Lowering bolts wont thread?
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Lowering bolts wont thread?
Hey everybody I recently purchased a 02 z06. The previous owner had removed the front lowering bolts completely but included in the sale some aftermarket lowering bolts he had purchased.
I tore into things this evening to re-install them only to find out that they thread in slightly, then stop cold. I cleaned all the threads, lubed things up, to no avail. The only thing I can figure is that the thread pitch is different.
I just ordered the front lowering bolts from WCC so we shall see what happens when they come in. Has anyone else had this issue?
I tore into things this evening to re-install them only to find out that they thread in slightly, then stop cold. I cleaned all the threads, lubed things up, to no avail. The only thing I can figure is that the thread pitch is different.
I just ordered the front lowering bolts from WCC so we shall see what happens when they come in. Has anyone else had this issue?
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Well, super frustrated. Received new bolts. Same problem.
The stock bolts I have(which I believe are the rear ones) thread in fine, but obviously way to long, so long I can't even get them in from the bottom.
What the hell do I do now? I think part of the problem is there is NO place to grab the lowering bolt to get any leverage. If it was through the top of the leaf spring I could turn it via a socket, but it won't thread through that far.
The stock bolts I have(which I believe are the rear ones) thread in fine, but obviously way to long, so long I can't even get them in from the bottom.
What the hell do I do now? I think part of the problem is there is NO place to grab the lowering bolt to get any leverage. If it was through the top of the leaf spring I could turn it via a socket, but it won't thread through that far.
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From: Western NY
I'm not sure I'm completely grasping your situation, but let me give it a try...
The front and rear spring bolts are COMPLETELY different. Lowering bolts for the rear, are just bolts that are anywhere from 1" to 2" longer than the OE bolts. They are about 9/16" in diameter, which is much larger in OD than the front bolts.
The front bolts thread in from the UNDERSIDE of the spring, but you HAVE to have the tension off the spring in order to thread them in. Usually, a small scissors jack or bottle jack, with a piece of wood against the spring, will relieve the tension enough to get the bolt to turn. Whatever you do, DO NOT use a jack directly against the spring. It is a composite material, and easily damaged.
I assumed that you used a thread chaser on the threaded insert of the front spring, correct? You also have to be careful not to force the bolts in the front, as the threaded insert can be twisted out, if you exert too much force on it.
Hope this helps.....
The front and rear spring bolts are COMPLETELY different. Lowering bolts for the rear, are just bolts that are anywhere from 1" to 2" longer than the OE bolts. They are about 9/16" in diameter, which is much larger in OD than the front bolts.
The front bolts thread in from the UNDERSIDE of the spring, but you HAVE to have the tension off the spring in order to thread them in. Usually, a small scissors jack or bottle jack, with a piece of wood against the spring, will relieve the tension enough to get the bolt to turn. Whatever you do, DO NOT use a jack directly against the spring. It is a composite material, and easily damaged.
I assumed that you used a thread chaser on the threaded insert of the front spring, correct? You also have to be careful not to force the bolts in the front, as the threaded insert can be twisted out, if you exert too much force on it.
Hope this helps.....
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Leadfoot thank you for the response! Let me try to elaborate.
I have adjusted the rears. no problems there.
When I purchased the car from the previous owner he had no lowering bolts in the front at all. He did include 2 lowering bolts in the sale however. I read through the DIY and am to the point where I need to actually install the new lowering bolts. Yes, I know it threads from the underside, and yes I know I have to use a jack to compress the spring enough to allow access for threading.
I've done both these things.
What happens is when I try to actually thread the lowering bolt up through the leaf spring, it gets about 1 or 2 rotations and stops dead. I literally cannot get it to turn any further. So looking at the top of the leaf spring I can see the hole, but the lowering bolt is not threaded in enough to even allow me to turn it further with a socket or anything.
Does this help?
I'll take photos this evening for clarification.
I have adjusted the rears. no problems there.
