When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
I'm not sure who did what to the car I just bought, but most of the front body panel bolts were lose so I tightened them up.
Last night, doing motor mounts, struts, etc, I notice one of the big carrier(?) to subframe bolts was loose. The one just above the rear lower control arm pivot bolt. I torqued it to about 100 lb-ft but couldn't find a torque spec.
I checked others, they seemed fine.
Is this typical for these cars or perhaps someone was careless with some refitment?
I'm not sure who did what to the car I just bought, but most of the front body panel bolts were lose so I tightened them up.
Last night, doing motor mounts, struts, etc, I notice one of the big carrier(?) to subframe bolts was loose. The one just above the rear lower control arm pivot bolt. I torqued it to about 100 lb-ft but couldn't find a torque spec.
I checked others, they seemed fine.
Is this typical for these cars or perhaps someone was careless with some refitment?
Hard to say. Iv changed some subframes in newer cars and have seen bolts missing! Maybe a defect from the factory or someone else has been into the car? With the age I'd go with someone being careless.
They are k-member bolts, our cars don't have a sub-frame. Here are some links to short threads with good info on the location of and the torque spec of those bolts:
Where did that graphic come from? 160 N-m is standard torque for a 14 mm bolt.
The K-member bolts on my '89 are M12 and a bolt of that size has a standard torque of 100 N-m, and a high torque of 105 N-m for structural members. Coincidentally (or not so coincidentally), the GM service manual for an '88 Firebird (the only version I can find) calls for 105 N-m torque.
