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I was under my 86 coupe earlier this week working on my front exhaust y-pipe and noticed something... one of the front leaf spring retaining brackets is missing a stud and nut on one side and the bracket is now slightly turned! I about barfed right there when I saw it... I was able to reach up and over the front spring cradle and feel the hole where the stud should be. My question to all of you C4 suspension experts is exactly how are the studs supposed to be held onto the frame cross-member? All of the spring removal procedures I can find allude to simply removing the nut from the stud, which tells me those studs are either welded to the frame or pressed into the frame somehow. Does anyone have specific information or even some pics?? Thanks!
I was under my 86 coupe earlier this week working on my front exhaust y-pipe and noticed something... one of the front leaf spring retaining brackets is missing a stud and nut on one side and the bracket is now slightly turned! I about barfed right there when I saw it... I was able to reach up and over the front spring cradle and feel the hole where the stud should be. My question to all of you C4 suspension experts is exactly how are the studs supposed to be held onto the frame cross-member? All of the spring removal procedures I can find allude to simply removing the nut from the stud, which tells me those studs are either welded to the frame or pressed into the frame somehow. Does anyone have specific information or even some pics?? Thanks!
It isn't a stud but an M10 x 1.5 bolt I believe. I believe it might require a reduced head hex OR maybe buy a 12 pt which would be a reduced head. On the '88+ cars it's something about 105mm long but I've no idea how long on the early cars. Either buy a used one or maybe experiment with length. You would need used from an '85 - '87. Use an M10 prevailing torque nut when you put it back together.
Maybe insert a dowel of some sort through the bottom to determine a length.
Excellent info, thanks! I'll investigate the length this weekend. Do you think I just need to jack the front up onto jack stands to relieve the spring, loosen the other nut, try to move the bracket back into position for the new bolt to go through, and then torque both nuts back down? Or will this take removing the spring completely from both lower control arms and all that jazz in order to completely relieve the spring?
Excellent info, thanks! I'll investigate the length this weekend. Do you think I just need to jack the front up onto jack stands to relieve the spring, loosen the other nut, try to move the bracket back into position for the new bolt to go through, and then torque both nuts back down? Or will this take removing the spring completely from both lower control arms and all that jazz in order to completely relieve the spring?
It's likely the offending bolt is still up there. It will be hard to locate with your fingertips and even harder to get back into the hole, but hey, what's a better way to spend Saturday morning.
86 front transverse spring problem
I'll investigate the length this weekend. Do you think I just need to jack the front up onto jack stands to relieve the spring, loosen the other nut, try to move the bracket back into position for the new bolt to go through, and then torque both nuts back down? Or will this take removing the spring completely from both lower control arms and all that jazz in order to completely relieve the spring?
