i broke my subframe stud HELP!

[RHDintegXSI]

in attempting to install subframe spacers in my s13 i broke one of the studs to the subframe. the problem is, i believe its welded to the shell as i cannot get to the other end of it.

pics are worth a thousand cursing words

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h52/sinfulintegxsi/rustbucket.jpg

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h52/sinfulintegxsi/rustbucket2.jpg

if anyone has any idea how to fix this i would greatly appreciate it

[johngriff]

cut the section out, put a new thread pictch stud through, but it will have to be longer. Sandwich the stud in by two 6"x6" plates, like installing a rollcage. You can probably bolt in, but welding is alot better.

Yes curse words plenty.

[Lith]

the stud isn't actually welded to the body. It is pressed in and you can take it out. However, it's a bitch and you would have to cut a little piece of metal out from under your rear seats to take the bolt out.
A friend of mine was in the same situation as you and he basically hammered the stud out (with a LOT of force).
You could also weld in a new stud in the same spot, but you would have to cut that one out first.
Either way you will have to completely take the subframe out to do all this. That is, if you want to fix this properly.

[johngriff]

had bad luck repressing these in, they just spun when attempting to reinstall the nut.

[chmercer]

maybe you could drill out the rusty stud and tap the hole for a bolt? maybe? throwing out ideas.

[johngriff]

that is a good one, but then i would be worried about how well of a tap you are going to get out of it, because id/od issue. If you are pimp shit, you could probably fill it with tig or mig, then redrill, then retap, that might come out clean.

[DoriftoPnoy]

haha that's cool. i know someone with a s13 and rhd DA. thot you were him but looks like your in san deezy. yea try drilling out the stud with a reverse drill bit (not sure if its threaded in there to do that....) and get a tap and die set. shit works wonders when i strip the theads on some bolts...

[RHDintegXSI]

haha that's cool. i know someone with a s13 and rhd DA


haha sounds like he has really good taste in cars j/p

anyhow this is where i stand after a couple of hours and a whole lotta sweet talking

i had to drill a 2" hole to gain acces to the top of the stud.

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h52/sinfulintegxsi/1-2.jpg

its FINALLY out!
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h52/sinfulintegxsi/2-2.jpg

that thing is huge (thats what she said)... i hope i can get a replacment at the stealership
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h52/sinfulintegxsi/3-1.jpg

i hope noone else has to go through the pain in the ass i had to. if anyone could get me a part number on the part that would be great. i have no idea how to find a parts list/diagram

[smelly240]

i would press it in and nail er with the mig so she dont turn - and go back to town - get a 2in rubber plug like some trucks have in their beds for the holes the chassis harness goes through - or somethin from home depot to cover that hole

or if u wanna be all martha stewart u can like cut a peice of foam or a hard sponge to put in there :P

[S13 Charlie]

Find a user by the name of Justified 2.4. He works at a dealership here in So Cal. He helps out with all kinds of oem replacement parts. Glad to see you got this sorted out without too much trouble.

[spinktodo]

If anyone knows how this repair went or if that stud is available from Nissan, please let me know ASAP. I broke the very same bolt tonight and I'm searching for solutions... I'm pretty pissed off but I guess it could be worse. Luckly I have a spare beater Buick for times like this, but it still sucks ass... My shells so clean and I haven't had any problems with thing seizing thus far, so I can't believe this happened...


Thanks,

Jordan

[ho1ywars]

cut the stud right after it tapers to a thread. pick up and 3/8 - 16 tap. drill out the entire stud straight down the center and tap it. go to the local hardware store and pick up a 3/8 harden bolt. when your looking for bolts your going to find that you cant get one that is entirely threaded. so you have to drill some clearence into the stuff to make up for the part of the bolt that isn't threaded.. if this makes any sense.

i launch at 4.5 grand at the track and have not had a problem yet..

[spinktodo]

That sounds a lot harder than getting the replacement stud and pressing it in... Can you not order a replacement stud? Also, wouldn't pressing the old bold out and welding a new bolt in work?

