The first 10 minutes went by, my wife asked what the hell I was watching .... I told her a guy removing a bolt.... Figure I better go find something to do...

"If I can do it, you can do it" Yeah sure!!!! (Looking down at my harbour freight socket set) LOL Great vid Eric!!!

I have been an aircraft mechanic for 30+ years and I want to complement you on what a great job you do in narrating your videos. They are done for anyone at any level to understand and done with some personality ....Great Job....Mark

Those people living in warmer climate don't know how lucky they are. Great job.

When Big Nasty comes out, you know things are getting serious!

You have a great demeanor and conversationalist style of teaching. I enjoy watching your videos and learn a lot.

I can see the bill now: Parts and labor : $500 Penetrating spray: $100 New air compressor: $1500

Eric, Drew Charles here. I'm just glad to watch this again for the 10th time. I always get a kick out of your work. I am always on pins and needles waiting for you to break out the pickle fork. you do a great job and your narrative is superb. anybody on any level of technical experience could greatly enjoy your work. Thank you. I know this video is over two years old and I still love it over and over thank you again. I don't even know if you still read comments on two-year-old videos, but thank you anyway. Drew-Charles

I grew up in Northeast Ohio as a kid back in the 1970'/early 1980's before moving to Sunny Florida .My Dad was a Pennsylvania coal miner and was sick very badly with Black lung .He could barely breath .I remember watching my Dad out laying under those old rust bucket cars that we own in the middle of freezing winter out frozen to the bone wrenching on those cars and Bizziching the whole time. .I remember him cursing the engineers out from under the car and Always saying "God what did I do so Bad in life to deserve this crap ?? Ha ha ..We moved to Florida where he passed away 5 years later from the Black lung ..He spent his last 5 years in life wrenching on rust free cars ha ha ..Rest In Peace Dad ...

I've never seen a video so frustrating, yet so satisfying....

Man what a chore. I have to do this on my forester. Now im wondering if i should just pay to give somebody else the headache.

Watched this on my phone 2 days ago while waiting to go in for my back surgery. It was calming to watch Eric battling some rust to take my mind off the matter.

RIP South Main Auto 80 gallon air compressor

The bastard bolt as we call it! Bloody farmers here in Scotland love their Subaru and like driving in shit and salted roads. Pays to have a spare hub and arms to swap out the whole lot and overhaul the unit on the bench for next car. Just drop the lot,hub,arms etc and bolt on a spare unit. Makes for a faster turnaround and shitty one can be refurbed in time between jobs.

Thanks so much for your great videos, you can't imagine how much time and effort you save all of us that are doing this at home. I'm in my 70's, and have always done all of the work on my own vehicles - most everyone I know hates to work on vehicles, but I've always looked at it as occupational therapy - nothing makes me feel as good as when I fix the problem and take the vehicle out for a "test drive". And I always take the opportunity to buy new tools to make my life easier! I live in southwestern Colorado, and have never really appreciated the LACK of rust we have here - now, every time I manage to loosen a stuck bolt, I'll be seeing the Unicorns dancing around! Thanks again for putting a smile on my face!

Welcome to the South Main Auto Church of Latter Day Auto Mechanics. I am Pastor Eric O. Let us Spray.

Down south, everything takes two and a half minutes to do, Scotty Kilmer style!

Wow, now I know what my mechanic went through replacing my Outback's RR wheel bearing! Definitely glad I didn't attempt that repair. Living in the rust belt has its challenges.

Thanks for this video. It helped take the assembly apart for originally a CV boot replacement job. I have a 98 Forester with only 75k but the rubber parts are rotting out. One of the long bolts came out with the back and forth method using the impact wrench you demonstrated. The other was hopelessly frozen on the forward bushing. On that I cut the bolt head, used a small three arm puller to press it out of the trailing arm bushing, slid the knuckle off with a 5lb persuader, then used the three arm puller to press out the bushing and remaining bolt from the front control arm. It was one of the tougher car jobs I've done for sure. The other side that the bolt came free had the axle stuck to the hub. I pounded, pulled and heated that to oblivion so its getting new half axle, hub, seals and bearing just in case things got warped and/or melted. I don't want to pick this fight with it again so I plan on taking that bolt out at the beginning of every winter when I put my snow tires on and slopping some anti seize on it. Its easy enough to get to with the impact.

