Hello folks,
I plan to replace the suspensions of my 2006 Sentra. I suspect that my rear suspension’s bolt is welded to the frame. Yesterday, when I was spraying penetrant oil, I noticed that the bolt is rusted. I have a strong feeling that either of those is going to break when I try to take off the rear suspensions.
If the bolt breaks and it is indeed welded, what is recourse from there? I don’t have any fancy tools to remove the weldings.
Many thanks
I don’t know which part you are talking about but generally wear parts are not welded on. On the other hand, if you don’t have the tools or skills to deal with the possible problems that could develop, that’s when we just let a shop handle it instead. Nothing worse than getting half done and needing a shop to finish the job.
Keep soaking it with a high-quality penetrating oil over the course of several days. I like PB Blaster; others have other favorites. When it’s time to remove the nut/bolt, heat the nut with a propane torch until it’s red hot. A MAP gas torch works better than regular propane, though. Then try loosening it.
If something welded to a suspension piece snaps off, you may be able to drill it out and rethread the hole.
Can you post a picture?
The bolt that will sit at the red arrows. Even in this picture, they have a nut but not the bolt as a part for sale.
I plan to take out the trunk lining tomorrow to access that area. I will take a picture.
The internet just went nuts!
Tester
Either that or you simply replace the upper strut mount which you should probably do anyway. I’ve never had any problem with those nuts rusting though. That’s usually the least of the problems with replacing a strut.
I did have a plate welded in in my old nova to hold the shock, due to rust and failure in the steel it was supposed to bolt to.
I looked at a Volvo some years back that had the strut towers completely rotted out. Man, did that thing act weird when you pushed the front end up & down! Someone was actually trying to sell it.
An update,
I tried to find a place where these bolts are present/welded, but that location seems very elusive. I pulled out the trunk liner, back seat, but these bolts are nowhere to be found. I didn’t pull out seat back liner but most likely its somewhere there.
I am not going to gamble here, just get it done at the mechanic.
Breaking off rusted bolts and the like is a common thing mechanics run into most every day. They – or the automobile machine shop they use – have a bag of tricks to handle pretty much all of those kinds of problems. The only ones that might not be economically possible to repair in the suspension system are severely rusted mounts and mounting surfaces.
Suspension system work , especially when it involves removing springs as in your case, is not as easy a job for beginning diy’er. A better job for a beginner would be changing the oil and filter and replacing spark plugs. So if you are a beginner diy’er, good idea to take it to a shop. If you want to do stuff like replacing suspension parts, you really should have some kind of repair manual for your make/model/year. A Haynes or Chiltons would cover the proper repair sequence for that kind of job well for most cars. A single-car subscription to AllData would work too. Either way is inexpensive compared to the kind of problems you may run into if you do a job incorrectly or do the tasks out of sequence.
