So I just tried to remove the Bushing on my GF's car and looks like I am going to have to remove the cradle.. Could not break it lose and then when it did break lose, it spins.

So do you actually remove the cradle off of the car? Or do you just lower it down and then have access to the captive nut?

 

Can you get some thin vice grips on the nut?

 

Where exactly is the nut? between the cradle and the car body?

 

You actually remove the cradle from the car. But if you've already broke loose the captive nuts, you're going to have a hard time even removing the cradle.

 

If you can't get vise grips on it, You could use a flat head and pry against the cars frame using that force to hold the nut that way, Or you can keep spinning the bolt and nut till you can get vise grips on it...

The nut is located above the cradle in a sheet metal box with 3 tabs holding it, if you are lying under the vehicle and reach from the center towards the side you could be able to get your hand up in there above the bolt....Shes is tight though lol trust me...Also if you can get your head close enough against the cradle and have a flash light you can actually see the captive nut, and box.

I just went through this with my winter beater and i ended up going to home depot and got a nut and lock washer to help keep tension on the nut, Its been 2 weeks and so far its working like a charm...Lastly i wrote down what size socket the nut is on a piece of paper and stuck it in the glove box for the future.

 

old thread I know... Any way got my arms out. The cage nut is totally stripped. Got the nut part out but the cage is still on the car. I have 14x2 metric nylock nut and stainless washer. How to get the cage out. Is is welded in? Can it be pryed out without destroying anything? (other than the cage itself of course)

 

its welded in. if you can pry it apart, you may be able to get at it