Eric, I'll tell you what, It's amazing being able to work on a car without needing to be concerned about rust and corrosion as you appear to be, It's made me very grateful for my experiences with dismantling suspension components and having minimal issues with them, and your channel has opened my perspective up to the fact that it can be a whole lot harder than I've experienced in the past. Keep making them awesome KZfaq videos, really enjoying watching them!!!

I saw the thumbnail, and the length of this video in my homepage and thought.... this is going to be amazing. I was not disappointed.

Eric, you wonder what it would be like to live in a place without rust. Well, I have a good friend named Max who lives here in Phoenix now and is a Master Technician for Lexus. His home was Montreal, Canada. When I talk with Max about the difference between Phoenix and Montreal he has a simple analogy. Heaven vs. Hell. I asked him if he was ever moving back home and he nearly hit me with the sander we were using to prep his car for paint. I took his response to my question as a solid NO!

This was the very first video I watched. 4 years later still watching. You Sir are a Prime example of the American people and Her spirit. May God bless you and your family

Aside from the primo skills, you manage to make this slog very entertaining.

People who don't like their bill should watch this video to see how much work and specialized tools are needed to do accomplish a job like this. Factor in how much more difficult it would be on a poorly lit garage floor with poor lighting and the wrong tools, and you get a feel for what life is like on the other side of the wrench. On the plus side, you've sold me on a Big Nasty, I've always wanted an air hammer that was worth using.

I see your struggle brother. That was a great visual when the rust started breaking apart. I lived in Southern California when I was a mechanic and I didn't know how good I had it. Now that I'm in TN, I'm back in the semi-rust belt. Not as bad as you boys but not as nice as California either. Great video!

Thank you for this! I am not a mechanic and have barely turned wrenches in my life. I live in Albany,NY and my 04 Forester XT needed a new brake backing plate. I went and dusted off my grandfather's Mac and Snap on stuff and pulled what looks like a .401 1980s Mac Impact hammer. Using this and my little Makita compressor and your techniques I was able to pop this horrible bolt out without roasting the bushings in about an hour or so! I referred to this video many times and cannot say thank you enough for taking your own personal free time to record and edit these videos! This really did help me tremendously and I learned alot. TYSM man!

Even after a year, I like to come back to this video just to see Eric O. busting ass on scrap metal. Man Eric , you know the" In's and Out's" with a rust battle. Please continue on ........

I have PTSD from watching this video. I've worked on too many stuck Subaru bolts.

When I lifted my SUS and had to tear the entire rear suspension apart, made sure to just go ahead and order all new mounting hardware and bushings because knew I was going to have to shred everything.

After my wife and I left your shop last fall, we took a drive through the finger lake area and then headed up through a national forest to Lake Champlain. Upstate NY has some beautiful scenery. We even talked about moving up for a couple of years so we could see more of NY and the New England area. (We're retired now). Then I watch a video like this and I only have to imagine myself lying on my back under my vehicles dealing with crust and I am brought back to my senses. We don't need salt down here in Texas, we just stay home for a day and wait for the the ice to melt. :)

I am a DIY'er and live up on Canada where rust is a serious problem. I will sit through an hour of Eric pounding away at a part just to see if staying at it will work. I did a complete rebuild of the front end of my daughters car and wimped out on the lower control arms and let a 'real' mechanic do it because I could not get the bolts off. After watching this video I realize I should have just kept going. This is the best channel on KZfaq because I will watch Eric O grind away at a bolt for 50 minutes!

