Need help! Broke strut stud above the nut on upper strut mount! - Third Generation F-Body Message Boards

mbarland · 03-25-2001, 07:39 PM

Ok, I broke the drivers side upper strut to upper strut mount stud (with the bolt still on it). There is about 1/4" of threads still showing and when it snapped I still hadn't gotten the bolt to loosen at all (so it's still on there pretty good).

Any suggestions on getting that bolt off? Preferably without buying new upper mounts.

Thanks in advance.

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85 TA, 305 TPI, AT, T-Tops,
Russet Mettalic over Gold
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CamaroMike · 03-25-2001, 08:10 PM

Yeah, grab the strut with vise grips below the upper mount. Just cut the plasic boot an grab on. The boots can be easily found at a junk yard or dealer for reinstallation of the new strut.

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84 Camaro ZZ4 with HOT cam. 1.88 60' (12.98 @ 105MPH E.T.)
Recently Ported Heads, Installed Larger Race-Flo Valves and RPM Air Gap Intake (No new times)
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2001 Dodge Ram Quad Cab 5.9L 4*2

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mbarland · 03-25-2001, 08:17 PM

Yeah, we thought about that, can't get a pliers in under the boot. I wanted to aviod cutting it so I could reuse it, maybe I'll just do that. The boot would be a hell of a lot cheaper than the upper mounts.

Craig84Z · 03-26-2001, 10:14 PM

I just paid $65 each for upper mounts.
Craig

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84 Z28 305HO, 5spd, 220,000 miles, Edelbrock intake, Hedman headers, low restriction exh(w/cat), K&N air filter. Best 1/4 so far 14.649 at 94.77mph

TomP · 03-28-2001, 05:47 PM

Why not grind the nut off the strut? Of course, then, you need a new nut...

I've heard you can use those shock boots that the off-road truck guys use... might look interesting! Avoid the hot pink colored ones, though

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-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards
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[This message has been edited by TomP (edited March 28, 2001).]

dhirocz · 03-28-2001, 06:36 PM

I had this problem when I rebuilt my suspension...I cut the boot and tried holding on with the biggest visegrips I could find, but it wouldn't hold. That strut is made of a hardened metal. It'll just barely scratch. If you try to cut or grind the nut, you'll probably end up messing up the mount to begin with. What I did...instead of going to a junkyard and picking up a boot, pick up a new mount! Pull your old one out through the top. Junk it all. I picked up 2 out of a Firebird (so it's the same on all 3rdgen F-bodies), cleaned them well, and painted them black. They look slick, and the $15 bucks I spent saved me alot of hasle and frustration. Mine came from a '86 V-6 firebird. They work great on my IROC, and I have never heard of them wearing out. Give it a shot. Good luck...