What the F&%^*&#$ (Stripped suspension bolt lol)

[jpar196]

So I was on my last corner installing lowered springs this afternoon, on the 2nd to last 19mm nut and bolt of the rear suspension, while tightening to 145 foot pounds as per the manual, it decides to strip( not the bolt head or the nut, pretty sure its stripped in the middle of the bolt where the nut is) and keeps turning and turning but wont tighten nor loosen so Im a bit stuck here lol

Anyone had a similar issue before? only option I can think of is carefully angle grind off the nut or bolt head, or drill through the bloody bolt until all the material is gone.

Are subaru bolts normally this crap? or may be my torque wrench is out, but surely I thought this shouldnt happen, given I had to put in some serious force with the 600mm breaker bar to break it loose ? ?

any help would be greatly appreciated,, *sigh* lol

[MercuryFree]

You'll need to use the grinder, those bolts and nuts are effing tough, you won't be able to drill through it without serious firepower.

I'm quite suprised you managed to round it, as I said they're very strong. It's not a camber bolt or something is it?

[jpar196]

nope the rear bolt and nut. the nut or the bolt is not rounded. I can turn them fine. It must be stripped within the bolt and it will not loosen nor tighten, even if I turn it a million times if that makes sense.

[Scoobydoo]

Definitely a grinder job, maybe even a gas-axe, if it's in a driveable state, by a mechanic?

[jpar196]

yeah will probably just carefully grind it off from the nut end. hopefully once I remove the remaining thread and start grinding in to the stripped part it will hammer out.

[soopersubaru]

Use a cold chisel to split the nut off...Blade centred on hex flat in line with bolt axis....Decent heavy hammer.takes about ten to twelve decent accurate hits. nut is softer than the bolt. may even be able to reuse bolt if you don't damage the thread. ALWAYS use anti seize to assemble and avoid stripping threads in future!!

[Pappu1]

That's bad luck

I have done a fair few suspension and no such issue

Best of luck bro