I remember Ohio had the inspections that your car had to pass to be able to get your license plates .Our cars were rotted out shells of what used to be cars ha ha .My Dad had to rig those cars every year to get them to pass ..We were poor and didn't have a Pot to piss in so buying a good car was out of the question for us ..I remember one time the car went in for inspection and they found a leaky brake line and failed the car .My Dad was like Shizzit what am I going to do ? I can't afford to buy steel brake line to redo this car .He went to the hardware and bought like 20 ft of copper line and took his flaring tool and a hacksaw and made new brake line out of that .he painted the copper line black with spray paint and climbed under the car and put it in then drove back to the inspection place and passed ...My Dad said if the inspector knew that the brake lines were copper line they would have failed this car on the spot ha ha but it worked and we drove that car many years ...We had a 1972 Pontiac Bonneville that was rotted out badly ..We got pulled over and the Ohio state trooper did a roadside inspection and failed dad's car because the emergency brake didn't work .The trooper told dad to get that fixed and get it signed off that it was fixed and pay the fine ...My Dad climbed under the car and the cable was broken and the brackets where the cable ran were rusted out .My dad was like how the hell an I supposed to fix this ??? He said I've got to do something to pass .This is the only car we got ...He got his welder out and took a steel bar and climed up under the dash and welded the bar onto the emergency brake peddle arm up under the dash where it couldn't be seen .The bar ran acrossed over to the regular brake peddle and when you pushed the E- Brake peddle down that bar pressed the brake peddle down and held the car in place .Dad took a toggle switch and cut the brake light switch wire and made it where when he was told to hit the E-Brake the brake lights wouldn't come on and cause him to fail ...We went into the inspection and the trooper told dad to hit his regular brake and put the car in gear and give it a little gas to make sure the brakes worked and the trooper stood behind the car ..then the trooper told dad to apply the emergency brake and do the same test .Well dad hit the switch so that the brake lights wouldn't come on then he pressed the E-Brake peddle down which also pushed the regular brake peddle down and the car passed ha ha .My dad went in paid the fine and we were on our way down the road ....I remember my dad saying on the drive home " I pray for the day that I don't have to drive this junk and can get a good car that I don't have to rig .ha ha ..Old memories I'll never forget from my childhood

Packed with goodies. The "classic spin around," the never seize "tin man" effect, and then "prancing unicorns!" Great stuff Mr.O. Thanks!!

My originally owned, daily driven through mountains of Michigan snow, 04 WRX wagon needed rear brakes in 2016. No prob, had done it before. This time I managed to ding the ABS tone wheel. Uh oh. The shop I took it to ended up cutting a wishbone to get it apart. I have been a professional race mechanic for 30 years and agreed that was the only way to move forward. The bolt had swelled from rust and was no longer a bolt. Rust is when I pay a shop to work on my car. Totally appreciate your effort and video. My 17 yr old WRX with 300hp has been the love of my car life, and to watch it rust away to a piece of junk is killing me

youre the most patient rusty bolt worker in the world

being a technician here in Florida we see a lot rust because it seems like 80% of New Yorkers when they retire move to Florida and bring their Rusty Vehicles here so most the time it's not too bad but we still get the New York rust lol

Hey Eric. here's a thing to try next time. Assuming you have an arc welder. Put the ground clamp on the head of that rusty bolt. Set the amperage way low. Use any big fat electrode. Dead short on the nut end. Hold it until the bolt is red hot. Then start the beating. We love heat.

We get a lot of rusty Subaru’s in Whistler, BC. I find torching the long bolt in half in the middle of the knuckle and air hammering each 1/2 out from the middle. We stock the bolts and bushes for this reason. If you don’t have a bolt, mark the inbound control arm alignment bolts and disconnect the arms inbound. We also use the hydraulic OTC hub grappler which is sweet.

Here from Good OLD Northern California. Not sure why i watch your rusty videos when I rarely ever come across your problems, but it sure is something good to watching.

RRRRRRUUSSSTTT! I hate rust. Used to be a mechanic years ago. Now I only do jobs like this for my own personal amusement. And yes, I know what hardcore rust is I live in New Jersey! You kicked ass and took names. Great job Eric!

I got to say it's nice to watch somebody else work for once nice job we have the same rust in Michigan fun fun

Been a while since you made this video. My nissan x-trail was the same setup. Left rear failed the safety. 5 hours of scrapping with it. I won. No new bolt to be had in my small town. I saved the bolt, it wasnt as bad as this one. So since i replaced last one i have been soaking other side heavily whenever i get it into shop. One guy on big nasty, other one with impact spinning bolt. Fix junk and put it on the internet. Thats what you do! I just like to watch some one else deal with the same crap i also do on a daily basis. I have no problem with hard work, i can watch it all day!

Is it weird that this is my second time watching this! Just love watching the rust being mushed up with the oil etc!!!

