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Old 08-05-2020, 02:02 PM   #6
PH03N1X
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Join Date: Jun 2020
Drives: 2013 Scion FR-S
Location: Birmingham, AL
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I ran into a few issues with the coilover install. The first being that I did not tighten the front sway bar endlinks while holding the stud with an allen key. I instead just used an impact gun to put them on to the guden tight spec, and didn't check the torque thinking that the endlink knuckle would just spin. It caused a bit of a clunk when weight shifts would occur (during sharp corners or going over bumps). After a bit of driving and checking all connections, this was resolved. Chalk it up to the "hold my beer, I got this" mentality that I take when working on cars.

The more painful issue occurred while attempting to torque the bolt that connects the rear LCA to the wheel hub knuckle. The bolt stretched on me and the nut refused to come off. I was torquing on it for so long without the wrench telling me I was there, which lead to heat build up and eventual stretch of the bolt. It took about an hour of fighting the bolt with all sorts of tools and another hour soaking in a solvent concoction before I was able to free the nut from the stretched bolt. I then ordered another from the Toyota dealership nearby, which to much of my chagrin took 3 days to arrive. And, guess what...It snapped in two on me while torquing the bolt. I even broke down the torque values in stages of 10 ft.lbs, starting at 30, so as to not stretch the bolt. Murphy's Law had bit me twice.



After many curse words and tools were thrown, along with a few calls to Toyota and Subaru dealerships in the area, I went to a local hardware store and found a bolt with the same thread pitch and space between the threads and head. Thank goodness this isn't an eccentric bolt with a cam or anything specialized like that, just a plain ol' bolt. I also chose to go with the highest hardness rating that I could find. This is a weight bearing suspension piece after all. Luckily, my newest nut from Toyota was not stripped inside. It was a perfect fit, and torqued to spec without STRETCHING THE FREAKING BOLT! "Thanks Toyota or Subaru...whomever makes these trash components!"

Last edited by PH03N1X; 08-05-2020 at 02:45 PM.
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