hokiemax

iTrader: (2)

Ok, I finally put the Eibachs on last night. 3 of'em installed fine, but on the rear left, the shock mount nut, (the one bolt and nut you put in, right behind the rotors, to connec the shock assembly to the axle) got stripped and I have like a 3/8" of a play in the bolt.. The bolt is fine, but it's the nut that is stripped.

Normally this wouldnt be a problem on the 5th gen, because you can just vise-grip the stripped nut and screw the bolt in, but on the 4th gens, the nut fits "INSIDE" a preshaped hole, and there is no way to grip it. Nissan's intent for this was so that you can tighten the bolt in from one side only, without having to hold on to the the nut with a plier or a ratchet. But once the nut is stripped, there is no way of securing the nut so that it doesnt turn with the bolt..

Now my bolt will not thread IN or OUT... I'm stuck... I had to drive to work today, and I constantly heard a rattling sound from there, because the 3/8" or so of free play is moving the shock around.
Any suggestions?? I'm thinking that the only way would be to use Dremmel and try to cut off the bolt, or cut off the metal enclosing where the nut is residing, so that I can vise grip it after wards..

I'm like 99% sure someone else had this problem, like long time ago...


PLZ HELP !!!

rmb

I did the same thing... strange.

Get a new bolt/nut. Make sure you get the right size. A local Nissan stealership had both in stock. My replacements were grade 5 / cad plated.

Cut the little cage off. Don't heat up the surrounding metal too much. I.e. use a 4" cut off wheel but a little bit at a time. I didn't want to ruin any sort of tempering that might have been on those parts.

Cut the nut off. Ouch. Pull the rest of the bolt out. Clean / prime / and paint the whole area that you just cut. Let it dry. Make sure everything is coated.

Coat the new bolt/nut in anti-seize.

Use vise grips or whatever you want. I used a tiny open-ended wrench on the nut. Tighten bolt to spec.

Done...

-RMB

hokiemax

iTrader: (2)

BTW, thank god you found this post!!
What did you use to cut that metal part? I'm planning to use Dremmel, and I'm sure they have special tips for something like this.

What's that 4" cut off wheel you're talking about? Is that a dremmel tip which is 4" in diameter?

Also, when you cut the nut, are you talkin about the nut or the bolt head?

thanks!

Pappa Grande

I'm a little confused - do you mean one of the 2 bolts that attaches to the steering knuckle?

Yomie

They are talking about the rear of the car, not the front!

hokiemax

iTrader: (2)

I'm talking about the rear one. On the rear, the shock assembly is attached to the axle by only one bolt.

On the front, when you are tightening either of the 2 bolts, you have to secure the nut with a plier or an open ended wrench, so the nut doesnt turn with the bolt as you tighten it. But on the rear, the nut resides in a tightly fitted enclosure, the benefit being that you dont have to hold down the nut as you tighten the bolt, because the enclosure prevents the nut from turning. But once the nut is stripped and it starts to turn with the bolt as you try to thread the bolt in, you are in trouble, because you can't secure the bolt with a plier or a wrench.

rmb

You could use a dremel I guess if you have a lot of patience and time. They have those tiny abrasive cut-off discs I believe that always break... I used a Milwaukee 4.5" angle grinder with a metal cutoff wheel installed. Like butter... Just be real careful not to overheat anything or cut important stuff... A 4" angle grinder would fit much easier. I had to do some rubberman impressions to cut that b!itch.

If I remember correctly I cut the nut end off. I had been at it for like 12 hours though so I'm kinda foggy. Wear a face shield. I got a shard of something hot right below my eye and spent 20 minutes digging it out...

I was also musing about tacking the new nut with a baby-Mig welder to the arm. I lost interest though and just used a wrench.

Fun fun fun

You won't forget to anti-seize it though/..

-RMB