[roycenagger]

Go to Carfiche.com:
http://carfiche.com/fiche009/
Plug in 4-E-13
See if that looks like what you're after. I can't be sure.
Here are the numbers I got:
75660-42F00
75661-42F00
75650-42F00

-Royce

[spinktodo]

Hmm, I'm not sure of what I'm looking at since these drawings are kinda bad, but I'm thinking it's 75662 and 75663... I'm not seeing the part numbers you're referring to...

[roycenagger]

You have to click on the 'down' to scroll to the prefix number listed on the diagram.
Click on the drawing to enlarge the diagram.

The rear studs appear to be prefix number 74870.
Then scroll down until you find 74870.
To the right will be the complete part #.
Click on the page to enlarge for easier reading. (Click a second time for max zoom).

-Royce

[swayray]

maybe you could drill out the rusty stud and tap the hole for a bolt? maybe? throwing out ideas.

that worked for me too...

[spinktodo]

Well, I called the dealer and it would appear that they don't just sell the stud alone, either that or they can't find it or something.... So that pretty much sucks, I guess the plan at this point is to knock the old stud out, find a nice grade 8 bolt and put that in... but I have a few questions...

What's the huge advantage to drilling and tapping the hole for the new bolt? Why cant I just get something in the same length and pitch and put that in, then just weld it at the top?

[jc]

Good luck with your endeavors. I was in a similar predicament awhile back with a hatchback shell I was building up. In the end I found it not worth the effort and sold the thing off and moved on to a better coupe shell.

[swayray]

there is no advantage... if you can still get something in the same length and pitch and put that in, then just weld it at the top... then do it...

mine completely broke and screwed up the hole which is why i had to tap a bigger hole and use a thicker stud...

[spinktodo]

Good luck with your endeavors. I was in a similar predicament awhile back with a hatchback shell I was building up. In the end I found it not worth the effort and sold the thing off and moved on to a better coupe shell.


Dude, why do people feel the need to say shit like that? If you're not going to help me than don't talk... My shells clean as hell, one bolt broke... It happens... The fact that you gave up because one bolt broke up shows a lot about your car knowledge...

[jc]

Dude, why do people feel the need to say shit like that? If you're not going to help me than don't talk... My shells clean as hell, one bolt broke... It happens... The fact that you gave up because one bolt broke up shows a lot about your car knowledge...
LOL. I didn't say you should sell your shell, just was saying what I did.

The hatchback shell I had was from Mass. and had terrible corrosion issues to begin with and in the strip down process to renew the chassis the bolt broke and in a sense broke the camel's back as well.

I realize you're angry but I was actually encouraging you to continue; sorry if you didn't get it.

[babowc]

hm..
i have this same issue, except on the rear stud.

obviously, rear studs arent like the front two.
and i'm stumped.

[eastcoastS14]

what did ppl use to get these bolts out in the first place? I was putting all my weight into mine and it wouldnt budge at all

[spinktodo]

I haven't actually gotten mine out yet... I'm kinda worried about that part as I'm sure it's stuck pretty good. My Dad had a good idea though; get a punch or bolt about the same size as the stud, then then put it up inside the bushing on the stud... then use a jack and push the stud up that way... use the weight of the car to force it up... That might work.

[babowc]

probably just a BFH and plenty of lube and torch if necessary.

[spinktodo]

I dunno, I'm a little hesitant to use the torch seeing as the gas tank is kinda close and i tend to get carried away with fire...

[shinhed]

Hurry and get that stud out, so that you know how and then, get a replacement from the junkyard.

[spinktodo]

i think ill just do the grade 8 bolt thing... getting a 2nd hand stud is just asking for it to break again someday... grade 8, new, with a little got on anti seize = nice!

[swayray]

what did ppl use to get these bolts out in the first place? I was putting all my weight into mine and it wouldnt budge at all

wd40 - impact gun set to full... which is how i broke one of my studs...

[spinktodo]

Oh, I thought you meant how did we extract them... Yea, for mine I just sprayed some break-away on it and put a breaker bar on it... it took a lot of force, but the other 3 just broke loose... then the one just felt like it was coming and then the breaker spun around and the nut and part of the bolt dropped out...

[spinktodo]

Well, I worked on it for a couple hours and made little progress. I'm glad I had the pictures in this thread to go buy, I didn't have to do any measuring to drill the hole... however, the bolt wouldn't press out like i planned, so I began drilling it. i made my way up through the bits to about 1/2 inch and then i ran out of bits! so tomorrow im going to borrow some more larger drill bits and start again... ive got to be pretty damned close to getting the head of the stud off, so once that happens ill attempt to hammer it from the top I guess....

