I win!  That lateral link nut clearly didn't know who it was messing with.  What?  You don't think I'll cut you?  Meet cut off wheel and sazall!  You nasty little bugger....look at it...its ugly too.  Glad that thing is gone to say the least.  Now I can get to ordering the correct bolt per ZSHO!  And I'll happily attach a nut on the end by hand and with a socket. 

Big win right there!  Woo Hoo!!!

Its really noticeable to put my wheel back on and lower the car to the ground....the toe is wayyy off!  Is it safe to start the car and drive it 20 ft?  It would be nice to clean out my garage this weekend.

Smooth 20 feet?  Not requiring any real suspension travel?  Then sure, safe.

Quote from: SHOdded on July 06, 2019, 07:56:49 AM
Smooth 20 feet?  Not requiring any real suspension travel?  Then sure, safe.

Cool!  I thought so but I wanted someone  with a higher IQ than me to give me the go ahead!  Thanks Manu

I dont know about the IQ part lol.

Quote from: SHOdded on July 06, 2019, 09:18:06 AM
I dont know about the IQ part lol.

You're too kind.  I would have said...for a low IQ you seem to manage well!

LR lateral link is now replaced and the install is complete.  Couple things come to mind why I ended up with so much trouble.  I probably should have not used my 1/2 drive air impact to back it out.  If I could do it all over again I would have PB blasted that rear nut and turned a ratchet by hand to remove. 

After getting the nut and nut casing removed I was in the process of getting ready to order the correct bolt when I decided it wasn't necessary to get the fancy OEM bolt as I had destroyed the nut.  I was able to replace with whatever I wanted at this point.  I went to Advance and bought a grade 8 bolt, lock washers and nuts.  I brought the original bolt to match something up to it.  Went home, cut the bolt down a little and installed the new lateral link.  I did what mema taught us and adjusted the lateral link to pretty darn close to what the original link length was.  Will be good enough to drive to get an alignment.  After getting the bolt tightened to spec(1 on my impact, couple pulls of the trigger on 2) I then lowered the car slowly on a jack stand to make the suspension travel to where the ball joint slipped into place like a glove. 

Unless I get a nut welded to the inside of the frame I'll leave the opening the way it is....now it is surrounded by a few other openings so I don't anticipate the one I cut to amount to any advance degrading of the metal.  I also don't drive it in winter.  But I will spray some fluid film in there anyway. 

I would at least jbweld the nick you made, if not properly weld it.  Twisting forces can get nasty.

Quote from: SHOdded on July 07, 2019, 10:42:49 AM
I would at least jbweld the nick you made, if not properly weld it.  Twisting forces can get nasty.

Id like to but unless I get that nut welded in there, it would have to be cut open again to replace down the road.  Although cutting it was fun so that means more fun down the road?  Lol

Yeah, it would be more "fun" down the road alright   If you put jbweld on there, you can see how it holds up over time, plus you will have the section identified should you need to remove it again.

Sounds like a plan

You can prolly be safe if you keep it open but "box" out the area with metal to reinforce it ?

Quote from: Macgyver on July 07, 2019, 08:29:17 PM
You can prolly be safe if you keep it open but "box" out the area with metal to reinforce it ?

If I can get my hands on some fairly thick metal what if I cut a "cover" to overlap the hole, and attach with self tapers?  That would cover it and reinforce it?  Then I could simply unscrew to remove as needed.