Really Nasty Problem concerning LCA k-member bolt !

Kiddi J · Post by **Kiddi J** » Sun May 23, 2010 7:45 pm

Well i decided to give my good friend a little suspension overhaul......

I bought a full prothane kit for it, tie rods, brake pads etc....

I finished the tie rods and was going to move on tho the LCA bushings.

Lucky for me the LCA bolt was so tight and rusty that when I loosened it up with all my power and thanks to the largest torque wrench i´ve ever held, the nut of the bolt inside the damn chassis (bolt in the red circle pictured below) snapped and there is no chance to get in there with a tool.

and for bonus when i was going to move on from nuts on both sides snapping..... to the 4 bolts´ holding up the sway bar also snapped so i have to drill them out ( thanks snowy salty Icelandic roads!!!!)

Has anyone had this delightful experience ???

I was thinking about drilling a hole in the chassis to weld the nut back.....

F.M.L. x100

Kiddi J · Post by **Kiddi J** » Sun May 23, 2010 8:15 pm

Dont need answers....found this link

viewtopic.php?p=559415

What a great experience

fixitmattman · Post by **fixitmattman** » Sun May 23, 2010 8:17 pm

I sheared the actual bolt, not the nut. What a joy that was.

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Sun May 23, 2010 8:48 pm

Yep.. I just sheared off two of the sway bar bolts.. that was fun. That are far too skinny and too long. The top of them is exposed enough to rust, but not enough to reach.

If you haven't messed with them yet, a piece of advice: DO NOT ATTEMPT TO DRILL THEM OUT! I did that, and snapped the ez out inside the broken bolt.. Get a torch and stick it in the little hole in the K frame above the busted bolt and heat it cherry red. You will most likely have to do this several times to get it to budge. If you're lucky some of it is exposed and you can clamp onto it with vice grips and turn it out. The one I broke the ez out in was recessed and we drilled forever and ruined many bits getting that bastard out.

Good luck!

heydockyle · Post by **heydockyle** » Sun May 23, 2010 8:53 pm

Had to cut a hole like in that post on my dad's car.

fixitmattman · Post by **fixitmattman** » Sun May 23, 2010 9:47 pm

The sway bar brackets were nothing. Drill + extractor + heat = win.

Kiddi J · Post by **Kiddi J** » Tue May 25, 2010 5:52 pm

Well problem solved....

A hole cut in the frame and weld the nut tight....

Swaybar bolt problem solved by welding a 10mm bolt do the end of the broken bolt and loosen with a 17mm wrench. ,,new bolts´´ from some old A-body mopar put in the thread. Inch size bolts are hard to get here in Iceland