Finally got the hotchkis sway bars

p8ntballah413 · Post by **p8ntballah413** » Sat Jan 14, 2006 12:05 pm

got em yesturday and attempted tp put them on this morning. i got the front one on without a problem, but on the rear a bolt holding the bar up in the middle snapped in half. im sooo pissed, now i cant get the rear sway on. i tried drilling the bolt out, but i just cant seem to drill up straight through while laying on my back. what do u guys suggest i do. i think im gonna take it a mechanic and have him drill a bigger hole and then just thread the new hole....what do u think? ps...drove with just the new front one for a bit, what an improvement, cant wait to get the rear one on

Floyd · Post by **Floyd** » Sat Jan 14, 2006 12:08 pm

rear makes a HUGE difference...

p8ntballah413 · Post by **p8ntballah413** » Sat Jan 14, 2006 12:39 pm

yeah......but my question is, what should i do about this bolt, i think i might just take it to someone and have them weld a stud over the hole

tamadrumr88 · Post by **tamadrumr88** » Sat Jan 14, 2006 5:21 pm

i had the same exact problem.... heat the hell out of it and itll come out... luckily mine froze in place and i didnt want to risk it breaking so i heated it with a torch and slowly twisted it out...are you able to get a vice grips on there?

Baal · Post by **Baal** » Sat Jan 14, 2006 6:31 pm

yep heat is the answer

PS: only front huge swaybar = mad understeer.

tamadrumr88 · Post by **tamadrumr88** » Sat Jan 14, 2006 6:56 pm

i got horrible understeer when i had my hotchkis rear on "street"... i never tried it on "race" however i now have the werks tri-point rear strut brace and i get understeer or oversteer depending on what my right foots doing. off gas = mad oversteer. on gas = mad understeer. hopefully with the tein coilovers itll lean more towards oversteer or even neutral

p8ntballah413 · Post by **p8ntballah413** » Sun Jan 15, 2006 1:48 pm

i cant get a grip on it, it broke off flush.....

grambo · Post by **grambo** » Mon Jan 16, 2006 1:21 pm

Take a pin-punch that is a smaller diameter than the bolt-hole and punch a dimple dead-center in the broken bolt. (Put on safety glasses here.)
Grab your drill. Plug it in. Take a very small drill bit and bore a pilot hole in the bolt. Work your way to larger holes with larger bit. Lube it all up good so you don't wreck you bits.
Heat would work if you could get at it. There is a product called an "easy-out" too if you know the size of the bolt.
Shitty job. Good luck. (I had this happen on my exhaust heat-shield. 4 hours to do it right.

p8ntballah413 · Post by **p8ntballah413** » Mon Jan 16, 2006 4:14 pm

well drilling it out isnt an option, i dont know if any of u are familiar with this bolt, but its like a good 3-4 inches long and there is no way you can drill straight up through a bolt that long, especially laying on your back, attempted it and i got nowhere with it, bit got slightly off course and ended up coming out the side of the bolt about 1.5 inches in. i just called a welder near me and hes gonna take a look at it tomorrow morning, i suggested that he just weld the threaded part of a bolt over where the bolt broke off, but he said that he would have to take a look at it first...so im hoping he can do something...

cgneon · Post by **cgneon** » Mon Jan 16, 2006 5:47 pm

grambo wrote: There is a product called an "easy-out" too if you know the size of the bolt

yup, get an easy out set at napa, or lowes/home depot maybe, we use em at work for broken bolts, screws etc.. handy thing to have....

nodestiny · Post by **nodestiny** » Mon Jan 16, 2006 8:34 pm

How about a reverse drill bit? I have seen an item simular at true-value hardware.

cgneon · Post by **cgneon** » Mon Jan 16, 2006 9:05 pm

same concept as the easy out.. but the easy out is designed to do it better, since it's an elongated cone shape to dig in there better the more you wrench it.. and you'll get more torque with a hand ratchet, than a cordless drill. (excluding air tools of course)

p8ntballah413 · Post by **p8ntballah413** » Mon Jan 16, 2006 11:16 pm

i tried the easy out and i couldnt get it to dig into the bolt, and yes i drilled the hole smaller than the bit i was using. but seeing as the hole i drilled isnt perectly straight its not catching. my dad came up with a pretty good idea i think.....im gonna see if the welder can just take the bracket that holds the bushing and just tac weld the end of it where that bolt would have secured it, then i can just slide the bushing and the bar through and bolt it down on the other side, so one side would be bolted down and the other would be welded on.....what do u think??

grambo · Post by **grambo** » Tue Jan 17, 2006 10:01 am

When the alignment shop stripped my strut-shaft nut I used a Dremel and like 1000 grinder bits cuz I was hoping the strutshaft threads were still good. It took forever but I was able to cut the nut off while it was still in the retainer cup. Dremel time maybe?

p8ntballah413 · Post by **p8ntballah413** » Tue Jan 17, 2006 12:26 pm

problem solved, i put the endlinks on and the other 3 bolts (loosely of course) then i took it to the welder and he welded the other side of the flange over where the broken bolt was, then i came home and just tightened everything down, so finally the rear sway bar is in....he said he could remove the bolt, but for 65 an hour he said it would be better to just weld it on and not to mess with the bolt.....gonna take it out for a spin in a few, and i got a vibrant front strut bar (type v) and as dc rear coming this week, then suspension will be done. thanks for all the suggestions guys

nodestiny · Post by **nodestiny** » Tue Jan 17, 2006 1:45 pm

Good stuff. Hows the understeer or oversteer at this point?

p8ntballah413 · Post by **p8ntballah413** » Tue Jan 17, 2006 2:38 pm

havent really gotten on it yet, the car has my crappy winter tire/rim setup on and they are bald tires, so its not as great as having my kumhos on there, but its a def improvement, tried to hit some curves to test it out, but there was always somebody in front of me, ill test it out on my way to work.

grambo · Post by **grambo** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 6:14 pm

I am suddenly jealous. Those bars are badass and have just been added to my wish list.

Congrats on the new toys!

nodestiny · Post by **nodestiny** » Thu Jan 26, 2006 12:50 pm

Worth every penny... trust me on that one

Its like driving a whole differant car... that happens to look identicle to your neon