Front Bolt On Upper Arm Missing!

[blackprincegts]

yesterday i went to get my 1st wheel alignment in the 2years iv had the car, a bit slack i know but i have been unable to get one done up untill i changed my slightly bent lower control arm the other day. Anyway, they adjusted my front toe back to 0, apparently it was way out, which i now know ws causing my crazy tramling issues. Anyway, they brought to my attention that they could not adjust my camber (2.7 on right hand side and 1.22 on left because the right hand side upper control arm is missing a bolt, Iv got an adjustable camber setup that came in a kit with the nolathane bushes that i had installed when i got the car. ( i think it might be the whiteline one that sydney kid is selling in group buy) Im thinking that my mechanic never installed it properly in the 1st place which is obviously why iv been scrubbing tyres since..

So this is obviously the cause of the excessive camber on the right hand side, what i need to know is does anyone know what size bolt i need to wack back in there and is it just a simple matter of putting a new bolt in there or isit more involved than that??

Any help would be appreciated, im so sick of scrubbing out the drivers side tyre on the inside every few months or so, the tyre that was on there last had mostly 60% tread left but was through to the canvas on the inside... damm annoying

Thanks guyz!

Edited September 25, 2006 by blackprincegts

[djr81]

The missing bolt will be the same as on the other side of the car. From memory (depending on which of the two it is) it is a 12mm dia machine bolt with an additional lock nut.

Pull the good one from the other side & go and find the same at your local fastener store. As long as there isn't any major damage you will be fine, but I would replace both bolts in the upper, outer position as a minimum as the remaining one will have been well stressed.

[r33_racer]

make sure the bolt has exactly the same amount of shank on it before the thread so its solidly secured all the way along until the thread comes out for the nut, which are crushed end lock nuts, not nyloc nuts. People refer to them as exhaust lock nuts as well. If you explain the situation to the bolt bloke im sure he will know what your on about to give you the right bolt.

Only go to an industrial bolt and fastner place or bearing place to get the bolt and nut. Dont goto supercheap please.

[BHDave]

Sounds like you have the shorter of the 2 bolts (25mm) installed but it's missing the 50mm long one and the lock nut that goes in the front as djr81 said. The kit is designed so that the 50mm long bolt bottoms out and so turning that turns the crush tube, then tighten up the lock nut and short back bolt to hold it in place. There should be a spring washer under the bolt head/lock nut too.

12mm thread sounds about right, i have a feeling it's 1.25 pitch aswell.

I think r33 racer is thinking of the stock arrangement with a single bolt that goes right through the bush, rather than the Nolathane version with a bolt at either end.

[blackprincegts]

Sounds like you have the shorter of the 2 bolts (25mm) installed but it's missing the 50mm long one and the lock nut that goes in the front as djr81 said. The kit is designed so that the 50mm long bolt bottoms out and so turning that turns the crush tube, then tighten up the lock nut and short back bolt to hold it in place. There should be a spring washer under the bolt head/lock nut too.

12mm thread sounds about right, i have a feeling it's 1.25 pitch aswell.

I think r33 racer is thinking of the stock arrangement with a single bolt that goes right through the bush, rather than the Nolathane version with a bolt at either end.

Yeah the bolt i got missing is the one that doesn't have the additional nut on it that adjusts the camber. Ok im thinking this is going to be allot of mucking around. I hope i dont have to go and buy a kit for it because its been damaged.

After what you guys have said im thinking maybe i should be getting one of my mates whos more mechanically gifted than myself to help me pull apart the other side and compare the two..

thanks to all for the input!!

[blackprincegts]

Actually now that I kind of know what im looking for i went and had a really good look at it. It would seem that im going to have to pull the whole things apart because the front hole where the bolt should slide through and im guessing slide through the middle of the nolathane bush is sort of shifted, its only half inline with the bush by the looks of things.

Its obviously shifted in the past and sort of lodged itself there... damn i rekn this will be annoying and difficult to fix.

[djr81]

If that is all it is the job is very easy. Just pull the one out of the other side & take it to a proper fastener store (Not Bunnings). They will sell you something like an M12x25 & a M12x50 machine bolt probably in either a UNC or a UNF thread. Should be a grade 8.8 or better. Anyway the blokes at the shop will be able to tell from the markings on the bolt.

This will cost you all of $5 to get sorted.

[blackprincegts]

Alrighty then, ill givit a go when i getta chance, if i get stuck then iv always got mates who are on emergency callout standby..

im shockd and amazed that no1 else found the problem, i tookit to suposedly suspension expert places and all they sed was that it was my lower control arm. small independant place down the road were the guys to find it.

im lucky the other bolt hasnt just snapped!!

thanks again for all of your valuable help!!

[r33_racer]

a fine or coarse thread, not unf or unc as they are related to imperial thread types. If your not sure just remove the one from the other side and take that with you as has been suggested before. It would be interesting to know what grade the std suspension bolts are from the factory, cause we dont use anything less then 12.9 on the race car when fabbing something up or replacing other bolts and nuts. No one uses grade 4 anymore its piss weak, grade 8 is the new 4 and 10 the new 8. Overkill is a 12

[djr81]

I had a look last night. They are grade 8.8.

And, yeah, sorry I meant fine or coarse not UNF or UNC as like you say that is the imperial equivalent.

Real men use Whitworth.

Edited September 27, 2006 by djr81

[blackprincegts]

Ok fellas, I got the 2 bolts i need now. Its the 25mm bolt thats missing.

The problem im having now is that I cant seem to get the arm and the bit where the bushes are installed to line up properly. Iv tried loosening off the bolt with the lock nut and that enables me to move the arm around and make it almost line up but theres about 0.5mm that what alighn and allow me to install the new bolt.

If i was to remove the large 50mm bolt completely what would happen? I havnt removed it all the way yet because I dont want the whole arm to drop down and then me not be able to get the bolt back in.

The 50mm bolt thats in there is pretty damaged btw, all the thread has been worn off where the pressure has been on it.

I want to try and sort this out asap, even though its been like this for like 2years now that i know about it it makes me paranoid when im driving the car

Thanks!

[blackprincegts]

Please, anyone??

Surely someone would know a few pointers as to removing the two bolts and would now what would happen when i do it???

[Sydneykid]

Please, anyone??

Surely someone would know a few pointers as to removing the two bolts and would now what would happen when i do it???

Remove the shock/spring unit

Unbolt the stabiliser bar

You should them be able to remove/replace the upper control bolts easily

If you can't then you will have ot unbolt the radius rod from the lower control arm.That will enable the lower control arm and the upright to move around freely.

Then it is a piece of piss to remove/replace the upper control bolts easily

cheers

[blackprincegts]

Remove the shock/spring unit

Unbolt the stabiliser bar

You should them be able to remove/replace the upper control bolts easily

If you can't then you will have ot unbolt the radius rod from the lower control arm.That will enable the lower control arm and the upright to move around freely.

Then it is a piece of piss to remove/replace the upper control bolts easily

cheers

Awsome! Thankyou very much!!! Id better be allowing mself a couple of hours for this job i think. I had a feeling that i would have to unbolt the strut because it looked like it was stopping the up and down movement.

Cheers