OMG. Broken bolt on Rear LCA (last bolt)

Hi guys,


DIY fails wen u suck at it. I hate DIY now rofl.

Last told wen ben installed the rear sway bar for me, the last bolt on the LCA, the one connecting the LCA to the brake thingo arm. I was told that it should be "really tight"

I overtightened the thing today and it snapped. OMFG.

I can't take it out. help? The thread must be damaged by the snap. Are there any thread removing techniques?

Either way i think i need to have that whole arm removed. HOw much would this cost me at the mechanics?

Thanks,

Van

yes there are thread removing tools

one is called an easy out stud remover .. or something like that... its like a drill bit but reversed.. so wen drilling in, it will pull out

Just go to your local hardware store and see if they have the stud removers.
There is a type called 'easy outs'. You drill a hole of nominal size into the bolt. Then the easy out is drilled in until it grips, then reverse it out.

is the head of the bolt still on?(14mm head) ? or is it sheared clean off?
Because ive never heard of these honda bolts snapping. Only rounding heads.

Like ben said is it sheared off or is it rounded?

You must have been putting some hardcore force into it for it to snap.

Iv actually seen the bolt snap clean when my mate was doing his springs. we just took the whole LCA off the car and used the stud remover to take it the snaped bolt out. apparently he claims he didnt use much force. long story short we saved the thread on the LCA and managed to bolt on the sway bar back on. so it is possible. make sure you drill in the exact center of the snaped bolt and you cant go wrong <requires a good drill = ) >

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AutoNoob

Hi guys,


DIY fails wen u suck at it. I hate DIY now rofl.

Last told wen ben installed the rear sway bar for me, the last bolt on the LCA, the one connecting the LCA to the brake thingo arm. I was told that it should be "really tight"

I overtightened the thing today and it snapped. OMFG.

I can't take it out. help? The thread must be damaged by the snap. Are there any thread removing techniques?

Either way i think i need to have that whole arm removed. HOw much would this cost me at the mechanics?

Thanks,

Van

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Ever heard of a torque wrench? I think they have a "really tight" setting

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ZeForce

Ever heard of a torque wrench? I think they have a "really tight" setting

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even then....a big breaker bar wont snap honda suspension bolts that easily. I think Autonoob installed the said bolt , at a slight angle and incorrectly applied torque. It can "catch" the other side of the trailing arm , but not 100% grip the thread. you need to carefully raise or lower the LCA to get all 3 LCA bolts in correctly Or a big mallet gets em in ready for tigthening too lol

hurry up and take some pix Van.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bennjamin

Or a big mallet gets em in ready for tigthening too lol

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I found this to be one of the most important practices when taking my LCAs off and then putting them back on :p

well me and friends bolt both had some weird problem when we were doing up the shock bolt on the LCA I think we over tightened then the bolt kept spinning it doesnt move? is it because the amount of thread has passed all the way through and its spinning on non threaded part or is it stripped threads? hmmm

^ front or rear?

if front then you need to hold the nut there while tightening the bolt

if its the rear then its pretty hard to bust up the nut welded to the shock

if the bolt is too long the thread won't go on to the unthreaded part of the bolt, it'll just stop

lol me and my dad ghetto removed it because we couldnt use the bolt removed extractor tool. we filed the end of the broken bolt sticking out so that there are 2 parallel flat surfaces and then used a spanner to pull it out.
DIY father & son team FTW !!!!!!!!!!!!!! ROFL.

Ben's really tight comment made me put the torque wrench to the max 240 foot pounds?. thinking "van" is no chuck norris, no way could this tiny boy break anything.
Fark!!! It just went " BONNNNNNNNNNG" haha.

All is good now. and the sway bar rocks, no car roll means for some reason the front wheel doesnt scrape in tight corners (car lowered). Will post pictures of the broken LCA bolt soon. XD

holy shit dude, that bolts only supposed to be like 40lbf-ft

good old noob backyard mechanics, it aint tight until it stops moving hahaha, every single bolt on a car has a specific torque spec, yes it would be a pain in the ass to follow but for the more major bolts ie you suspension, wouldnt hurt asking

anyway quick tip for everyone installing LCA's new or reinstalling old, do not tighten the bolts on the control arm completely while jacked up in the air, do it so its firm, bring the car down, and tightening completely. By doing this you are going to prevent premature bush wear. If you tighten it completely while car is jacked up ie no load on vehicle - hence no load on the control arms, and bring them down, the bushes will twist as the controls arms change angle (there is no slack between the bush or bolt for them to rotate to a sensible position to coresspond with the angle while the cars load is on them), so your bushes will constantly be twisted / have twisting force on them even while your car is sitting still, causing premature failure/fatigue

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AutoNoob

lol me and my dad ghetto removed it because we couldnt use the bolt removed extractor tool. we filed the end of the broken bolt sticking out so that there are 2 parallel flat surfaces and then used a spanner to pull it out.
DIY father & son team FTW !!!!!!!!!!!!!! ROFL.

Ben's really tight comment made me put the torque wrench to the max 240 foot pounds?. thinking "van" is no chuck norris, no way could this tiny boy break anything.
Fark!!! It just went " BONNNNNNNNNNG" haha.

All is good now. and the sway bar rocks, no car roll means for some reason the front wheel doesnt scrape in tight corners (car lowered). Will post pictures of the broken LCA bolt soon. XD

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hahaha
at work a guy was tightening a bolt that goes to 240Nm and the dial on the scale dropped to 400Nm. He fell on his arse. Lesson learned.

markojek1 is right, no tightening the suspension bolts while in the air
if your cars too low to crawl under then you could probably jack up the lca to approx normal ride height and tighten it up