New shocks, new problem
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 28
Likes: 0
From: Hampton VA
New shocks, new problem
Hi guys,
Well It was time to replace the front shocks on my 79, the old ones came out fairly easy and the passenger side installed almost as easily, but the driver's side gave me a surprise at the end... I stripped one of the two threaded holes on the lower control arm that the shock mounts to.
I almost thought I had it too, I used a jack to keep the shock flat against the control arm so I could hand thread the two bolts in properly without any resistance. When it became tight I switched to a socket wrench and tightened it up evenly on both bolts. When I lowered the jack off the shock, it shot one of the bolts right out of the hole! The thread looked fine on the bolt, but threads on the control arm are shot.
What do I do now? Can I thread it out to a larger size? Can I just run a bolt through it with two nuts on the other side. There really didn't seem to be much holding it in there to begin with. Thanks
Well It was time to replace the front shocks on my 79, the old ones came out fairly easy and the passenger side installed almost as easily, but the driver's side gave me a surprise at the end... I stripped one of the two threaded holes on the lower control arm that the shock mounts to.
I almost thought I had it too, I used a jack to keep the shock flat against the control arm so I could hand thread the two bolts in properly without any resistance. When it became tight I switched to a socket wrench and tightened it up evenly on both bolts. When I lowered the jack off the shock, it shot one of the bolts right out of the hole! The thread looked fine on the bolt, but threads on the control arm are shot.
What do I do now? Can I thread it out to a larger size? Can I just run a bolt through it with two nuts on the other side. There really didn't seem to be much holding it in there to begin with. Thanks
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 28
Likes: 0
From: Hampton VA
I was soo mad when it did that to me. I had just finished replacing all of the power steering components and wanted to take her for a test drive, but i noticed the the old shocks were leaking fluids. Then the shocks were the only think holding up my test drive, unitl that stupid bolt flew out. We were having some good weather the last couple days to (dgood should know how long we've been waiting for good weather, it was pretty nice on your side of the bridge too) ... I'm just glad its as easy of a fix as i hoped. Thanks again
