Tough break,

I had that bolt out not long ago while replacing the sway bar bushings.

I would think you would have to remove the broken part of the bolt. There's no clearance to drill it for an extractor from above, so that leaves attacking it from below.

Can you see the tail of the bolt in order to position the drill bit? Soak it for several days with PB Blaster or similar. Then just possibly the torque and vibration of drilling it will spin it out.

Dave

 

I replaced the bushings a while ago and was concerned that a bolt would break due to rust. The bolts came out fine.
Without looking at the car right now - I think what you are suggesting would work. Drill a hole in the frame to get access to the end of the rusty bolt. Drill accurately. It may be easiest to use a bolt and a nut rather than re-tap.

 

FWIW, given this experience, I would never recommend replacing these bushings unless you absolutely have no other recourse on an older Honda. Dealer will only drop subframe etc.

Thanks for the comments. I can see the top however it is sheared flat. There is no access from the bottom to see the nut side. Btw, its a 10x20x1.25. I was surprised it had fine threads. The tip of the threaded side of the OEM bolt is slightly concave. I think if I can get access from the bottom, I may be able to drill it and use an extractor to screw it down from the bottom into the chassis.

After cleaning the area, I used a pointed magic marker and a 20cm/8" metal ruler to transfer horizontal lines from the bolt holes on the top of the frame, down the sides of the frame and then to the bottom of the frame. I then took the bushing clamp and used it as a template on the bottom of the frame to double check. I figure if I could independently transfer the location of BOTH bolt holes to the bottom of the frame then the bracket should fit. I also used a 12" Screw Type Bar clamp. I figured if I could hold the top of the clamp flat and gently close the screw end then I would transfer another reference point. I believe I got a good location however I have to go to a garage to get it drilled. I have a right angle drill however I cannot get enough leverage under jack stands to drill it. I've found local garage which will drill it out and tap it for an hour of labor. Looks attractive however I also got a reference to a local welding shop. If he can get access to the bolt location I think I might prefer this solution. The access hole location on the bottom of the chassis is awfully close the sub-frame mounting point to add a 10-12mm hole. Given age of van, I will never be replacing this bushing again.

Short term Hack: I wrapped the bushing and frame with a 600lb Ratchet Tied Down Strap. I put the ratchet on the bottom of the frame and looped the stabilizer bar bushing and stabilizer 6-7 times. Basically until I couldn't make a full wrap again the then cranked the ratchet as tightly as I could. I am stunned at how well this has worked. Car is flat most of the time so there seems not much stress on it and its not knocking!

 

I was surprised it had fine threads.

A fine thread bolt is stronger than one with coarse threads. Its threads have more surface area to grip the opposite threads so it's more resistant to stripping or loosening.

Dave

 

Whenever I change the oil on any of my older cars, I spray fluid film rust preventive oil on all the suspension bolts. It's worth it to save headaches down the road.

 

Man, I just replaced my bushings...and glad I put a little anti-seize on each of these bolts.

Not much worry down where I live. Hot and dry...

OF

 

I've had good luck getting broken bolts out by welding a nut to whatever is left. Basically sit the nut on the broken bolt, point my wire feed at the broken bolt and fill the nut hole with weld. Between the heat and being able to put a wrench on the nut they seem to come out easily.

 

Yeah I've done the welding bit as well, but I usually don't have very good luck with that, my welder was bought for sheet metal so I never get enough penetration into the bolt or the nut for any real leverage. I've had these issues on Mazda cars, bolts snapping inside the subframe and even welded nuts shearing from the parent metal due to rust. We just cut a hole, deal with it, and either weld back the cut or in the case of bolts inside sheet metal boxed in, we might use a body plug to avoid welding heat compromising the undetcoating any further.

 

Final Resolution

Final Update.

Earlier in the thread, I thought I was going to resolve by getting the sway bushing bracket welded to the frame. This was a non-starter. Very challenging to find someone to get into the tight space with a lift etc.. so I decided to go for it on my own and try to drill it out. I decide to drill and tap figuring my fallback was a through bolt. I'm pleased with the result. This took me a couple of hours in a dimly lit garage and a trouble light.

This is not an application for an EZ-Out or similar technology. If you snap the EZ-Out after drilling a pilot you will be in a world of hurt. You cannot drill them out. Just DON’T do it.

My final process follows. I hope this provides insight to the next who is trying to keep an old Suburban Assault Vehicle on the road:

