Rear lower shock bolt hole eating bolts.

[mckennar]

Previous owner liked to cross thread everything, so it's no surprise that when I popped the rear shocks off to do the lift a few months back, both lower shock bolts were cross threaded.

I cleaned out the passenger side threads and used a new bolt, that went fine.

The driver's side... didn't, but I was still able to get a bolt to catch torque it to spec.

Fast forward today. I disconnected the driver rear shock to replace it (Bilstein 5100 leaking already), and when the bolt came out, the threads were mangled.

I popped a new bolt in there and as I was torquing it, I felt that sickening decrease in resistance and then it began to spin freely. I backed it out and tried cleaning the threads inside the bolt hole, but now I can't even get a new bolt to catch on the threads. They all want to cross thread immediately.

These things aren't replaceable, right? Am I stuck drilling, tapping, and going with a larger diameter bolt? Anyone have the thread pitch handy? (none of my taps / chasers fit)

 

[JZiggy]

My best guess is that would be a M12-1.25

The factory lower shock bolt is short. Maybe you can tap the threads a little deeper and use a slightly longer bolt. Who knows, the threads might already go a good deal deeper than the original bolt needs.

 

[mckennar]

My best guess is that would be a M12-1.25

The factory lower shock bolt is short. Maybe you can tap the threads a little deeper and use a slightly longer bolt. Who knows, the threads might already go a good deal deeper than the original bolt needs.

There are appear to be 4 or 5 rows of threads within the hole that are untouched. I tried removing the lock washer between the bolt head and larger washer/cap thing to see if maybe I could access those but by the time the bolt made it down to them, it was already too mangled to catch.
I have a spare axle housing here but that's kind of the nuclear option at this point.

 

[St Runner]

Looks like you should be able to cut out the insert and drill it out all the way to put a long 5 inch nut and bolt if you cannot get it to tap to the next larger size

 

[JZiggy]

There are appear to be 4 or 5 rows of threads within the hole that are untouched. I tried removing the lock washer between the bolt head and larger washer/cap thing to see if maybe I could access those but by the time the bolt made it down to them, it was already too mangled to catch.
I have a spare axle housing here but that's kind of the nuclear option at this point.

If you can get a minimum of 4 threads of contact you'll be in good shape and the joint should hold the correct torque.

 

[JordanLee]

My best guess is that would be a M12-1.25

The factory lower shock bolt is short. Maybe you can tap the threads a little deeper and use a slightly longer bolt. Who knows, the threads might already go a good deal deeper than the original bolt needs.

Man, guess I'm not the only one who had this issue when doing the rear suspension on my truck. I had to jack up the diff at just the right spot to make sure I could get that bolt in straight but was super surprised to find that the bolt was no more than an inch and a half long. Pretty bizarre that Toyota decided to go with such a short bolt to begin with

 

[silverturbo]

Previous owner liked to cross thread everything, so it's no surprise that when I popped the rear shocks off to do the lift a few months back, both lower shock bolts were cross threaded.

I cleaned out the passenger side threads and used a new bolt, that went fine.

The driver's side... didn't, but I was still able to get a bolt to catch torque it to spec.

Fast forward today. I disconnected the driver rear shock to replace it (Bilstein 5100 leaking already), and when the bolt came out, the threads were mangled.

I popped a new bolt in there and as I was torquing it, I felt that sickening decrease in resistance and then it began to spin freely. I backed it out and tried cleaning the threads inside the bolt hole, but now I can't even get a new bolt to catch on the threads. They all want to cross thread immediately.

These things aren't replaceable, right? Am I stuck drilling, tapping, and going with a larger diameter bolt? Anyone have the thread pitch handy? (none of my taps / chasers fit)

I'm experiencing the same exact thing. My rear driver side is stripped. How did you rectify this? Rethread it or drill through?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Tapatalk

 

[2ndhandyotaman]

Heli-coil would be the "proper" repair since it's an internal thread. There might not be sufficient wall thickness to drill oversize and tap to the next larger size. In a pinch you could probably find a bolt with the right size shoulder that you could cut off the hex head, tap in the shoulder and weld it together, then use a nut/washer to hold the shock on.

 

[mckennar]

I'm experiencing the same exact thing. My rear driver side is stripped. How did you rectify this? Rethread it or drill through?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Tapatalk

I replaced the entire axle with the one from my parts truck. Prior to that I'd tried tapping it with a stock sized/pitched tap and that didn't work. I couldn't get enough bite and it kept shredding factory bolts. I was able to get 40 ft lbs out of one that I'd coated in locktite, so I used that until I replaced the entire thing. Best of luck to you!

 

[firemanj92]

My best guess is that would be a M12-1.25

The factory lower shock bolt is short. Maybe you can tap the threads a little deeper and use a slightly longer bolt. Who knows, the threads might already go a good deal deeper than the original bolt needs.

ear lower shock "bolt w/ washer" 91619-G1222 torque spec. 47lbs (not 74lbs) cost was arount $2

m12, 20mm length,1.0 thread pitch (if you find one at store).

OEM is not grade 8+, I've stripped one at 74lbs. and now keep an extra on hand.