When I purchased the car from the previous owner he had no lowering bolts in the front at all. He did include 2 lowering bolts in the sale however. I read through the DIY and am to the point where I need to actually install the new lowering bolts. Yes, I know it threads from the underside, and yes I know I have to use a jack to compress the spring enough to allow access for threading.
I've done both these things.
What happens is when I try to actually thread the lowering bolt up through the leaf spring, it gets about 1 or 2 rotations and stops dead. I literally cannot get it to turn any further. So looking at the top of the leaf spring I can see the hole, but the lowering bolt is not threaded in enough to even allow me to turn it further with a socket or anything.
Does this help?
I'll take photos this evening for clarification.
Last edited by phoebeusfenix; Feb 26, 2014 at 05:36 PM.
Team Owner
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From: Western NY
I know it's being a little picky over nomenclature, but the front of the car doesn't actually use what people commonly call "lowering bolts". The front bolts are "ride height adjustment bolts", and the only time you remove them, and drive the car without them, is when you want to TOTALLY slam the ride height. Otherwise, you adjust them by turning them, as they (at least the OE ones) have a hex on the tip of them.
In your case, you're talking about a 12 year old car, and I assume you're not totally positive of it's past. The previous owner may have stripped or bunged up the threads of the inserts in the springs, when he removed the screws, which is why you're now having problems. Again, a thread chaser, and a lot of lubricant, may be in order.
When you say you got new bolts, what do you mean? Did you buy GM bolts or something from the aftermarket?
In your case, you're talking about a 12 year old car, and I assume you're not totally positive of it's past. The previous owner may have stripped or bunged up the threads of the inserts in the springs, when he removed the screws, which is why you're now having problems. Again, a thread chaser, and a lot of lubricant, may be in order.
When you say you got new bolts, what do you mean? Did you buy GM bolts or something from the aftermarket?
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These are the bolts I received from west coast corvette. The attached picture shows where my dilemna was. There was no good place to turn the bolt.
I did manage to do it though. I got channel locks on the circular rubber part and finally after an hour got it turned through enough to get a 10mm socket on the top. I cranked it in until 4 threads were showing on the top. I honestly have no idea how far I should turn the bolts in.
Moral of the story(I think): Use more muscle.
I did manage to do it though. I got channel locks on the circular rubber part and finally after an hour got it turned through enough to get a 10mm socket on the top. I cranked it in until 4 threads were showing on the top. I honestly have no idea how far I should turn the bolts in.
Moral of the story(I think): Use more muscle.
Team Owner
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 87,323
Likes: 1,587
From: Western NY
These are the bolts I received from west coast corvette. The attached picture shows where my dilemna was. There was no good place to turn the bolt.
I did manage to do it though. I got channel locks on the circular rubber part and finally after an hour got it turned through enough to get a 10mm socket on the top. I cranked it in until 4 threads were showing on the top. I honestly have no idea how far I should turn the bolts in.
Moral of the story(I think): Use more muscle.
I did manage to do it though. I got channel locks on the circular rubber part and finally after an hour got it turned through enough to get a 10mm socket on the top. I cranked it in until 4 threads were showing on the top. I honestly have no idea how far I should turn the bolts in.
Moral of the story(I think): Use more muscle.
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These are the bolts I received from west coast corvette. The attached picture shows where my dilemna was. There was no good place to turn the bolt.
I did manage to do it though. I got channel locks on the circular rubber part and finally after an hour got it turned through enough to get a 10mm socket on the top. I cranked it in until 4 threads were showing on the top. I honestly have no idea how far I should turn the bolts in.
Moral of the story(I think): Use more muscle.
I did manage to do it though. I got channel locks on the circular rubber part and finally after an hour got it turned through enough to get a 10mm socket on the top. I cranked it in until 4 threads were showing on the top. I honestly have no idea how far I should turn the bolts in.
Moral of the story(I think): Use more muscle.