1. drove up car up ramps and then lifted car from there onto 17" high jack stands placed under front door jack points on both side of the van. Removed both front wheels. Overall just easier to manipulate the sway bar if van is balanced side/side.
2. used a set of Milwaukee Solid Cobalt drill bit from the big orange box store for $30
3. used 11/32 Solid Cobalt bit and Irwin tap/die for 10mmx1.25 - $20
4. Bought two OEM sway bar bracket bolts from the local Honda dealer - $3
5. used procedure from earlier in the thread to locate hole. This is huge. Measure, measure and measure again. I will try to post a pic of where I located my hole.
6. Best if you have a full face safety shield for the next part. If not you NEED SAFETY glasses, a knit hat and old t-shirt. Put the hat on and take an old t-shirt and wrap and tie the arms around the back of your head so the shirt hangs down in front of you like a bib. Use it to cover your mouth and nose. Get it as close to the bottom of your safety glasses as you can. Pull the knit hat down so it touches the top of the glasses. You will shortly be UNDER the drill filings.
7. Slide under the car from the side and position yourself with the drill on your chest/neck. Took a deep breath and drilled a 1/4" pilot hole. Best if you have the spare handle to the drill, use it here to apply even pressure straight up. There is a slight slope in the frame. Drill perpendicular to the ground and not perpendicular to the frame.
8. Initially I used a small penlight flashlight with the lights out in the garage. I position the penlight at all the close by holes in the sub-frame and found I could get enough light to small hole adjacent to the subf-rame mount bushing to see the sway bar bushing nut through the pilot hole I drilled. I then placed a small high intensity desk lamp on the floor facing up. I was able to position it so the light shined directly on the bolt. I was managing my own mini eclipse. This may all sound silly. However it made it so much easier to actually drill out the bolts later.
9. The time spent measuring and calculating was well spent. I was directly under the bolt. I then drilled out the pilot with a 1/2" Solid Cobalt bit. Always pushing straight up with both hands on either side of the drill. Can I just say, WOW! These bits are absolutely the best.
10. Now with a reasonably good view of the bolt, I started with a 1/8", then 3/16" 1/4" and 11/32" bits. Although not necessary with these bits, I did use a small punch in the center of the bolt. With the 1/2" access hole I could see just past it to center it. It made it easier to the center the drill to the bright spot of the punch mark. After each pass drilling up, I checked the through hole at the top. Side to side I was dead center. I had a slight bias/drift in the top of the bolt toward the front of the car. With each pass I tried to very gently bias the start and pressure on the drill to correct or at least not drift more.
11. I then tapped the hole using some old transmission oil for cutting oil. This took a ton of patience. Don't rush this part. If you don't have a T-handle for your tap then go get one. The tap is long enough to start the hole however you will run out of room without a T-handle to finish. Since we are threading the hole from the bottom, you have to tap all as far as your handle will allow you and well through the other side of the hole. I also used the tap to chase out the threads of the other mounting bolt. My new hole was tighter so I ran the tap up and down several more times.
12. Next I test fitted both holes using the new OEM bracket bolts. I found I had try several times to get the right attack with the bolt to catch the NEW threads. In my case it was best if I inserted the bolt from under the car up through to the top of the frame. I then test fit the bracket WITHOUT the bushing. I had to elongate the holes in the bracket using a chainsaw file about a 1/8” so the bolt could seat correctly. I made the holes slightly oval rather than round. Unless you drill perfectly center, you will have to alter the bracket to accommodate the actual center of the newly drilled hole. Once the bushing is under the bracket, you will not be able to materially move the bracket. You will have to alter the bracket to match the new center of the bolt.
13. Once the test fits and bracket altering were complete, I cleaned the sway bar and sprayed it and the new bushing with silicon spray. Installed the split bushing with the split facing the rear. Applied the bracket and installed the rear drilled bolt hole first and then the front bolt.
14. I ratcheted the bolts to the bracket. Next, I used my ¼” torque wrench set on 15ft-lbs. and compressed the bushing approximately 1/8”. It feels like you are stripping the bolts as you are compressing the bushing. You need to get the bracket to compress the bushing so the bracket is flush to the frame and then have your torque wrench click.
15. Celebrate!

 

Holy crow, man - that's an Olympic effort of patience and grunt. :bow:

Hope you get many more years of service from old faithful.

Dave

 

Dave, THANKS! for the kind words.. My goal is 300K!

 

A picture or you would be great. Good job!

 

Pics and Measurements

In the pic above, I am shining light through the small hole next to the subframe. The bright spot in the center of the new dark 1/2" whole in the center of the picture is the new bolt reflecting the light.

Moved the light out of the way. Use this for reference as I marked up the next pic with some measurements.

I would have loved to find the following instructions somewhere in Odyclub ;>)

1. This is the left/driver side of the car; left in the pictures is the front of the car.
2. Starting with the subframe raised edge (i.e. vertical blue line in left center of pictures) , measure along the frame fold line, (i.e. red line marked B) for 1-1/4" perpendicular to the blue line. Mark it.
3. Using a small carpenters square, set the square on the subframe edge (i.e. red line marked A) and intersect with endpoint of line B. The pilot hole for accessing the sway bar bolt should be drilled 2-7/8" on the this line.
4. For reference, note the curved blue line. If you are set up correctly then your red line C will extend into the blue line.

Let me know if missed anything..
regards,
-Pete

 

Very good. Those pictures may be good enough to know where to drill the next time. Curious, will you put a plug or something in the hole?

 

No, I had not planned to putt a plug in. I thought I might plug it with a short 1/2" bolt however there are other holes on the subframe member for drainage and access to other similarly configured bolts. Plugging it seemed fruitless after 246K miles. This is the least of my concerns at this point I thought I might give it a shot of black paint just to cover the bare metal from the drilling.
-Pete

 

Good point, was just wondering.

 

I'd like to thank pcconway for such detailed steps and numerous pics, they are super helpful. I followed the exact same procedures to repair my 2008 Ody.

I'd like to share my little struggle and hopefully someone will find it helpful.

After drilling through the snapped bolt, I was having trouble tapping, still unsure why, it could most likely be me being impatient ruining the initial threads, it just wouldn't advance. A 5/16" hex bolt (4" long), a nut and a pair of washers were used instead. It's not ideal but it works just fine and it will save you some money if you don't already own the right sized tap.

Also, the following contraption was used to align the hole to drill. I also used painter's tape to mark the hole. It's not pretty but I was able to drill right underneath the snapped bolt. The thickness of the subframe is about 3". (Note mine's a 2008 Ody)

Thanks again to pcconway, you are awesome!!!