...and then remove the bolt

Today's task was to remove everything rear of the transmission, which of course includes the dreaded rear trailing arms. From the start, removing them and getting the front coil springs loose both seemed to be the most difficult parts of pulling everything off of the frame.

The left trailing arm came right out without a hitch —a pleasant surprise — but the right side was much more difficult. The bolt that holds the arm inside the frame pocket had seized in the bushing and would not come out.

After several rounds of heat, oil and pounding on it with a two-pound hammer, it was clear that this was going to require another tactic.

The shims were driven out and the bolt was cut on the inside with an old reciprocating saw. Then the head of the bolt had to be ground off with an angle grinder. After all of that, the trailing arm finally came out.

Removing the rear differential and all the other parts was easy compared to the trouble caused by one rusty bolt.

It took most of the day, but it's nice to see the frame on its way to being ready to sandblast and paint.

Despite the difficulty from the trailing arm bolt, there are still portions of the frame that still have paint on them and every single other bolt came out with a half-inch ratchet as if they had been put in yesterday.