My rear top strut studs (the ones attached to the body of the car, pointing down to bolt the shock/strut to) need to be replaced. They were overtightend and sheared off (both on the drivers side rear). They seem to be welded to the car and of course are under the factory metal strut brace in the back. I think I found the part numbers for the bolts, but am unsure how to replace them. Can anybody shed some insight? Thanks.

 

one of mine snapped on me. IMO nissan undersized the bolts in both diameter and shear strength. It didnt take much to make mine shear.

Heres what i did that seems to work. You wont be able to replace the studs since they are welded inside the rear strut tower bar (unless you do some cutting).

I drill out the studs with progressively large bits.
Once i had a nice hole, i used that weld putty that is good for some crazy strengths. I used a new HARDENED bolt/nut of similar diameter and put it all around the bolt head and smeared into the body. Let it cure for 30 minutes + and the reinstalled my strut.

Option 2:

instead of using the putty, you could cut holes large enough in the strut tower bar to get a socket/extension in there to hold the bolt while you torque. Imo, drilling 4 large diameter holes doesnt sound like fun.

 

btw...is yours a 03/04 model? that particular rear strut stud(driverside) is very vulnerable to break if over-tightened because of an offset stud alignment.
I had to use a thicker gasket(a washer will work) as a shim before the bolts are tightened.

 

Mine is an 04 (well a 2004.5 actually), and yeah it didnt take much to snap off those bolts - great job Nissan . I think I may try the JB Weld approach. Were you able to get the head off the stock stud though by drilling it out? Will the replacement bolt seat well if you dont remove the old ones?

I was going to remove/reinstall the pass. side also, but now I dont wanna deal with the possibility of snapping those too - weird that the drivers side is a weaker design than the pass. though.

 

also what are the correct torque settings for these nuts/bolts?

 

hand tightening using 3/8" ratchet attached to an universal joint socket extension combo will do..

 

you should just let someone else work on it as you are not very good. hahahahaha

 

 

Just an update - went ahead and drilled out the stock studs and used a tap to thread the hole. I was able to thread in a bolt from the top down so there was no need to JB Weld it in or cut any holes in the strut tower brace.

 

How strong is JB weld actually? To be honest with you, I've never used the stuff. Just curious. I've always been tempted to pick up a tube and keep it in the shop incase I ever need it.

 

This same thing happened to me today. I'm so glad I found this post cause I was panicking. I ended up drilling out the broken stud from the bottom up. I actually have a G Sedan with the rear reclining seats so I have direct access to the top of the shocks from the inside of the car so that made things easier. Then placed a little bit of JB weld on the head of the bolt to stick to the top of the old stud. Lined up the shock and hand tightened the nut to set the bolt into place. Placed a little more JB weld onto the bolt from the inside of the car to be safe. Now I just have to wait till tomorrow to let it dry up before I torque it down for good. This board is a great resource and saves me once again. And FYI the torque setting for those 12 mm nuts are 20-22 lbs/ft according to the FSM. I mistakenly used 32 lbs on the tq wrench.

 

Hi I just had this happen to the rear right, how did you thread in a bolt from the top down? what did you have to remove to access that area? it seems to me it is only accessible via the wheel well? Also I read someone drilled out the broken stud from the bottom up, what type and size bit did you use and how far did you drill? I am contemplating taking it to be fixed or trying to fix this myself so anyhelp you could provide would be awesome...

Thanks guys.

 

Great another thing to inspect on USED G/Z to warn customers about in a prebuy inspection.

Every mod and covered up bocked repair mod is grounds to reject a Used Car.

Fortunately buyers get dazzled by the looks.

 

damn strong.

 

Id rather have all four bolts sheared, drilled and tapped/jb welded over what nissan provides. Those bolts should not shear at 30ft-lb. They are way undersized in diameter and hardness.

 

Bringing this thread back from the dead...I sheared one of the studs on my G sedan.
I overtorqued the damn bolt and it just snapped like a toothpick! I'm going to try to drill it out and use JB weld on top of it to prevent it from spinning. I should just shear the other one while doing this and replace them both. At least they will never snap again.