strut bar help!
 

swapped my cusco strut bar and power brace to the aem 1-piece. looks like i stripped both the screw and metal piece it screws on to. is there a fix to this? will i be ok running without it? pls advise...

http://i57.tinypic.com/5x1tms.jpg

How tight? That only has to be 12ft/lbs...

Helix oil be best way or re thread slightly larger and new accommodating bolt.

in the pic the hole of the bar itself is in the way of the screw from screwing in straight. i kept turning the screw thinking it would straighten out but did not happen. anyways, its the only screw that isn't lined up to the bar.

tell me about helix oil. i can screw about 2 threads but then it stops and becomes loose so i stopped. now even though it bothers me will it mess up anything if i run it without a screw? i don't want to have to pay to get it fixed.

I think he meant heli coil. U have to retap it and put new threads in

Yes sorry damned iPhone. Heli coil is correct that is what I meant. :)

And to OP ya there's a lot of meat on that bracket section. I'd dremel that bracket hole out a tad more to give lots of way for next bolt to go in perfectly straight, late now but that likely would have prevented this for sure. :)

If you don't want hassle of Heli coil etc you could goto a bolt shop get very next size bolt up metric or imperial "least" size +, and a tap die for that size and give it a whirl, just a thought.

Have you tried taking the bar off and threading a clean bolt into that hole? To me it looks like the problem is the bar stripped the bolt, but the threaded hole looks ok?

If you didn't do it this way, here's what I'd recommend anytime you need to assemble something:
Hand thread in every bolt first, but don't snug them, let the whole assembly float.
If a bolt doesn't want to cooperate, DON'T force it! Check fitments again and maybe loosen some bolts if they will allow a little more play. Never tighten bolts down before they're all threaded in.

If it started to cross thread, did the bolt actually thread into the hole much at all? Or did it start to thread, get tight, and then gall out the first couple threads? You might be able to chase the threads with a thread cutter or thread chaser.