Hey thanks for this vid. I have this car, 2007 WRX and bearing is getting noisy. I'm up here in NH. I've been a Ford truck mechanic for past 25 yrs. And I 'll have to tackle this in my driveway :(( We'll see how it goes. TY again for this informative video!!!!

I'm in Florida, there's no unicorns! I have experienced the same crap that you deal with growing up in the great white North. I was under my 11 year old F 150 the other day and it still has original part sticker's on most of the components and NO rust!

Best car repair videos. Eric has a sense of humor along with mechanical ability and knowledge. Born teacher.

Thanks for all the years of these videos Eric. Have one of these to do next week and was looking for someone who has already done it. Pleasantly surprised to find your videos up top when I went looking.

I can't stop laughing when you said "get me the same thing I get every time I go to McDonald's"!

Awesome video! I learned a lot of tips and tricks from the Master. Don't let the head swell too much : ) Hope you enjoyed your lunch. No updates needed about the aftermath. Lol

Good job. Never did I think that bolt would be that rusty. I've done many a wheel bearing, but not on a Subaru. That's a ball buster of a job.

No wonder you are a calm individual. You get all your frustrations out on Subarus. Thanks for the tips.

Hy dude! Really nice video! You helped me a lot....with your video, I decided doing this job on my 2007 Subaru Forester 2.5 XT myself:-). Thanks a lot from Switzerland, Markus. PS: I like your comments:-)

Did one of these a week or three ago, driveshaft was stuck in the bearing/hub flange. Whole assembly sat in the press overnight in a bath of wd40 still stuck in the morning. By midday I had enough, took cover behind the press post and maxxed out pressure until something was about to break. Shaft cracked loose with an almighty bang and a shower of wd. This is Australia with no rust belt issues......

Great video Mr. O! The look of Zen on your face when you were hammering on her was priceless.

I just did the rear bearings on my subaru. This video was a HUGE help for me. Thank you!

Great Job, I'm a retires ASE Master Mechanic. Would have been a pleasure to work with you..

"if I was down in Florida I could do this with a crescent wrench"

Lots o' rust up here in Canada too Eric! Appreciate the tips. Simply understanding the problem and options for removal is half the battle. The siezed CV axles on my 07' Kia were easily the toughest job I've ever done. And that was just to get to the clutch job. Your the best 'Rust Tamer' I know on KZfaq 👍

Good god. Watching this makes me happy I live in Denver. No rust on anything. 20 year old steel is still pristine.

eric o if you did that job in florida that 10 inch bolt would have fell out on its own he he

Nothing like the smell of burning penetrating oil in the morning. :)

I never thought removing a rusty bolt can be so interesting to watch. I love these type videos and only you provide them. Keep the videos coming. I can't wait to see what you do with the Honda Civic..

Eric, former tech here from Michigan if you have not tried it before, put a stand under the knuckle and lift it a couple of inches. I have had SOME luck and get a few out no problem time to time, when the lower arms stop pulling on the bolt. At full droop the arms are pulling in and the strut is pushing out, it helps bind the bolt I think. With lifting it every now and then I get lucky and one zips right out.

poetry in motion or a haiku made up of 4 letter words. Either way nice work

Imagining someone trying this in a driveway with a Harbor Freight socket set!

Thank you Eric! My son has the same Subaru Impreza Outback Wagon (probably same year by the looks). And I have to replace the rear driver side wheel bearing. Exactly what you showed. Yours was a really good explanation, and entertaining. Now I have some hope. We just recently put a new clutch on the thing. After all the work that took, I can't let this car die! It has 188,000 miles. We live in PA, so rust is a big problem. I told my son to start saving for another car. That you again, I subscribed to your channel!

Videos like these make me glad I work on stuff down south... and yes it makes the job go by so much easier.

Great videos all the time from you I have a 99 Subaru Impreza Outback with drum brakes in the back and I need to change out a wheel bearing but I want to do it on the car like you did which press tool would you recommend for the easiest in and out of the bearing thank you

amen to living in new york. i just did bearings in a 07 MB ml350 and had to drill out the abs sensors. broke each one. and each was $135

Thanks for the vid. Just replaced passenger side rear wheel bearing on 05 Outback Sport. Here in TN the the lateral link bolt released without an issue. I had your vid playing while I went through the replacment. Thanks for the walk through. Keep up the good work.