[spinktodo]

Well guys... worked on the car again tonight with bigger drill bits and STILL no luck... I drilled the crap out of the stud head and i cant for the life of me figure out why it wont bust loose... im running out of ideas... any help would be much appreciated!

[dfitzg]

haha that's cool. i know someone with a s13 and rhd DA


haha sounds like he has really good taste in cars j/p

anyhow this is where i stand after a couple of hours and a whole lotta sweet talking

i had to drill a 2" hole to gain acces to the top of the stud.

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h52/sinfulintegxsi/1-2.jpg

its FINALLY out!
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h52/sinfulintegxsi/2-2.jpg

that thing is huge (thats what she said)... i hope i can get a replacment at the stealership
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h52/sinfulintegxsi/3-1.jpg

i hope noone else has to go through the pain in the ass i had to. if anyone could get me a part number on the part that would be great. i have no idea how to find a parts list/diagram

Did you just hammer from the bottom till it came up ?

[Bigsyke]

^^^yes

From the inside of the car soak the stud head in PBblaster, maybe grind up some candle wax and dump it in the 2" hole. Use a torch and heat that sucker up untill it breaks the bond with the chassis. Same concept as changing out your wheel studs.

I still need to do this on my S14, which I fear is almost 2x harder to do than an S13 for the rear since you have to drill into the frame rails.

Proceed to get solid subframe bushings -not spacers and get a bolt that will fit nice and snug inside the aluminum bushing. This way you have a larger thread to work with. Maybe get a grade 10.5 bolt. Use some washers to space out the pressure

Installation is super easy, get one person in the car with a breaker bar to hold it in place, then you get under the car and torque it to spec. If it ever snaps in the future you can swap the bolt out in 5 minutes. I would leave the 2" hole -champfer the edges for paint and just put some rust bullet on that sucker. done and done

This thread should be archived - anybody know the exact point to drill on the S14 chassis for the rear studs? I thought nissan put some kind of dimple marker.

[dfitzg]

actually i too have a s14 and i only have 4 days to get it done.

so u said heat it. and use pb blaster on it and it should break the bond ?

[Bigsyke]

Your going to need to drill a 2" hole above the studs. Do me a favor and take a picture if you do get it right, i need to know where you drill.

Lots of heat, use 2 cans of pb blaster and soak that mofo like crazy. Dont just spray it all at once, use it in cycles. Soak, let sit for 5 minutes, torch the crap out of it evenly, imediatly soak again, let sit etc etc.

That will be the majority of the work. I live in the rust belt, you have no idea the types of seizing ive encountered. Do it enough and you can start to see the candle wax or PBblaster bubbling out of the hole.

Thats how I snapped the subframe stud. I didnt use enough heat and pb blaster, went to quick.

Next time I touch the studs, Ill head/soak untill I see the pbblaster bubbling out of the nut/threading.

either way, the stud was on its way to the grave, if you look at the stud where it snapped, its usually rusted through. Excellent time to replace the stud with a grade 10.5 bolt and never worry again. Use some antiseize if you plan to do any subframe work. or use loctite if you dont plan to drop the subframe again (which if you do, use lots of heat to break the loctite bond.)

[dfitzg]

ok ill be working on it all day tomorrow.

thanks for the advise !

[Firestorm]

here's what i would do:

1.measure one of the intact studs.
2. take measures to a machine shop and get another one fabbed up (without the knurls (sorry, don't know if thats what its called)).
3. slide fabricated stud in from the top.
4. weld the new stud to the frame

that would probably be the best solution if you're not able to source another one anywhere.

[Bigsyke]

or just get a fatter bolt, which would probably last longer. I wouldnt even weld in a stud, what happens if that one snaps? At least get a flangenut bolt the same size of the fat portion of the stud, get someone with a breaker bar to hold it in place while you torque from the bottom.

[dfitzg]

question....

will the heat from the torch affect the gas tank ????

