broke bolt on my upper a-arm!
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Dec 1999
Posts: 1,121
Likes: 0
From: Atlanta GA
broke bolt on my upper a-arm!
Replacing my front shocks and over torqued my bolts holding the upper a-arm to the body. I have to take the car and have it tapped. Am I safe driving the car easily with one bolt missing? It's the back bolt, not sure how much stress those bolts have on them.
F*CK! this sucks. Arghhh.. I hate working on cars. :mad :mad
F*CK! this sucks. Arghhh.. I hate working on cars. :mad :mad
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 3,060
Likes: 3
From: Dublin CA
Re: broke bolt on my upper a-arm! (cjones)
Am I safe driving the car easily with one bolt missing?
Resident moron
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 4,746
Likes: 20
From: Assachusetts
Re: broke bolt on my upper a-arm! (cjones)
I would drive it to the shop, that's it. Don't drive it anywhere else.
Or just extract it yourself.
I think those bolts were only ~25ft/lbs, gotta be careful!
Dope
Or just extract it yourself.
I think those bolts were only ~25ft/lbs, gotta be careful!
Dope
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Dec 1999
Posts: 1,121
Likes: 0
From: Atlanta GA
Re: broke bolt on my upper a-arm! (Dope)
Didn't realize it was so little torque. Dealer doesn't have any in stock until like Thursday.
How hard is it to extract myself and what do I need? Just a regular drill bit?
How hard is it to extract myself and what do I need? Just a regular drill bit?
Safety Car
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 3,567
Likes: 0
From: Aurora IL
Re: broke bolt on my upper a-arm! (cjones)
You need an extractor of the proper size for the bolt you are removing and the correct drill bit for the extractor. ONLY get a QUALITY extractor, if you get a cheap one and it snaps off you will never be able to drill it out to try again.
Tech Contributor
Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 41,058
Likes: 9,821
From: Charlotte, NC (formerly Endicott, NY)
Re: broke bolt on my upper a-arm! (CAPN17)
One way to avoid this problem is to replace the bolts with studs. This works well on cars that have their alignment changed on a regular basis (street/track). Then all you have to worry about is getting a nut on/off the stud.
Bill
Bill
Drifting
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 1,751
Likes: 3
From: Ventura, CA Fight On Forever
St. Jude Donor '03-'04-'05
Re: broke bolt on my upper a-arm! (Bill Dearborn)
The 2003 upper A-arms torque to 48 ft-lbs. Just had to tap a cross thread. The left-left and right-right seems to be the toughest to properly align to tighten. I like the idea of studs vs bolts. Noticed that the threads are actually a threaded sleeve that should be replaceable.
Bill, Would you please describe the stud insertion proceedure? How do you properly tighten it in the threaded sleeve or do you remove the sleeve? Best,
mtv
Bill, Would you please describe the stud insertion proceedure? How do you properly tighten it in the threaded sleeve or do you remove the sleeve? Best,
mtv
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Le Mans Master
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 7,179
Likes: 2
From: Charlotte, NC
Re: broke bolt on my upper a-arm! (cjones)
Replacing my front shocks and over torqued my bolts holding the upper a-arm to the body. I have to take the car and have it tapped. Am I safe driving the car easily with one bolt missing? It's the back bolt, not sure how much stress those bolts have on them.
F*CK! this sucks. Arghhh.. I hate working on cars. :mad :mad
F*CK! this sucks. Arghhh.. I hate working on cars. :mad :mad
I wish you luck getting it straightned around..
-Rick