please give me a break

[zach44102]

well today i started tearing away at my rear suspension because i needed new strut mounts because when i get on the gravel road all i here is BING BONG BANG BANG BANG!!!!!!!! anyway i start on the driver side and noticed the strut mount was fine. normal wear... so i replace it with the new one for insurence purposes and start on the passenger and it all goes to **** from here. put it this way it cost me a extra $.... the nut on the strut walked down and sheared off all the threads on the strut. so i bought some 50 doller monroe struts (not sensatracs) for a replacement but they wont be in untill friday.... im sho less again!!!!!!

 

[hawkeye18]

One time I installed strut mounts and forgot to put the two big washers on them. Didn't discover what the clunking noise was until I found that the top of the strut had come almost all the way through the mount. Had to replace the mount in my driveway with hand tools. Not a good day. Sorry to hear about your troubles.

 

[zach44102]

yep. ill post pics of the carnage friday.

 

[oneqwicksho]

well today i started tearing away at my rear suspension because i needed new strut mounts because when i get on the gravel road all i here is BING BONG BANG BANG BANG!!!!!!!! anyway i start on the driver side and noticed the strut mount was fine. normal wear... so i replace it with the new one for insurence purposes and start on the passenger and it all goes to **** from here. put it this way it cost me a extra $.... the nut on the strut walked down and sheared off all the threads on the strut. so i bought some 50 doller monroe struts (not sensatracs) for a replacement but they wont be in untill friday.... im sho less again!!!!!!

Sounds like time for a warranty swap but, no seriously sorry to hear about your luck when I did my suspension everything went great but the last pinch bolt broke off 3/4 way out man I was ******

 

[zach44102]

funny thing is the brand new monroe sensatracs i bought...... and i sold them to get my car back on the road.

 

[rubydist]

Had to replace the mount in my driveway with hand tools.

Welcome to my world.....

 

[RonPorter]

I thought you were going to be ******** about busted pinch bolts!! If they came out OK, you avoided half the problem that most folks have replacing rear struts.

 

[zach44102]

you know i never once have had a problem with breaking bolts.... pinch bolts back out fine, exhaust manifold bolts backed out fine, spring bolts backed out fine... no pb blaster either!!!!!!! the trick is using the right size socket and a impact wrench.
o.. and iv had all my pinch bolts off and replaced with grade 8's

 

[SHOZ123]

I would never use the OEM bolts again. Drill them out and use a grade 8 SAE 7/16" bolt and a lock nut.

 

[Vnuk1]

You sir have bad luck...

 

[operdot]

o.. and iv had all my pinch bolts off and replaced with grade 8's

Um I hope you are not under the impression that grade 8 is a good thing. For metric bolts 8.8 is the lowest/cheapest grade which works in some applications where you want the bolt to break before other parts.

Under the designed load condition 8.8 grade bolts have a better fatigue life due to their ductility. However at those same loads grade 12.9 have a longer fatigue life than 8.8 grade bolts because you are not loading the bolts to its full potentioal. If you are looking at an S-N curve you never hit the critical number of cycles. However using the 12.9 bolts at a high limit load can use up the fatigue life and cause a catastrophic fracture.

FYI most bolts on the sho are rated at 10.9.

Bolt ratings.
8.8 - 116 ksi
10.9 - 151 ksi
12.9 - 177 ksi

 

[oneqwicksho]

Welcome to my world.....

Tell me about it I did my whole suspension by hand tools no air and no help let me tell ya it was a learning experience to say the least. Especially the front and rear strut rods removing them and replacing those bushings after sitting for years they are molded to the metal.

 

[RonPorter]

you know i never once have had a problem with breaking bolts.... pinch bolts back out fine, exhaust manifold bolts backed out fine, spring bolts backed out fine... no pb blaster either!!!!!!! the trick is using the right size socket and a impact wrench.
o.. and iv had all my pinch bolts off and replaced with grade 8's

No you live in GA. Your "trick" doesn't work when they are rusted and gonna snap. "Maybe" lotsa heat, but MAP gas was never enough for me.

 

[RonPorter]

I would never use the OEM bolts again. Drill them out and use a grade 8 SAE 7/16" bolt and a lock nut.

+1

Only way to go in rust country after you've mangled the threads drilling them out, anyway.

It's what the factory should have done. But, they save $.10 per car the way they do it.

 

[RonPorter]

Um I hope you are not under the impression that grade 8 is a good thing. For metric bolts 8.8 is the lowest/cheapest grade which works in some applications where you want the bolt to break before other parts.

Under the designed load condition 8.8 grade bolts have a better fatigue life due to their ductility. However at those same loads grade 12.9 have a longer fatigue life than 8.8 grade bolts because you are not loading the bolts to its full potentioal. If you are looking at an S-N curve you never hit the critical number of cycles. However using the 12.9 bolts at a high limit load can use up the fatigue life and cause a catastrophic fracture.

FYI most bolts on the sho are rated at 10.9.

Bolt ratings.
8.8 - 116 ksi
10.9 - 151 ksi
12.9 - 177 ksi

???? Whatever.

The Grade 8 solution, as Paul has described, has worked well for years. There are cars out there that had this done 10 years ago with no issues. Grade 8 is "plenty" for the requirement.

 

[SHOZ123]

Grade 8 SAE is about equal to 10.9 metric.

 

[operdot]

In my opinion it is not good practice to use lower strength parts to do the same job. I always try to use 10.9 or 12.9 metric bolts.

I agree that SAE 8 bolt is close to metric 10.9 in strength. I just understood that zach44102 was talking about metric bolts since all the bolts on the SHO are metric. Which brings up a question.... why would you ever use a SAE bolt on a metric car?

 

[RonPorter]

In my opinion it is not good practice to use lower strength parts to do the same job. I always try to use 10.9 or 12.9 metric bolts.

I agree that SAE 8 bolt is close to metric 10.9 in strength. I just understood that zach44102 was talking about metric bolts since all the bolts on the SHO are metric. Which brings up a question.... why would you ever use a SAE bolt on a metric car?

When you have spent the last few hours in f-in hot weather drilling out a busted pinch bolt, I'm not driving two hours to find a damn bolt when the 1 mile< parts store has Grade 8.

The pinch mechanism on the strut is not a life-threatening application. Grade 8 is more than adequate.

 

[zach44102]

x2!!!!^^^^

 

[SeanMc]

The noise you hear is the gravel hitting the underside :theyareontome: