Chassis down bolt(?) Snapped - options?

[D0nni]

Hi,

Speaking with @Lee this is not something he has come across (course had to happen to me!) I was happily screwing on the nuts for the front stabilizer bar, on the last one and it just needed one or 2 full turns to get it on tight. Upon doing one of the last turns the bolt decided to snap.

Now because this is me. It didnt snap at a nice handy length where you could get away with twisting a nut on anyway. no no. It snapped pretty much flush with the chassis with maybe 2 threads exposed.

So. My question is two fold.

1) has this ever happened to anyone
2) whats the best approach to fix this?

I was thinking of drilling out the bolt and tapping it, but i cant imagine the chassis being thick enough here to do a solid enough tap for a bolt for me to be confident in it, holding the stabilizer bar in place. - surely it would only be like 2 threads deep max

My 2nd thought was maybe to fill the area with something to harden around the bolt once tapping is done to give some extra grip, again not ideal.

My last and not ideal option is to sand the area back and weld the sucker on. but obviously would like to avoid this if possible.

Any one with some wisdom on this would be greatly appriciated.

Image to show the part im referring too - bolt not in image but will give you an idea of the area im in.



Andrew

 

[t-tony]

Post a couple of pictures of the area including the chassis sides Andrew and I’ll have a think.

Tony.

 

[D0nni]

Best ive got is this at the minute.

Its one of the studs/bolts which holds the swaybar/stabilizer bar bracket in place.

 

[Pingu]

I think that you will need to use a grinder, drill and rivnut. This will be determined by how thick the metal is. If the metal is too thick, you may need to weld a stud in the hole that you make.

I think it is a stud that is welded to the "chassis".

I'd investigate using a rivnut and a stud (loctited, or glued)

If you decide to go for a rivnut, it may need a hydraulic tool to install it, as the handheld ones are only good upto M6. I think you need an M8.

Here's a video of me using a rivnut to replace a broken M6 stud. The video is 90% complete as it doesn't have commentary corrections or music, but is good enough to show you what can be done. The first 7 minutes are showing how to use the tool. Watch from 7:00 to see how to install a rivnut.

 

[t-tony]

I have some ideas Andrew, I’ll be back here after tea.

Tony.

 

[t-tony]

Right mate, all of these need the old bolt drilling out. I would go to 8.5mm for a bit of clearance.

This is one I've used many times. Bend needs to be 90 degrees. Just feed the blank end into the newly drilled hole.You can use a Nyloc nut here as the "arm" will jam against the chassis inner wall when you tighten the nut.

This one needs a 19mm hole drilled in the outside wall of the chassis directly above the broken stud. You need to lightly attach a piece of wire under the bolt head to lower the bolt into the newly drilled hole. Using a spring washer will allow the nut to tighten without spinning. The bolt shown has a 17mm machined washer. You can plug the hole with a rubber grommet.
3rd option would require a simple welding repair. Cut a 30-40mm "U" in the side of the chassis wall and fold upwards. Drop new bolt into newly drilled hole and tack weld the head to the chassis bottom, the fold down the flap and reweld .

Tony.

 

[D0nni]

Right mate, all of these need the old bolt drilling out. I would go to 8.5mm for a bit of clearance.
View attachment 162783
This is one I've used many times. Bend needs to be 90 degrees. Just feed the blank end into the newly drilled hole.You can use a Nyloc nut here as the "arm" will jam against the chassis inner wall when you tighten the nut.
View attachment 162785
This one needs a 19mm hole drilled in the outside wall of the chassis directly above the broken stud. You need to lightly attach a piece of wire under the bolt head to lower the bolt into the newly drilled hole. Using a spring washer will allow the nut to tighten without spinning. The bolt shown has a 17mm machined washer. You can plug the hole with a rubber grommet.
3rd option would require a simple welding repair. Cut a 30-40mm "U" in the side of the chassis wall and fold upwards. Drop new bolt into newly drilled hole and tack weld the head to the chassis bottom, the fold down the flap and reweld .

Tony.

Some well thought out options there tony. Appriciate it. Bought the tools to try to tap it but i can return. Really like your idea of the 90 degrees bend. Interesting idea. Im going to look into this one this evening once i get the we fella down to bed.

Id thought of the u bend also. Not the tidiest of plans for (im not a great welder!) And its a very awkward place.

Going to give the first one a go. Seems like the road of least resistance!

Ill let ya know how i get on. Appriciate the time spent putting that together!

 

[t-tony]

I hope you can make one of them work Andrew. Please keep us posted mate.

Tony.

 

[D0nni]

Parents call out this evening. Im borrowing mas car while my daily is at mechanic. So was yarning with them for a while. Didnt get much done.

Got the hole bored though. Its not DEAD center. But its not far away.



Lee pointed me toward blind bolts (

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=j3imSL7A3WU
) which looks like a great shout. Didnt even know of their existance till tonight.

So ive a few options to look into. Going to keep options open and buy for all and dry run them to see which works out.

 

[t-tony]

Only issue with that is the A/R bar bracket is sitting on a 13mm nut, not flat against the chassis face. Cannot see that staying tight for long.

Tony.

 

[D0nni]

Only issue with that is the A/R bar bracket is sitting on a 13mm nut, not flat against the chassis face. Cannot see that staying tight for long.

Tony.

Fair point to make aye. Would need a lock nut given the situation.

See bending thon bolt im gonna assume heat will be required

 

[t-tony]

No, not necessarily, just take it slowly making the bend. If you use heat you will lose the temper of the bolt. Unless you anneal it again.

Tony.

 

[D0nni]

No, not necessarily, just take it slowly making the bend. If you use heat you will lose the temper of the bolt. Unless you anneal it again.

Tony.

Ill take a run into town tomorrow. Id say your solution will do the trick. Then can get back to work again

 

[D0nni]

No, not necessarily, just take it slowly making the bend. If you use heat you will lose the temper of the bolt. Unless you anneal it again.

Tony.

Hi tony,

Went and got a bolt today and bent it up. Good man yourself. Problem solved. I cut mine a bit long but can tidy it up if feel that way inclined.





Cheers though lad. Good simple cheap solution. Thats the fixes i like lol

 

[t-tony]

Happy you got it sorted Andrew. I learned a lot of those type of repairs as an Agricultural Engineer where the main thing is to keep machines working. Farmers hate having equipment stood.

Tony.

 

[D0nni]

Happy you got it sorted Andrew. I learned a lot of those type of repairs as an Agricultural Engineer where the main thing is to keep machines working. Farmers hate having equipment stood.

Tony.

Gotta hand it to them. They come up with some great solutions to problems

 

[t-tony]

Hey Andrew, I just came across this on YouTube. Another option.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4huFzeQIgw


Tony.

 

[D0nni]

Hey Andrew, I just came across this on YouTube. Another option.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4huFzeQIgw


Tony.

Aye thats what @Pingu was speaking about. Would be a more permanent fix later on if this doesnt hold up.

 

[t-tony]

Easy enough to do with an impact driver too.

Tony.

 

[D0nni]

Easy enough to do with an impact driver too.

Tony.

Yes must invest in one. Would have made my life removing the parts from the front subframe a million times easier