has this happened to you?

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  • structured
    E30 Modder
    • Sep 2008
    • 954

    #1

    has this happened to you?

    I was replacing my rear shock mounts today when the bolt that attaches the shock to the control arm broke off. Part of the bolt is stuck in the control arm. Has this happened to any of you? How did you get it out? I am not looking foreward to replacing the control arm.
  • moatilliatta
    R3V OG
    • Feb 2005
    • 6121

    #2
    It just happen to my buddy last week. ended up replacing the the whole trailing arm. goodluck drilling it out.

    I was up above it, Now I'm down in it ~ Entropy - A Build thread.
    @Zakspeed_US

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    • e30frosh
      R3VLimited
      • Dec 2004
      • 2170

      #3
      Originally posted by moatilliatta
      It just happen to my buddy last week. ended up replacing the the whole trailing arm. goodluck drilling it out.
      Ditto, it a bitch drilling those bolts. However, they are cheap to replace.

      EDIT: The bolts being cheap. Not the trailing arms.

      Every day I wake up we drink a lot of coffee and watch the CNN
      Every day I wake up to a bowl of clover honey and let the locusts fly in.
      Lobsterbacks attack the town again
      Wrap all my things in aluminum
      Beams of darkness streak across the sky
      Pink rays from the ancient satellite
      Every time I look out my window same three dogs looking back at me.
      Every time I open my windows cranes fly in to terrorize me.

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      • structured
        E30 Modder
        • Sep 2008
        • 954

        #4
        How much should a used arm cost btw?

        Comment

        • moatilliatta
          R3V OG
          • Feb 2005
          • 6121

          #5
          Bavarian Auto Recycling Inc wants 275. Im sure if you find a junk yard you can pick up on for dirt cheap. What side are looking for, i might maybe able to get one but shipping will be expensive...

          EDIT: if you can find a drill harder than the bolt and can drill it out with out damaging the threads to much you should at least give it a shot.
          Last edited by moatilliatta; 01-25-2009, 06:19 PM.

          I was up above it, Now I'm down in it ~ Entropy - A Build thread.
          @Zakspeed_US

          Comment

          • kohnmeister
            Noobie
            • Mar 2008
            • 16

            #6
            I learned this trick a few years ago and it has saved my ass a number of times. It requires a welder though.

            On the broken end of the bolt, build some weld up gradually (mig or tig)until it is high enough out of the workpiece to form a cone shape. Weld only on the broken bolt and don't touch the sides! Put a nut over the cone shaped weld and weld the inside of the nut to the cone shape. You have now made a bolt. Let it cool for about 3-5 minutes and then loosen it with a wrench.

            My description is probably lousy but you are simply welding some height to the end of the broken bolt and then welding a nut on to that so that you can get a wrench on it.

            Of course in this application any rubber or urethane pieces might not survive the ordeal, but it may be cheaper than a control arm.

            Comment

            • structured
              E30 Modder
              • Sep 2008
              • 954

              #7
              i tried tapping it and extracting it but i just kept braking bits. i'd weld it, but with the effort of removing the arm and taking it to the shop, i'd rather just put a new one in. i need the left rear if somebody has one.

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