So my friend and I were installing my front sway bar but the front left bushing bracket bolts got striped. So we had to cut off the front nut but we cut too deep and the replacement nut wont go all the way up so we added a bunch of washers to fill the gap. The rear one was striped all the way into the frame so we used a smaller bolt, put it through, and bolted it on. At least it holds the sway bar up. Now should I take it to a shop maybe Vakamon to have them look at it or what? Please Guys/Gals any advice?

Thanks,
Roel

 

well first of all I would consider what you guys did for the front and the rear bolts a TEMPORARY solution. What I would recommend is locate someone with a Tap & Die set. Find out the correct pitch for the threads. rethread the bolt hole and purchase another set of bolts from Subaru. The only reason why I'm stating this i because suspension bolts if I'm not mistaken use a HIGHER grade metal than your average bolt. Also when you start adding washers...etc. to take up the slack that can cause weakening of the connection.

Jon

 

Only problem is the front bolt is welded onto the frame itself and we hit that one pretty bad. And I still have the original bolt for the rear one. Yes we did it as a temporary solution so I can get it home only a few blocks down so I could leave his house.

 

I think you should take it down to Vakamon and have Ryan and his gang check it out.

 

can you take a picture and post it up of the affected area.

What color is your car and where do you live in Kapolei?

Jon

 

if i remember i did something similar to blakes car, only i think i broke his off completely. if you feel on the back it is just a stud and you can hammer it out and replace it, if it's the one i'm thinking about. GL man.

 

roel,
i would do the same thing jon said...i have a tap & die set.
you can drive with out the swaybar, just that your feels different.

 

Damn Roy, you got the tools.

 

i got tap & die as well. unfortunately I cannot loan it out since things tend to disappear or aren't used properly and they come back damaged.

yes the bolt should be press fitted in and should be able to be replace or a new bracket would work.

 

Yeah I called Vakamon and they said they will look at it for me but I have work till wednesday (not driving the STi).

Jon cars blue and I live in Aeloa. Heres pics of the damage.

Stack of 4 washers plus we cut the side to get to the nut with a dremel tool.


Whole thing:

 

^^i'm telling you i think you can just knock the old one out and swap it with a new bolt and nut, something high strength.

 

Really hard to knock the bolt out with the tight space it is in. Plus I don't wanna do something I might end up doing wrong. My friend told me I had to probably rethread the the hole on the pic on the left and I said cut off the bolt on the right and drill a new hole and weld a new bolt in their. But I don't have the tools to do it. Thanks for the responses!

 

if the one on the left is stripped then rethread it but the one on the right isn't welded in, it is just a stud like on the wheel hub that you can knock out and replace, i think on blakes car we just used a superstrong bolt but if you go to subaru you should be able to get an exact replacement. either way GL

 

Thanks everyone!

 

yup, we replaced it with a grade 8 bolt and everything worked fine.