Rear control arm / 3 bolts/studs, drill out Options

[drive-ability]

Hey,
I have noticed my rear control arms at the outside connection where the 3 bolts are is a bit striped, so I drilled out the holes and inserted some replacement bolts and nuts..
My question is the bolts and nuts seems to be still getting loose, is what I think is happening , happening ? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/stromberg.gif)

[dr914@autoatlanta.com]

no nuts on the end of the bolts that is for sure. Maybe the tapping is too loose? Maybe the bolts have a shoulder and are not screwing in far enough before they bottom?? Locktite. Plus on top of the three hole there should be factory plastic plugs to keep water from getting in

[r_towle]

Depends what you think is happening.

Those need to be a tight fit, or you need a sleeve so there is ZERO side to side play.
Grade 8 bolts I hope.

You may want to think about welding the nut up top and use a lock washer under the head of the bolt.

Rich

[drive-ability]

Depends what you think is happening.

Those need to be a tight fit, or you need a sleeve so there is ZERO side to side play.
Grade 8 bolts I hope.

You may want to think about welding the nut up top and use a lock washer under the head of the bolt.

Rich

I was thinking I was crushing the two points together ? The nuts bolts and washers are all grade 8 as well.

[r_towle]

Depends how much material you drilled out.
Original is a steel sleeve that sticks out the top about 3/8 of an inch...that is to prevent you from crushing the material.

If you drilled all of that out, you would need 3/4 inch diameter bolts, so I suspect you did not do that.

When setup as original, the threads hold the bolt in place side to side.
Now, you probably have some play that you need to eliminate.
Aside from that, they will get loose using the wrong type of nut.
Try a nylock nut, or weld the nut on top in place.
Clean it all off on top to make sure none of the welds to the sleeve have broken loose and make sure the console is not cracked.

Check the large nut on the inside or the trailing arm also..see if its loose.

From there, you may want to look at the setup (brant) had put on his car using two heim joints and a tube to run a bar to the lower part of the long and connect that to the outer trailing arm mount.
that give you the ability to adjust that, and lock it in place.

With big fat tires, it will get loose and it wants to toe out, so the rod is a good idea to keep it in place.

Rich

[drive-ability]

Depends how much material you drilled out.
Original is a steel sleeve that sticks out the top about 3/8 of an inch...that is to prevent you from crushing the material.

If you drilled all of that out, you would need 3/4 inch diameter bolts, so I suspect you did not do that.

When setup as original, the threads hold the bolt in place side to side.
Now, you probably have some play that you need to eliminate.
Aside from that, they will get loose using the wrong type of nut.
Try a nylock nut, or weld the nut on top in place.
Clean it all off on top to make sure none of the welds to the sleeve have broken loose and make sure the console is not cracked.

Check the large nut on the inside or the trailing arm also..see if its loose.

From there, you may want to look at the setup (brant) had put on his car using two heim joints and a tube to run a bar to the lower part of the long and connect that to the outer trailing arm mount.
that give you the ability to adjust that, and lock it in place.

With big fat tires, it will get loose and it wants to toe out, so the rod is a good idea to keep it in place.

Rich

Rich,
Thanks, I didn't use real big bolts, just a tad larger than stock, You think the heim struts would be worth installing? Well I do get some drifting to the left with the power on anyway so it sounds like a good idea...

[r_towle]

Rear wheels toe out under load and acceleration, all cars do this, its physics.
I think that when you take a narrow bodied car that was designed for thin ass tires and put in more motor, and wider rubber, yes...you need to do something.
It seems that the solution that I think Brant did is perfect.
Drill and sleeve the long (good idea anyways)
Then tap that sleeve.
Then a simple rod with adjustable, lockable heim joints.
The whole rig hides underneath the rocker cover.

Should stop any toe out on hard acceleration...not sure about the rest of the wiggling though.

Rich