Tension rod/Sway [email protected]#

[pete240]

Has anyone else ever had their tension rod/sway bar brackets come loose on them? I had been hearing some squeaking and a slight clunk under braking lately and today I finally jacked up the car to see what the problem was. I raise it up and jiggle the wheels and such to see where it was loose but couldn't isolate the problem. I then spun the wheels as fast as I could then had someone slam on the brakes for me while I looked on the bottom and sure enough I see the drivers side tension rod bracket shift forward. Naturally my first solution was to grab the trusty torque wrench and tighten her back up to spec. I quickly realized it wasn't going to be as easy as just that. The problem at hand is that I am unable to tighten the nut and bolts because they just keep spinning on me and I can't stop them because the frame rail is completely sealed at least it seemed that way to me. Please give me some ideas on how to remedy this problem :o .

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h133/pete240/ohnoesMedium.jpg

[projectRDM]

The bolt is threaded into the frame rail, the nut is threaded onto a stud that's welded to the tension rod bracket. If they're both spinning you'll need to replace the bracket and drill/tap the rail for a larger bolt.

[LayNLow]

Ouch. Yeah, I had all 6 bolts holding the tension rod brackets on loosen up on me. Took me forever to figure out wtf it was. When I finally did I was like O_O not good.
As for your problem, you can try making a cut in the frame rail where the 2 bolts are on the inside, and hold them with a wrench while you tighten it.

[apex]

you can reach it if u take off the front bumper cover

[Def]

What Russ said. The bolt that's spec'd out to hold the tension rod bracket down there is pretty small for the stresses, so when mine loosened after some track use with thrashed brakes(lots of vibration), it messed up the threads enough to where I just said F it and drilled and tapped it for a M12 bolt. It's held up great ever since.

[pete240]

ok I'm getting a little confused here.. Is there a nut tack welded on the inside of the frame rail or is there a solid piece of metal tapped for the bolt? Some people are saying to drill an access hole to hold the nut others are saying to retap. I know the stud is part of the bracket but what about bolt that screws into the frame? I'm having trouble backing out the bolt from the frame because it is so loose which leads me to believe that there is a nut on the inside of the rail. I can literally push the bolt up and down but I can't unscrew it.

[projectRDM]

ok I'm getting a little confused here.. Is there a nut tack welded on the inside of the frame rail or is there a solid piece of metal tapped for the bolt? Some people are saying to drill an access hole to hold the nut others are saying to retap. I know the stud is part of the bracket but what about bolt that screws into the frame? I'm having trouble backing out the bolt from the frame because it is so loose which leads me to believe that there is a nut on the inside of the rail. I can literally push the bolt up and down but I can't unscrew it.

It's called a 'weldnut', it's basically a threaded square insert that's tack welded in place, much like a lot of smaller threaded holes throughout the car. Look at the backside of the shock towers where the power steering reservoir mounts, they're used there too. What has happened is the welds have given or broken off, so you're basically turning the "nut" freely with the bolt and have no way to stop it from spinning. I was assuming your bolt was just reemed out but if the nut is loose, take a prybar and pry down on the bracket, putting tension on the bolt and forcing the weldnut to jam into the frame rail and wedge itself from moving. Then the bolt will come out, and you can go in from the front of the rail with a magnet on an extendable rod and get the nut out. To fix it though will require drilling access into the rail and welding a new nut of some kind back in place. You can cut a patch out of the side of the frame rail to gain access, then weld it back in place once finished. Or, just stick a nut back in place, wedge a long prybar against it to hold it still, and reinsert a new bolt. Once tightened it will pull the nut down.

[pete240]

I finally fixed it with the help of these guys
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h133/pete240/7013_Hole_Saw.jpg

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h133/pete240/7037_Hex_Shank_Mandrel.jpg

[pete240]

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h133/pete240/hoopla001Medium.jpg

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h133/pete240/hoopla002Medium.jpg

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h133/pete240/hoopla003Medium.jpg

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h133/pete240/hoopla004Medium.jpg

Old weld nut
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h133/pete240/hoopla006Medium.jpg

The nut and bolt got replaced by a m10-1.50x50mm bolt and m10-1.50 nut. They both had 17mm heads to so they could grab more surface :D.

[projectRDM]

Very cool. I would have gone from the side of the frame rail to prevent a big hole from the top, but you did it exactly right otherwise. Shame you can't just stick a welder in and reattach the weldnut.

[pete240]

I think it is possible to re-weld it with a stick welder but I'm a terrible arc welder and would rather not punch another hole in the rail in a more critical spot haha.

[whatda]

so this is what i need to do

[spiker]

I got the same problem but also my frame from the nut forward is bent towards the fender small kink small bend but it was enough to make a nice little space disconnecting the spot welds on the bar that the radiator sits on at the front. The top is still connected but the bottom is broken apart. I need to fix the weld nut and i need to bend it back and weld it somehow. Anyone got any ideas? I had a few ideas to bend it back but i want more options before i try mines. Want to try the best easiest way first or rather do it the right way the first time around. Slid into a ditch.

Pics
broken gap
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v336/toymullet/2009-06-06165337.jpg

kink
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v336/toymullet/2009-06-06163500.jpg

one you can see distance between the kink and gap
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v336/toymullet/2009-06-06163210.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v336/toymullet/2009-06-06165403.jpg

otherside of car everything is fine..
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v336/toymullet/2009-06-06163407.jpg

[Jonnie Fraz]

^^If you are not a welder then you need to make friends with one in your area.