gotmeaZ

me and my friend are taking the struts off my Z and putting coils on and we got down to one more to do in the rear and one of the 2 nuts at the top of the strut rounded off. very badly. we've tried everything, vise grips, putting a rag in the socket and turning, hammering an 11mm onto the 12mm nut.. nothing is working. heres the bad part. after hours of no success, we took a small dremel to the nut and hope we could put a big gash into it and then maybe crack it open, well we hit the thread on the bolt that it goes on to. and that bolt is stationary.

what the hell do we do now??

PLEASE if anyone can help, it would be amazing..

Nismo350z#0310

iTrader: (1)

This happened to my stock NIsmo shocks where the brake line is held on the shock. Stripped a nut. I used a saws-all and sawed the nut carefully until it cracked it enough i could pull it off the screw. But yours is at the top of the strut so I'm not sure if that's possible.

Russ@Z1

iTrader: (65)

I just had one of those do that to me about three weeks ago.

It rounded off, I dremeled away, but still couldn't get it off the stud. So I bought a bolt/nut extractor kit from the parts store, placed it on the impact gun, and zapped it right off.

If you destroyed the stud, you can drill it and come back from the top side (inside the hatch area) and drop a bolt through. If you have to go this route, you'll have to pull plastics off the rear strut bar, cut/drill a hole in the metal, and use a washer with a bolt. My suggestion would be to get it welded in place.

AllstarE4

iTrader: (5)

I did almost the exact same thing on my wife's Altima. I had to drill out the pressed in stud and insert a bolt through the top. Put a lock washer and lock nut on the bottom side and check it on occasion. Don't use an impact to tighten the nuts. That's how I broke the stud in the first place. It's a pain in the *** to fix, but can be done. Go buy a set of these to get the stripped nut off and then do the repair work...

beezee

iTrader: (19)

That bolt from what i know is welded to the body, not just dropped from the top.
First thing to worry about is getting the nut of. If the threads are not too dammaged, you can rethread it. You need to know the exact size of the bolt. (A metric tap and die set will have what you need). If you get one of those sockets stated in the above post, use an impact wrench (a good air powered one. You might be able to rent one.) I know this will not help you now but in the future, before tackilng any suspension or brake work, use a PB Blaster

Russ@Z1

iTrader: (65)

Even though it's welded, you can still replace it if you're competent with tools.

Glex25

iTrader: (11)

^ Exactly

Drill out the old stud and replace it with a new stud and weld it in.
Never tried to JB weld the stud in place but might give that a try if you don't have a welder

sofa king

iTrader: (25)

These have saved my butt a few times.

AllstarE4

iTrader: (5)

Why are people suggesting that an impact has to be used to remove the nut? That's overkill.

Once you get the bad nut off inspect the threads on the stud. If they are good and the stud isn't cut then you're fine. If it's beyond use then just cut it off short, drill it out and insert a similar (same if possible) size bolt down from the top side. Just make sure you don't use a huge drill bit and overbore the hole. With a lock washer and lock nut you're fine.

MUZZY

iTrader: (28)

I would save the OEM bolt and retap it. even if you end up using a different pitch, as long as you retap it you can save yourself 100x the work, and know that it has not damaged the integrity of the mount.

Russ@Z1

iTrader: (65)

I didn't suggest using an impact. I merely stated that is what I used in combination with the extractor kit like the one pictured above. It was faster than using the extractor kit with a ratchet and required a fraction of the effort.

AllstarE4

iTrader: (5)

This would definitely be the ideal situation. If you are able to save it do so.

beezee

iTrader: (19)

^ Exactly what I thought too. Guys are suggesting drill and reweld without considering what is involved.

AllstarE4

iTrader: (5)

I suggested drill and install new bolt because he made it sound like it was beyond repair. If he can save it then it's a lot less headache though.

beezee

iTrader: (19)

Sure. If it comes down to that there would be no other choice than drill and weld.
Similar situation here:
https://my350z.com/forum/brakes-and-...ght=strut+bolt

JasonZ-YA

iTrader: (60)

that stud is an M8x1.25 thread pitch welded stud off the unibody....sure you can try turning it, but its M8, its tiny...you can try going back over it with 1.25 or another pitch and fixing it, but the amount of force in turning it alone may just break the stud off anyways.....

plus, access issue, its hard to reach up in there and turn anything perfectly straight...u have to find a good die and room to turn it.

try it...see what happens, but drilling through and putting a bolt with washer from top side with lock washer and nut on bottom side will be just fine.

I wouldnt go through the trouble of welding...the oem sheet metal isnt clean, its been painted or dip coated at factory, so you would have to grind to bare metal to be able to weld..........AND you cant weld down in there easily cause its inside the rear strut bar, so all that welding is moot idea....

Those two bolts see i would bet money 100 to 150 lbs of shear load max if that.....remember guys they are just M8 diameter studs/bolts.....

its a shear joint, look at it...if it was a tension joint, and u lost one out of two then this dudes coilover would be on the side of the road somewhere......lol, it would be a bad design if it was......lol...............google fastener shear and calculate it based on diameter alone,...its probably a low steel, class 5.8 metric M8 stud.........the upper control arm in the rear takes all the lateral loads....

I would knock that stud off, drill from fender UP and make hole, drop new bolt in and done...if you want, hit it with some primer first to clean up the cut edges from the drilling...

-J