear to hold them in place until the bolts started. Worked well, but I am sure there are other methods out there. Just some info. Cheers.