[dfitzg]

now its pissing me off. ive drilled into the stud hammered and heat it and it comes loose but it wont come out.....

ill update when i get done... if i ever get done

[Bigsyke]

It will get done, dont drill, just keep soaking the stud on both sides...did you drill a 2" hole on the other side where you can draw the stud out? Heat the stud, I usually put my hand on the gas tank to see if the heat is reaching the tank. If you have a decent torch you shouldnt have to worry since the heat is directed.

After you heat the stud A few times, heat the metal around the stud. Dont pound to hard because you dont want to warp the hot sheetmetal.

All the heat is doing is breaking the bond, and giving the pbblaster room to work.

Hit it dead on- straight up, if you hit it at an angle you could pound your ass off, and it wouldnt budge.

[fishhouse]

cant really help much with your problem but ive always started spraying the crap out of it with deep creep everyday a couple times a day a week before i want to pull that nut off the stud if its super rusty. just for future referance lol.

[dfitzg]

was anybody had the old stud cut out and one from a parts car welded in ?

or has anybody seen a link to it ?

[youngkadafi]

^^ yea, however did you drop the subframe? or are you just pounding the bolt with the subframe in?

Usually the stud is seized to the subframe bushing. Alot of heat and candle wax usually breaks it free if you have the subframe out, and a hole drilled

[dfitzg]

im geting one cut out of a partout


i had the subframe off now its back on so i can move it. just tht the damn thing wouldnt budge afte pounding and hrat for days

[Bigsyke]

Its just like a wheel stud, it may be siezed, thats why you need to use a full propane torch and about 2 bottles of pb blaster. Heating and cooling will break the rust. Grab a few bottles of compressed air so you can flip it upsidedown and freeze the stud after you torch up the studs surrounding area real nice.

Or just freeze the stud with something like dry ice and then blast it with the torch. You have to alternate. I had a strut bolt sieze 2 days ago, it was fully rusted through the spindle. I had a 5lb sledge adn it wouldnt budge. I torched the surrounding cast iron and cooled the bolt with some pbblaster. Did that cycle for about 6-7 hours and finally it started breaking loose. Once you unseize a couple bolts/studs you will get the trick down. I found the candle wax works amazingly.

So in short to technically break the bond you want to;

Heat the surrounding metal up real nice, since its completely bonded via the rust/corrosion, the stud will also transfer the energy, however when you blast the stud it self with the compressed air upsidedown, you make a difference in temps. Do this enough to break the seal between the sheetmetal and the stud. Use the pbblaster to penetrate through the rust.

[dfitzg]

i think i figured it out after recieving a replacement stud tht was cut out of a parted car

the plate that is welded to the frame is holding the stud down and therefore would have to get the plate removed to get the stud out...lookin at the pic from the s13 doesnt have a plate so it popped right out...hopefully after months of waiting ill get this fixed on friday

[dfitzg]

ok so after mnths of struggling with this. i got the stud from a part out.

yesterday i took it to this kick ass classic car restoration shop and got them to deal with it. 2 hours later i left with my baby back to normal.

for 1 that stud is a bitch to get out even with heating and pounding it took 1.25 hrs till it popped out and what he ended up doin was using an air chisel and beating away the head then putting a metal pipe over it and a bottle jack under it and beat the hell out of it till it popped.

yes it is just like a wheel stud but a hell of alot stronger. after that he cut the weld from the washer and the rail from the part i got and dropped it in welded and it was over.. FINALLY


Pics (in random order) for those who need reference :

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l50/jmtallguy/DSCN1451.jpg

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l50/jmtallguy/DSCN1452.jpg

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l50/jmtallguy/DSCN1454-1.jpg

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l50/jmtallguy/DSCN1455.jpg


Finished product !!
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l50/jmtallguy/DSCN1456.jpg

[Bumnah]

Jesus. So glad mine were in really good shape. No hassles as far as removing bolts.


Here's a picture to make you jealous

http://www.bumnah.com/trakpak/images/image/322_stud01.jpg

[dfitzg]

thts wat mine looks like again

[Souljahzs13]

Thank you guys for this thread. Before I forced tighten the nut after installing new subframe collars, I searched for this thread incase I snaped the bolt. The nut was being stubborn while i was trying to tighten it with a breaker bar, and I see and opening to the other end of the stud incase of a snap.