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From: Western NY
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On the upper a-arm, where it connects to the 'knuckle'(I think this is the right term). There is a upper ball joint. At the bottom of this ball joint there is a 18mm nut holding things together, but a allen wrench is needed to hold the ball joint 'bolt' in place while you loosen the nut. Does this make sense?
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This is the area I am referring to. Is this the upper ball joint? if so I may just replace it while I am in there.
At the very end of that bolt where the nut is, there i a slotted area for a allen wrench. Without being able to keep the bolt tight, it just turns & turns but does not loosen up.
At the very end of that bolt where the nut is, there i a slotted area for a allen wrench. Without being able to keep the bolt tight, it just turns & turns but does not loosen up.
Team Owner
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OK, I see what you're referring to, but I'm not completely sure why you need to disconnect the spindle from the a-arm. I realize that I probably had it easier to get my front adjusting bolts turning, because I "adjusted" them when the car was only a few months old. Having said that, however, I was able to get enough working room by jacking against the spring.
One other thing....if you do need to remove that nut, make sure you support the spindle with a small jack, because the spring has the arm under tension, and if you release that tension, it will shoot the arm downward.
One other thing....if you do need to remove that nut, make sure you support the spindle with a small jack, because the spring has the arm under tension, and if you release that tension, it will shoot the arm downward.
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The west coast corvette lowering bolts may work for some, but I literally had to destroy them to install them. The only method of tightening them was to get on the rubber part with channel locks, and in the process they got tore to absolute crap. I installed them with 4 threads sticking out the top of the leaf spring and here is the height I got..much higher than I expected.
Now on the up side, it doesn't scrape in my driveway like it used to, or on any bumps in town(we have awful roads)...so I'm debating on just raising the back end up slightly and leaving the front(there should be a minor adjustment with the front when I raise the back, correct?) for driveability purposes.
If I want to adjust the fronts I can use a 10mm socket to adjust the passenger lowering bolt, but will have to disassemble everything to readjust the driver side.
Did anyone else run into problems with installing those 'lowering bolts'?
Now on the up side, it doesn't scrape in my driveway like it used to, or on any bumps in town(we have awful roads)...so I'm debating on just raising the back end up slightly and leaving the front(there should be a minor adjustment with the front when I raise the back, correct?) for driveability purposes.
If I want to adjust the fronts I can use a 10mm socket to adjust the passenger lowering bolt, but will have to disassemble everything to readjust the driver side.
Did anyone else run into problems with installing those 'lowering bolts'?
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Your car is way to high now. Stock would likely be around 1/2 way on the threads of those bolts. I have mine about 3 turns from the bottoming out.
My original bolts were chewed up and wouldn't turn. I took my spring out and cut them off flush to the spring so I could get them out. Then, I ran a tap through the holes and the new bolts threaded in by hand.
The spring is easy to get out. I've done it twice. It takes about 20 minutes to do. Way less work then you did to still struggle with it in the car. You just need the car about 2' in the air on jack stands. First mark the adjustment eccentric washers on the lower A-arm bolts. This is so you can put them back in the same position and not mess-up the alignment. Then, put a jack under the spring to take the spring pressure off the arm and then pull the bolts and work the arm over the spring as you lower the jack. Finally reposition the jack to the end of the spring and jack it up before removing the spring clamps and lowering the jack again. Spring is removed.
My original bolts were chewed up and wouldn't turn. I took my spring out and cut them off flush to the spring so I could get them out. Then, I ran a tap through the holes and the new bolts threaded in by hand.
The spring is easy to get out. I've done it twice. It takes about 20 minutes to do. Way less work then you did to still struggle with it in the car. You just need the car about 2' in the air on jack stands. First mark the adjustment eccentric washers on the lower A-arm bolts. This is so you can put them back in the same position and not mess-up the alignment. Then, put a jack under the spring to take the spring pressure off the arm and then pull the bolts and work the arm over the spring as you lower the jack. Finally reposition the jack to the end of the spring and jack it up before removing the spring clamps and lowering the jack again. Spring is removed.
