As last weekend i was trying to install swaybar bushings. The rear were bolts that went off nice, the fronts were nuts and well one snapped off.

These are the 4 bolt/nuts that hold the sway bar bushings in. It looks like the stud snapped nice off, but i guess they are welded to the subframe. How the heck does one even replace that? Welding a new one would make it too long. Drilling it out might make sense but how would i tap it nicely?

This rusty car is really working me.

 

Oof, I feel your pain. I replaced both sway bars and bushings this past summer. The stud you're talking about on the front I stripped to **** when taking the nut off... just time and rust got in the way. Luckily I was able to use a die and fix the threads.

I wish I had more useful advice, or any advice at all. Best of luck.

 

Here's an idea but you'll need to go to a place like Grainger's or really any big fastener supply. What you're looking for are rivet nuts. You'll have to grind the broken stud off smooth, drill it out and then install the correct size threaded insert. The tool you generally put these in with looks like an oversize set of hedge clippers instead of your normal rivet gun. If you don't have or want to buy the tool(or don't have a lift) you can seat them using a hardened grade bolt and nut screwing it down the same way a brake caliper tool works but you have to seat them hard. They're "blind" so you don't have to go into the back side of your subframe. If you don't get the tool it's a cheap, clean fix. Hope this helps.

 

Threaded insert will never have the strength needed to work for a sway bar.

I'm guessing you're working on an AWD model G35 since the RWD ones don't have that stud. You need to replace that whole stud piece it bolts to the transverse link. This should be the correct part.

https://www.infinitipartsnet.com/oem...BoC7EQQAvD_BwE

 

If there's a bracket you can replace that would obviously be the way to go but if your stuck with having to go into an enclosed space the type insert I'm referring to isn't as simple as slipping an insert in that's threaded(I think I know what you're thinking of) nor is it like a heli-coil. They have a knurled body where they go through the metal and can be sized to have a rear flange that extends an 1/8 inch or so all the way around the back side to prevent them pulling back through the aluminum cradle. The inserts are made of steel and the key to them working is the correct hole size, figuring the thickness of the cradle correctly so you get the correct reach, and compressing/seating them properly. You mostly see the aluminum bodied ones being used(which won't work) but they are made in regular steel and stainless also and you have to have the right tool, I just prefer the bolt/nut method as you can get it tighter.

 

I'm very familliar with thread-serts. We use them at work frequently. I just think there's far too much tension on a sway bar for it to work even under normal driving, first time you hit a steep parking lot speedbump or entrance at an angle you're putting almost 1500 lbs on the thread if you roll over it at granny speed. If you were really in a pinch you could cut off the existing one and drill/tap the housing to accept a piece of grade 8 allthread maybe??

The OEM replacement piece is a 15 minute job to fix and only costs $60 so I would definitely recommend that route.

Here's what the component looks like, it's very different than the RWD setup.

 

Actually, its not this part. Thats for the endlink. The part i'm talking about is on the subframe itself. Bottom left corner of the image. As you can see the #54614 is the sway bar bushing bracket. The front is a nut (08918-3401A) and the rear is a bolt (54060AA). There is a stub on the subframe that the nut threads on to, that is the broken part. I believe the stud on both AWD and RWD subframes.

I'm thinking of drilling it out but i dont know how much material is there if i can tap new threads for a small m6 bolt.

Also wondering how bad would it be to run without a front sway bar on the highway.

 

I understand what you're saying as regards that specific part. What I thought he was referring to was the u-brackets that hold the bushing and bar up against the cradle. The inserts I'm referring to can be sourced up to a 3/4" thread(don't need that big for this) and cannot be set properly with a normal nut-insert tool. We snapped the handle of one trying it but it can be done with the right tool and a lift or, if no lift, hand tools, a 10.9 bolt and equivalent nut/washer, and a cheater bar. Honestly, I've never used one for this exact application but the alternative is either slotting the cradle & going inside to plate it then heli-arcing it back shut or replacing the cradle. I owned a collision repair shop for 25 years and we worked on a lot of older vehicles where you wanted to stay original and not cut things up. I'm not concerned so much about the threads as I would be about the aluminum alloy cradle being insufficiently hard to keep the whole thing from pulling through but it seems it would be worth a try. The key for me anyway has always been to seat it correctly to keep it from spinning in the hole. I just didn't figure with a nut and bolt that small there would be that much torque load.

 

I'm not familiar with that AWD front engine crossmember where those sway bar caps bolt down. The RWD coupe caps are quite a bit different and use 3 bolts and 1 nut per cap.

You're probably going to end up just drilling a pilot hole just to see how deep the metal really is. Worst case scenario you have to drill through the entire thing and use a piece of grade 8 metric allthread and nut both the top and bottom.

Worst, worst, worst case you WELD the cap on... just keep in mind you'll be using a grinder in the future to get it back off.