So here's a new sway bar issue

[nssj2]

So playing in the snow today, i hear this pop from my front drivers side. thinking that my one bracket (those who followed my build know which one) finally gave way, i take a peek. all looks well. then something catches my eye. one of the two bolts that hold the sway bar braket to the frame decided to liberate itself from my front end. didn't break the bolt, but it just pulled right out, and wouldnt thread back in. like it was stripped. i tried putting the lower bolt in there, and same damn thing. here's the kicker. the "stripped" bolt has flawless threads, and went into the other bracket hole fine. so i guess the question is, is there a retainer in the frame to attach these bolts that could have failed, or is the frame threaded? never heard of this happening before.....

 

[gijoecam]

If my memory serves, those bolts are self-tapping into the holes in the frame. I've never heard of one of those pulling out, but I guess it's entirely possible. After nearly a decade of use, I can see the threads in teh frame weakening first as they're the softer of the two.

Options: A larger self-tapping bolt.... Can't help much with part numbers, but it'd be a trial-and-error thing at most dealers. A good body shop might be able to hook you up with one too...

The other option would be to get a nut up inside the frame, but that's going to be a pain in the butt. I've done it before with a piece of coat hanger wound tightly around the outside of a nut, but it's a royal pain. If you go that route, make sure you use grade-8 hardware and buy some extra nuts as you'll inevitable drop one or two.

Good luck!

 

[nssj2]

i was afraid of that haha, plus after looking at it today i couldnt see any way to get behind that part of the frame. yeah its a new one to me too. i might try to tap the hole out with a thread tap kit, and see if i can get a bigger bolt. problem is that the hole on the sway bracket doesnt give you much room to play with, but hey, anythings possible . thanks man