Sway bar bracket bolts Options

[mkernz22]

I know this is no detailed write up, but it covers something that some of us have gone through and some will go through it....except all you southern guys.

As you know, a lot of the time, there is one bolt that breaks while trying to replace the sway bar bushings or just replacing it as a whole.
For me, the bolt didn't just snap, but a drill bit snapped while trying to drill that bolt out.

To save you some pain, make sure you soak the sway bar bracket bolts (the ones that bolt to the frame rail) with a lot of PB Blaster before attempting to loosen the bolts.
Also, you may not have known that this cover:


Gives you access to the top side of the bolts because that's where they go through.


I would advise you to spray PB Blaster on the outside of the bolts (underside of the car) as well as some inside the frame rail so that way it can fully penetrate the bolt. Hopefully that'll help you so the bolt doesn't break.

If it does snap, and you break a drill bit off it there while trying to drill it out, then your only option is to try to drill them both out from the bottom or cut a small hole on the top side, like so:


Tomorrow I will be attempting to drill it out from that side so that I can put a bolt through it with a different nut on the top.

To cover that hole back up, I'm just going to get a small sheet of metal and four self tapping screws. That way if I even need to access it again, I can easily do so.


**The reason I wouldn't cut out that section of the frame by the nut is because the gas tank is so close and welding another piece in there is just out of the question.


Update:

In order to drill out a titanium drill bit, you need to use a carbide drill bit. It's a lot stronger than the titanium. Still, it will take a while to drill through it.
Since it was taking me a long time, I decided to use the biggest titanium bit I had and drill the nut down as far as I could.
Luckily, as I was doing that, the bit that broke off just popped right out. Now it was just the matter of drilling out a nice size hole for a bolt to fit through.
All you need is a decent length bolt and a nut and you're all set to go! (You should probably use a washer under the nut, I didn't think of it at the time.)




Since I was already down there, I took to time to swap the whole sway bar out....


To do that, you have to undo the gas tank straps and support it with a scissor jack so you can move it up and down. I didn't use one, I just supported it with a stand and moved it up and down with my hands when needed.
You also have to take off the two nozzles that bolt to the gas tank that are for the filler neck.
Then, you need to take off the 3 strut nut that are on the top of the strut tower, on both sides.
From there, you just have to kind of finagle it around and find the best way to get it out. Took me about 30 minutes to get it out.
To get the new ST sway bar in, it's a little tricky since it's a little thicker and it's not bent the same way as the OEM one.
It only took me about 15 minutes to get it in, which isn't too bad.
Then, you just have to put everything back together.

This post has been edited by mkernz22: Jul 6, 2014 - 3:22 PM

[mkernz22]

bump, updated. Check it.
Vote for sticky?

[Langing]

bump, updated. Check it.
Vote for sticky?

Checked it. Like it. The more detailed the better. Ugly looking rust damage!

I would vote for "sticky" if I understood what it really meant and it meant that it went into a collection of notes and comments about the kinds of problems we are bound to run into if we insist on DIY. Scotty Kilmer does a great job inciting people like me to DIY, but when I attempt to do things, I always run into stuff just like you presented, that isn't explained, or not well. When Scotty shows himself doing something in an hour, I figure I better plan on at least a day!

You mentioned the South like we don't have rust. Well, we do in NC, but not like what you showed in your pictures. A very helpful fellow named njccmd2002 was trying to help me figure out how to treat bare metal so it won't rust in the future (I had been cleaning parts down to the bare metal), and suggested coating anything joined together with Permatex Antiseize (he used the Nickel variety), and I'm guessing, but think he might recommend that you also cover your new bolts in that stuff, or at least the threads and inside the nuts. He wanted to stop rust before it started. He and others say that sturdy paint is essential for protecting all other non-fastener metal parts from rust, and that might also apply to covering the bolt heads and nuts as well. They liked Eastwood paints, especially a certain special chassis black. You need to search a little on the website to get exact info. If my car looked like yours, I would be at WAR ON RUST!!!

I was wondering why you needed to change out your sway bar, and since you did, why did you choose the bar you did, and where did you get it? Were there any special considerations you had to deal with in making that decision? Was it a RUST problem also?