Hey everyone!

So, I was in the process of installing my new rear anti-roll bar and I was trying to remove the shocks per the included instructions.

But after I removed the bolts (which were a little troublesome) I found a lot of metal on the bolts. It turns out that the metal is not from a stripped bolt, but from the actual body. I am assuming that the previous person to install the shocks over torqued the bolts.

Has anybody had this problem before? Or does anybody have any suggestions on how to fix this? My only idea is to increase the hole diameter and re-tap the threads.

 

Where does that bolt connect? is it the main bolt through the bottom of the shock?

 

I would first try just re-tapping the holes, which should clean up the threads and install new bolts. It is a real bummer when someone over tightens a bolt. Good luck.

 

Stoker, yes it is one of the two bolts that attach the top of the rear shock to the body. I will try to take a picture when I get home.

DesertDog, I was definitely planning on trying that first. But, I don't think that it will work because the bolts were just spinning in place when I was trying to remove them. I had to place a flat head screwdriver between the bolt head and the body to apply pressure before they would come out.

 

Not sure what's above that area, but is there enough room and access to put a nut on a bolt?

 

Not that I can see. The body metal continues up the side of the car pretty far. I was thinking about taking the interior out, but I am not sure if that would even give me any access

 

Thats a pain, the thread end of the bolt screws into a "dome" area thats not accessible from inside the car. The reason i know this, because i have adjustable coilovers that adjust from the top I have to figure out a way to access them without destroying the dome. I'm stating the obvious, someone used an impact wrench to tighten it.. based on your pic, it looks like the bolt threads are busted up, you might get lucky with a new bolt..But to be safe, I say re-tap it for a larger bolt, be carful though, the head/nut that's welded into the car isn't much bigger than a regular nut..

the torque should be 41Ft-lbs or 56Nm

 

Helicoil or timesert and call it a day. Timesert is my preference

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using NAMotoring

 

So, I tried cleaning up the threads with a tap, but they were too far gone. I ended up taking v10climber's suggestion and it worked well. It was a little difficult to get a drill in there, so I ended up having to use a hand drill. But it worked out in the end!

Thanks for everyone's help!

 

EDIT: reading comprehension fail I forgot you were talking about the bolts that hold in the upper shock mount.

Glad it went well

 

Glad you got it fixed, now back to happy motoring!