Rusted Bushing

[Joe Tandy]

It's with great shame that I say my barbell went into storage for about a year.
It has gotten much more than damp during that time and the I.D of the sleeve has completely rusted onto the bar.

I know you wouldn't have ever needed to fix mistreatment of gym equipment this bad, but do you have any advice for how I should approach fixing this? I have tried wd-40, mallets from rubber through to carbon steel, and differential heating of the sleeve/bar with propane.

My plan is to either get it acid dipped or soda blasted once disassembled.

Joe.

[Mark Rippetoe]

You fucked up. Get a new bar. We pay for our mistakes.

[David Kirkham]

You fucked up. Get a new bar. We pay for our mistakes.

Yes. He did.

But...

Take some diesel and some automatic transmission fluid. Soak the bar in a 50/50 brew overnight. Take it out and heat up the bar until it's too hot to touch--BUT NO HOTTER or you'll kill the heat treat!!! For reference, you can't hold on to 150F too long because it's too hot. That's about right.

Start tapping with a hammer all around the joint--smack the end of the bar a few times. I bet it will break free. We have also heated up parts with a torch and melted wax into the joint. It wicks in and lubes up the bond so it will free up. Once you get a tiny bit of movement keep working it. You're almost there.

Finally--don't do that again

[topcraig]

Did you try vinegar?

[Jay870]

Kroil and let it soak a few days, then I'd get on it with a couple of big ass pipe wrenches.

[Joe Tandy]

You fucked up. Get a new bar. We pay for our mistakes.

Ah shit. This ones out of production or no longer for sale in Aus.
I won't forget this one.

[skid]

Try using Kroil, which is the best penetrating lubricant I've found. It was one of very few penetrating oils that would loosen up heat corroded fasteners on jet engines/industrial turbines when I used to maintain them. WD-40 isn't a penetrating oil really.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Did you try vinegar?

That's pretty funny. Did your grandmother tell you this? He's trying to free up the bushings.

[Mark D]

Next time spray it down with WD-40 BEFORE you store it, to prevent this from happening in the first place, an ounce of prevention and all that.

A couple decades ago one of the gun magazines did a comparison of different rust inhibitors, they coated pieces of bare steel with them and left them outside in the weather. The only thing that performed better than WD-40 was cosmoline, and WD-40 is MUCH easier to get off. Unless it gets submerged you should be fine.

[Jeff Leonard]

Electrolytic Rust Removal Aka Magic: 10 Steps (with Pictures)

I know several people who have used this method and it works.