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From: Western NY
The west coast corvette lowering bolts may work for some, but I literally had to destroy them to install them. The only method of tightening them was to get on the rubber part with channel locks, and in the process they got tore to absolute crap. I installed them with 4 threads sticking out the top of the leaf spring and here is the height I got..much higher than I expected.
Now on the up side, it doesn't scrape in my driveway like it used to, or on any bumps in town(we have awful roads)...so I'm debating on just raising the back end up slightly and leaving the front(there should be a minor adjustment with the front when I raise the back, correct?) for driveability purposes.
If I want to adjust the fronts I can use a 10mm socket to adjust the passenger lowering bolt, but will have to disassemble everything to readjust the driver side.
Did anyone else run into problems with installing those 'lowering bolts'?
Now on the up side, it doesn't scrape in my driveway like it used to, or on any bumps in town(we have awful roads)...so I'm debating on just raising the back end up slightly and leaving the front(there should be a minor adjustment with the front when I raise the back, correct?) for driveability purposes.
If I want to adjust the fronts I can use a 10mm socket to adjust the passenger lowering bolt, but will have to disassemble everything to readjust the driver side.
Did anyone else run into problems with installing those 'lowering bolts'?
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I will definitely remove the leafs if I ever have to do this again.
Leadfoot - I had driven it ~20 miles before the photo. I decided to raise them up a bit so, on the upside, I could do the whole thing in about 20 minutes now: Up on ramps. up on jack stands, take off wheels, crank lowering bolts up, reassemble.
So, I adjusted it last night, now only have 2 finger widths from wheel to fender, doesn't scrape on anything, and looks great.
I used a racheting channel lock to get the one that had the adjustment spot on top to turn. These damn things are set now for good or bad lol.
Next step: new tires up front, alignment, and camber adjustment.
Thanks for all the help gents, I'll let this thread die now & return to my log.
Leadfoot - I had driven it ~20 miles before the photo. I decided to raise them up a bit so, on the upside, I could do the whole thing in about 20 minutes now: Up on ramps. up on jack stands, take off wheels, crank lowering bolts up, reassemble.
So, I adjusted it last night, now only have 2 finger widths from wheel to fender, doesn't scrape on anything, and looks great.
I used a racheting channel lock to get the one that had the adjustment spot on top to turn. These damn things are set now for good or bad lol.
Next step: new tires up front, alignment, and camber adjustment.
Thanks for all the help gents, I'll let this thread die now & return to my log.
Team Owner
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 87,323
Likes: 1,587
From: Western NY
I will definitely remove the leafs if I ever have to do this again.
Leadfoot - I had driven it ~20 miles before the photo. I decided to raise them up a bit so, on the upside, I could do the whole thing in about 20 minutes now: Up on ramps. up on jack stands, take off wheels, crank lowering bolts up, reassemble.
So, I adjusted it last night, now only have 2 finger widths from wheel to fender, doesn't scrape on anything, and looks great.
I used a racheting channel lock to get the one that had the adjustment spot on top to turn. These damn things are set now for good or bad lol.
Next step: new tires up front, alignment, and camber adjustment.
Thanks for all the help gents, I'll let this thread die now & return to my log.
Leadfoot - I had driven it ~20 miles before the photo. I decided to raise them up a bit so, on the upside, I could do the whole thing in about 20 minutes now: Up on ramps. up on jack stands, take off wheels, crank lowering bolts up, reassemble.
So, I adjusted it last night, now only have 2 finger widths from wheel to fender, doesn't scrape on anything, and looks great.
I used a racheting channel lock to get the one that had the adjustment spot on top to turn. These damn things are set now for good or bad lol.
Next step: new tires up front, alignment, and camber adjustment.
Thanks for all the help gents, I'll let this thread die now & return to my log.
Enjoy!!!
