Top mount bolts

[SydneyTii]

Guys is it essential to use the press in studs in the top mount or can you use a quality bolt with thread locker?

i have managed to ruin a set of studs on a new top mount after stripping a stud when I torqued it down.

ive knocked them out and the old studs are the long type which are a different dimension and don't grip the same.

almost had her down on the floor again until I stripped the stud, then I got cranky and dropped the suspension the lazy way and chipped my fender lip.

Great day all in all?

[Einspritz]

You would have to make sure that the head of the bolt does not interfere with the top spring perch, and I suspect it will be troublesome to get a wrench on them as you wont be able to get a socket there.

[M2M3M3]

if you don't use press in, tack weld the head of a regular bolt to the mount.  you can't get a wrench under there easily (which is why there are press in studs there in the first place...)

 

and you DO NOT need thread locker.  just use nylocks....the torque used for these nuts is pretty low.  i just do them hand tight with a short 3/8's drive.

['76mintgrün'02]

I also tried to move studs from one pair of mounts to another and found that they did not fit, due to the size of the splined part of the head, so I tried using bolts; but the head rubbed on the top of the spring cap. 

 

There is very little clearance there and it gets even tighter if your cap has mushroomed up over the years.  (I will flatten mine the next time they are out).

I decided to nip the heads off of some flange head bolts and that worked okay. 

I used a cut off wheel in the nukie grinder in a viCe on the drill press.  That part was fun.

 

 

I did not have trouble with the bolts turning while torquing them down, but ymmv.

 

I have actually done this a couple of times, since I went from original strut spacers, to none, to adding a strut brace, to removing that brace, to putting the spacers back on top of the H&R springs.

 

Tom

[OriginalOwner]

My memory thinks that high strength bolts are necessary for this application ......

---  Something like a metric Grade 10.9 or better ?? 

---  I don't know if Grade 8.8 is good enough ??

 

Cheers,

 

Carl

 

Edited November 10, 2018 by OriginalOwner

[Einspritz]

It is interesting that you are experiencing this; last week I removed the short studs from my "old" mounts, the long studs from the "new" mounts, then pounded the short studs into the new mounts with no looseness whatsoever. In fact I have done this many times.

 

What brand of mounts are you using? BMW? Meyle? No name? Other?

[SydneyTii]

Hi all,

Thanks for the replies,

i have ordered some new short studs,

i neglected to mention I have camber plates as well so the is no chance of accessing the bolt/stud once the mount is fitted.

i will ensure the studs and well seated,

heres the camber plate recess that the bolt span in, when I took it off I noticed it (the bolt) hadn't seated all the way in, so I assume that's what caused it. 

Thanks again for the quick answers.

 

Edited November 11, 2018 by SydneyTii