Thank you Sir! Just wrapped up the job on my daughter's 2002 Forester. I had your video queued up on the laptop, other than the inner inner and inner outer seals it went smooth.

"you ever get your tool stuck"... Haha you crack me up man. Good healthy videos. Keep it up.

Wow I'm exhausted Eric . And some think an automotive technician is looking at waveforms hahaha that was real right there. LOL

Big Nasty never ceases to amaze. Ever think of changing the name to The Negotiator or The Gentle Persuader?

That's a long one and I spent the first half confused, finally I began to see the light. Great Job Your customers are lucky to have you.

No Sir!!! I am a shop owner in the Northeast region and I've seen my fair share of some nasty crap! However, that would ABSOLUTELY ruin my day!!!!!

I like the smoking bolt at 26:55.

Hi, Eric. Another old video in the book. And another good lesson on how to do work on rusty crusty hardware. Thanks for sharing! Stay Healthy!

"This is what the bolt is supposed to look like, and this is what it DOES look like." I woke up one of my roommates with the reflexive "WHAT THE $%@&" that fell out of my mouth... He's now watching with me in absolute astonishment. LOL

Watched 30 minutes of bolt extractions. I don't even own a Subaru. WTF?

We like carnage and rust - mostly because we're watching it, rather than actually doing it. :-P

"in a parking lot... with a crescent wrench" - about lost my coffee through my nose

"You ever get your tool stuck"? Priceless!! Great video sir... I enjoy your thoroughly detailed videos. A++++

People do not appreciate mechanics enough, and how hard we work to do a so called "simple job".

Eric, I know nothing is gonna hold up against the red monster in your area forever, but have you ever tried the copper based never seize, the gold stuff? I switched years ago and it stays on and works a lot better in my experience. Someone told me or I read somewhere that the silver zinc based stuff was originally made for marine applications and works best with stainless steel, and the copper stuff was intended for "iron" or carbon steel

2003 Subaru Forester. The right rear wheel bearing needs replaced every 60k miles like clockwork since new. This is a common known (design?) issue. I also remember my mechanic mentioning (cursing) that same long bolt, lol. Another great video. Thanks!

I love watching "some guy removing a bolt." It is hard to explain just how entertaining Eric O. is. But really, this is the most fun, relaxing, enjoyable video I watch.

Hey Mr.O. Future reference, try using a large punch and the air hammer on the nut end and a little heat on the control arm on both ends. I worked in a shop and that trick worked for us. Also, you can use a harmonic puller on the nut end if you have room. Both should work and save lots of time.. Good luck. As always thanks for the videos and info.

Sorry That you have to work with all that rust I live in Texas and work in San Antonio area where we really don’t see anything like that it must be absolutely horrible

Eric O. next time take the inner bolts off the lateral link arms at the sub-frame. Once the bolts are out pull down on the arms. They will rotate on the bushings and you'll never need to deal with that big bolt again. Ten years of working on Subies at dealers in Massachusetts and New Hampshire has taught me you can't buy experience but it sure is expensive when it comes to rusty bolt removal. Hope this saves you some time and heartache in the future.

My wife nick named you "Ratchet Man" a long time ago when I first started watching your videos. This one takes the air ratchet racket to whole new level..Awesome!

And when the customer says "my friend works on cars sometimes, he says it only takes a few minutes" we find a way to let him keep his teeth! Good video

Almost every video you post, I realize how lucky I am to work in the south. Until one of those northern rust buckets makes its way down here.

To your commit about working up in the northeast compared to being in the south. I lived over fifty years just north of you (Utica) and pulled wrenches a long time, still doing it for myself on my '07 Sport trac and when you get under it I have to laugh that I can still see the tags from when it was made. It is a big difference. So, from Myrtle Beach, SC, I want to let you know how much I enjoy your videos.

Eric, it is fascinating to watch you work!

If the bolt was stainless steel it would come out like boy George.

thanks for the video. enjoyed you suffering and pain. LOL

I live in NC Eric. So it is easier for me. You have a tough job dealing with rust,salt and slag. You do a good job!

great video, really helped. I got her done today( 07 fozzie) , wasn't quite as rusty as that one but wasn't good. out here on cape cod. the rust monster never sleeps... thanks for posting this.