I looked at a 2004 nissan altima yesterday late. The owner had complained about a loud banging in the drivers side rear when he went over bumps.
I found that one of the bolts to the upper shock mount were broken.
These two bolts protrude from the upper wheel well.
Can anyone tell me if these bolts (Studs) are accessible from under the rear window ledge and if they are very involved in replacing??
Thank you for your help.
Tester
Thanks for the clip Mr Tester, but that does not cover what I’m asking about.
The Upper mount, with two studs protruding is where the problem is. One of those studs is snapped off. I look in the trunk to access that area, but it looks like this area may only be accessed from the rear ledge(where the speakers would be.)
I was asking if I can access that mount from under the rear window ledge, and drive that stud out and replace it. Or if the whole mounting bracket above the fender needs to be replaced.
You’re probably going have to remove the rear package shelf to gain access to the shock mount.
This usually requires removing the lower seat cushion, and then removing the seat back to remove the package shelf.
Tester
At 3:35 in the video you can see access to the cavity with the studs. For the replacement bolt, spot weld an anti-rotation tab to the head of the bolt, a rectangular shaped flat washer.
Had a bud weld a 2" x 4" plate for the rear shock that rusted through the body in my 72 Nova. Maybe 1980 or so lasted till 1992 when I traded it in.
I gained access to the top by removing the rear shelf, as Mr tester suggested. Then I ended up drilling two new holes for the shock flange to bolt up to. The one broken off bolt allowed the flange to twist and rip out the other stud.
A made up two new bolts and welded an anti rotation piece to it. Then I got a retainer washer over each bolt and ran them up snug with the nuts before I tried to install the flange.
It all worked out pretty well.
Thank you Mr. Tester and Nevada_545 for your suggestions.
I used both ideas.