Broke the head off a bolt for the rear strut
 

Well .... yup.
So I soaked it in PB Blaster for a week solid and thought that my breaker bar would help and didn't. Went to the DIY mechanic place and put it on the lift and hooked it up the 17mm bolt end (not the welded nut end) and took the impact to it and... Bam!
Broke the head right off!


So I then looked at it and saw that the weld bolt looks to be part of the mount looks to be for the sway bar end links, ABS, and Brake lines. Disconnected and tried to hit it with the air hammer, didnt budge at all!

So I consulted a guy and he said he would cut the stock mounts for the strut and hammer or tap and drill the bolt end out. And looked at the Teins I am putting on and it seems that I would be able to cut where the lines are and then get a new bolt from the dealer to replace it and tap out the one stuck in there.

And the end link bolts are not loosening, is it essential for them to be removed when swapping out the suspension?

I said I wanted to wait and get a plan before committing and cutting key parts of the suspension first. So after making sure that the bolt wasnt going any where I put every thing back together and am now sitting at home stressed and questioning the durability of my car as it sits on teh ground that somehow the bolt will loosen up and collapse the rear suspension.

HALP

Is cutting the best route at this point?
I am about to, but need confirmation from any mind other than mine.

At this point, I don't think that you have much of a choice since there is nowhere left to grip what's left of the bolt to try to twist it out of the welded nut. The bolt is definitely rusted / seized up in the strut bushing sleeve. Once you have everything cut out, you can replace that whole setup with a conventional bolt, nut and lock washer.

Should be easy. Grab a punch and hammer it into the side where the head broke off and shove it out the other side OR use a wrench and a torch and try to twist the nut side off. If that side breaks off too, then you can use a punch and hammer it out through either way you'd like, simple fix. One of the 2 options WILL work.

N and O and P. I have same situation and bolt is still in after 6 tries. There is not enough space to swing. I both rotary hammer drill that I will use for my job and hopefully kick out with it. Cutting is exteremly difficult there. I'm pro carpenter and have some idea. Tried with sawzall to cut it but is not enough space and blade go out in a few seconds. Bad strut is still at car after 6 months. Give it to mechanic who have air impact gun that can fit in that tight space look like best option.
OP I drive with bolt like yours already 6 months. That remain of bolt there is rock solid. I even cut part of bolt at one side of strut and nothing happen. You can drive it for sure. Do not try to cut, try to find someone with mighty impact gun. Google little you will see how mechanic easy kick bolts like yours out.
Clearly not impact gun then air hammer.

Sawzall might not be the best in this case. I would recommend a 5" metal cutoff disk in a handheld grinder for this job. Should go through it like butter.

Can you drill the bolt out from the welded nut side? I would start with a little pilot hole then go larger until you can hammer the piece out. You may be able to do it without ruining the nut.

There is not space to use any grinder. I have a couple at home and spend decade using grinders at construction site. Trust me here is guy who have tons of expirence in cutting steel. Air hammer is solution, and only solution.

Tried it, do not work. That bolt is to hard and is space again in question. I used a pro drill. Any chip drill even do not worth try.

Well I'm not sure where you're going with the carpentry or construction sites experience but I don't care, you're wrong, its completely possible, sorry. You/he are NOT the first person in the world to break a head off a bolt in a hard to get to place. Get a flat grinder wheel and cut the head off and whack it through either direction. If its not working, get a better angle or a bigger hammer. use a jack to push up on the strut to take some pressure off the bolt. Soak it in PB blaster for a day or use a torch and get it red hot, it will absolutely come out. Worst case, disconnect the upper ball joint or control arm and completely drop/swing it out for more room. Its completely doable, just not thinking outside the box.

Also, why on earth would you drive your car for 6 months with a very vital bolt broken off? One day, its going to snap and you are going to kill someone. That's completely unsafe and terrible advice! :tomato:

That may work. Front strut is accesable with grinder and I did it, back one is not.

So I was able to get it all out! Had to use a sawzall and a couple blades, but I got it!

So here I tried to air hammer it out. But it didnt work and I even was able to drive on it without the head it was THAT tight!

And you will be able to see in the pictures why it did not hammer out!

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...126a9b1037.jpg

Here I finally got the saw on it and began this week long processes :(

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...88a29d86fd.jpg

After a certain point I had enough and was gonna cut off any and all parts that I could to get the strut off. So the Weld nut on the end of the bracket? Yup gone!

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...e7548209ad.jpg
And here we see why I was not able to hammer or spin it out in any way, the strut and the bolt practically FUSED TOGETHER!

