Plate holding rear dampers - Stupid bolts

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Paxe

New Member
I need to change my rear dampers, so I removed the old ones and in that process removed the plate holding the dampers to the rear bottom link. When attempting to put it all back together again I find that I can´t tighten the bolts fastening the plate to the rear bottom link. They go in alright but it´s impossible to tighten them, they just keep rotating. Has anyone experienced this and if so, what did you do? I thought of drilling through the rear bottom link and using longer bolts with washers and nuts on the upper side. Any ideas welcome.
 
Your idea sounds OK as long as you have access from above
I assume the threads in the arm have stripped .The alternative is to drill out and retap oversize . I wouldn't think helicoils are practical in such a small size
 
Is this a 2000 or a 2200/V8? As the lower arms are different along with the way the lower s/abs mounting, and IIRC you could only get to be able to put nuts on the bolts with the V8 set-up.

Are you sure it's not the bolts at fault rather than the threads in the holes? Those bolts don't have a "proper" thread on them ISTR.



Edited By harveyp6 on 1209417030
 
It´s a V8. I´m sorry, but I´m swedish so I don´t understand your abbreviations. What does IICR and ISTR stand for?
I tried my local ironmongers, but they didn´t have that size bolts. Said they weren´t metric or inch, but something else. Hm.
 
Paxe said:
It´s a V8. I´m sorry, but I´m swedish so I don´t understand your abbreviations. What does IICR and ISTR stand for?
I tried my local ironmongers, but they didn´t have that size bolts. Said they weren´t metric or inch, but something else. Hm.
Click to expand...
Sorry, IIRC is "If I Remember Correctly"

ISTR is "I Seem To Remember"

It just saves non-typists like me some effort.

According to the parts book the bolts are 5/16" UNF X 3/4" long, but if you remove one I'm sure the threads have several grooves cut along the length of the thread, presumably in an effort to stop them seizing in.

I'll have to try and find a bolt to have a look at.
 
Thanks for the replys. Some of the bolts indeed have grooves in them. Another peculiar thing is that on some of them the threads are completly gone on about five millimeters of the end. It almost looks like they have been machined away. What might be the reason for that?
Thanks for the dimension on the bolts. It will help when I go back to the ironmongers. If I can´t get the bolts to work properly I might just weld the plates in place.
 
Paxe said:
Some of the bolts indeed have grooves in them. Another peculiar thing is that on some of them the threads are completly gone on about five millimeters of the end. It almost looks like they have been machined away. What might be the reason for that?
Click to expand...
The ends of the bolts are as you describe, looking as though they have a non threaded machined end, and that along with the grooves in the thread makes it even stranger to me that in the parts book they are just listed as a standard bolt (set bolt) which they obviously aren't.

Other than preventing them seizing in I can't think of a reason for it either.
 
The very end of the bolt is bare of thread to help it locate in its hole easier! Whats the rest of the thread like? If the threads in the plate have gone bad,its fairly easy to retap them with a coarser thread!
They can be a bit of a swine to line up and get right to screw in and can seem to turn without biting,try losening off the other bolts on the carrier first then putting it on,tightening everything once all the nuts/bolts have located.
 
Harveyp6 & paxe,

IIRC these bolts are what we used to call "virtual self tapping bolts" - the captive nuts in the suspension arm were drilled undersize and on initial assembly the bolts cut their own thread as they were fitted (the bolts being a harder material than the captive "nuts" and the grooves allowed the resulting swarf somewhere to go ).
I dont think the designers thought for one moment that 30 odd years later, they would need to be in good enough condition to reuse again !

I would be tempted to drill out and tap a new thread to match bolts that you can acquire easily be they imperial or metric. Good luck :;):
 
Thanks again for your input. From what you´ve said I think maybe drilling new holes and making new threads seems a sensible solution. I don´t want the dampers to come loose due to bad bolts. I´m still considering welding them inplace, however. Otherwise I´ll have to remove both bottom links, and I can´t say I´m looking forward to that. Have to think about it for a while.
 
You'd need a powerful welder to weld the plate in place and you'd probably cook the rubber bushes .Also in future you'd have problems changing the shocks etc
 
Hello Everyone,

This is my first post with the P6 Rover Owners Club!

I had the same problem with one of the bolts used to retain the shock absorber mounting plate. I cleaned out all the threads with a 5/16" tap, and then fitted new high tensile 5/16' X 1" bolts along with new spring washers. Worked perfectly. :D

Ron.
 
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