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...6dba6f1e40.jpg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...690c3fa94f.jpg

So I got the strut out and wasnt able to get that bracket out. So I tried to drill it out (mind you I am still on the first side!) and that didnt work, I even got a new $7 bit made of Titanium and was the strongest bit they had. I found out later that these Strut bolts are extra Hardened Grade 8 bolts and are notorious for not being able to be drilled out.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...36ba664960.jpg

Finally! Got the one side!


https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...d2c30e5212.jpg

The remnants. And yea I ended up having to get new swaybar end links as I broke those in a fit of rage trying to get the damn bracket off. As you can see in the bottom piece I even tried to swivel it off using an air hammer ... multiple times.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...eafaa9aff8.jpg

Its just crazy how it became a solid piece of metal.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...d545c0f250.jpg

Here you can see how precise I ended up being with the drill bit to get RIGHT on the threads, still made no difference.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...26397a33f0.jpg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...3c860507fe.jpg

I mean, come ON!!!!!

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...ead4bd161c.jpg

So Yea I got the new coilovers on, and I will be uploading those pics later!

Was it worth it? Sometimes I dont think so, but then I get a random thumbs up :/ :)

Here actually is a better pic of me drilling RIGHT ON the thread to no avail.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...eadbb20311.jpg

Here you can see me empty my whole bottle of antisieze on every single bolt I could so as to never have to go through this firestorm ever again.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...f65d8aa9e1.jpg

Applied some to the Coil sleeves, I actually hear motorcycle chain oil is good for this.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...adfa223194.jpg

This hand got the worst of it. Not a bad blood sacrifice to the car god in the end I suppose.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...c8bbdd4965.jpg

Nice, good job man!

Thanks for tread. It prove me to NOT cut it out then give to someone with strong air hammer.

Well I build this bad ass. I call it "long distance bolt extractor". Tried one without two clamps past week and was capable to move bolt 1/16 before it crack. Now I have that two C clamps and hope will be capable hit strut bolt with sledge hammer over "long distance bolt extractor". It is 52" long and it allow me swing from back of car. Will let you know if it worked.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...0a73ddd35a.jpg
Ldse

F "long distance bolt extractor" didn't work even I hit it with sledge hammer. I do believe it had some linear play so it do not transfer full blow of hit. Will buy something like this and make a big pin punch.
https://www.fleetfarm.com/store/deta...saApTYEALw_wcB

Well there is new tool. Carbide tipped sawzall blade for cutting heavy metal. at 3:20. It is from Freud Diablo line. I used carbide tipped demo blade from Diablo at job site and it worked light year better than bi metal blade. Will do job next week when will be warmer. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Diablo-6...-205855897-_-N . This blade is at market from 2014 so is relatively new. I do not know why in link say it is 30$ when it cost 10$ at home depot. I always tough about sawzall bi metal blades like junk, time is for something new finally.

geez...what a pain! I was trying to think of some ways to get out of that without having to cut stuff up and it doesn't look like it can be done any other way.

is that bolt fused to all 4 parts? knuckle-->strut bushing-->knuckle-->end link bracket?

is that because of road salt conditions? I don't see stuff like that here in California, just a lot of dirt mud and grime.

^^^ Is it me or this forum is slow. Guy above post two days go and tread is still at top.
Yeah bolt is fused. I drive already two years without bolt head and nut plus actually moved bolt like 1/8 but it is still always there. Generally speaking cutting is fastest way dealing with rusted bolts if is bolt accessible. Better than heating with propane bottle from Menards for sure.

^^^ Did job with diablo blade. Toke me less than one minute for both bolt and blade can be used farther, it is not destroyed. Would agree with plumbers at another forums, this blade is game changer. I tried 11-12 different approach in last 2 years. It was done with this blade in less than one minute. New strut do not rattle over bumps. I have vibrations when I brake from that wheel when car is cold but it is separate problem and I had it with old strut plus rattle over bumpy roads.

I'm surprised you had the clearance for the recip saw. I personally would have gone with a grinder :tongue:

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...4658d747ec.jpg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...d059b736d2.jpg
No way you can access there with grinder. Op said that to. It is so with most bolts at cars, therefore this blade is game changer. I can from now on use sawzall when I need. You have to lift car a lot to squezze sawzall in. You can see I had to cut with angle plus of course brake line was moved away. Lool look how strut bolt look, where sometime in past was bolt head, after me 11 times try to kick it out.

Ahhh i misunderstood.. I was thinking it was the bolt on the TOP of the struts.. whoops.


Yeah those diablo sawzall blades are amazing for cutting metal.

^^^ Very often I have to cut old stucco at houses that I work at. For decades I use bimetal blades because nothing else was out there. They was, and they are junk. Stucco has that metal mesh inside and I can not use grinder there because it is inside someone house and grinder on stucco make huge mess. Used a carbide tipped blade last October and never look back. Actually in second photo bottom left bolt you can see that I tried to cut it with bimetal blade somewhere in past. I did maybe 1/5 of cut of one bolt till blade was off, so I give up on that.