On the drivers side rear the stock bolt on the very bottom of the strut stripped when I was putting it in. This resulted in the threading on the strut itself to be stripped also. So I drilled the hole large enough for a bolt of the same size to go completely through and I locked it with a nut on the other side. I bought the bolt from Lowes and was wondering if this will be strong enough to hold the strut in place. As far as I know it isn't hardened and is just a regular stainless steel bolt. It is the same size and everything as stock but just a bit longer. I am just making sure if this is as strong as the stock piece. Or should I get something else?

 

Well not ideal, that will work. I had to do the same thing to both of the rear Konis on my old car. The fixed nut on the shock lower was welded ever so slightly off-center so the bolt was not able to thread into it. I ground down the welds, banged off the nuts, and replaced them with a harded nut from the hardware store. This held up fine for 4 our of the 5 years I owned the car. It was daily driven, autoxed, and tracked on a regular basis with no issues.

 

just check if its tight periodicly

 

Your Koni strut looked like this?


It allready happened.. but you should have checked those struts were parallel.
Mine (as you can see) were not parallel either.
So much for Dutch quality....

About your new bolt.
IMO with how you solved the problem.
Are you sure it is stainless?
Does it say A2 or (better) A4 on the bolt?
If it is I would get a normal high strenght steel bolt and nut.
If possible with a smaller pitch (more thread per inch)
The OEM bolt is steel too. (and for a reason)
Stainless steel is not as strong as high strenght steel and it may "give" and loosen over time as it can't handle the constant stress.

 

I agree with Spitfire...you should find an automotive grade bolt as soon as you can. All of Lowes/HomeDepot bolts are fine for swing-sets and fences or non-structural car components, but that bolt is going to see some significant stresses. Unless they happened to have the right grade bolt, the one you have may shear at the wrong time causing a serious problem.

Did the bolt you get have any markings on the head? Look at the chart:

http://www.boltdepot.com/fastener-informat...de-Chart-A.aspx

If Lowes/HomeDepot doesn't have the right grade, then I'm sure Baton Rouge has a fastener shop that will. You are looking for a Grade 8 bolt for english units or a Class 10.9 in metric.

 

Okay I just saw the end of the bolt and it says MS 8.8 so that clearly tells me it's the metric system class 8.8. So I should really consider another bolt at this moment right?

 

Spitfire is the expert...but if it were me, I'd find a 10.9 or Grade 8. I think you'll be fine for the moment and think street driving should be OK until you can get a replacement.

 

I went to Napa and picked up a grade 8 bolt and will install it later. Thanks for your help guys.

 

Expert?
Me?




As far as I know the original bolt is a M10x1.25.
(I dont know what grade, most likely 10.9 or 12.9)
1.25 is the pitch and the standard M10 pitch is 1.50 mm.
The 8.8 marking on your bolt tels me it is steel, not stainless => good
Also 8.8 is one of the lowest, 10.9 or 12.9 grade would be better.
It is your suspension after all, that takes a lot of vibration / stress.
That goes for the nut too, find a grade 10 or 12.
If you cant find a finer pitch maybe use a locking nut.

And I would stay metric because the bushings are also most likely ment for metric bolts.

And torque up the bolts with load on the suspension.
Its very well described in the stickies on top of UTH.

Succes!

 

At Napa they said the strongest they carry is a grade 8 and I also spoke with the owner at Meineke and he said to get a grade 8 so hopefully this will be better. From the chart and at Napa they said the grade 8 is equivalent to metric 10.9 but they didn't have the metric bolt. At hondaautomotiveparts.com it showed the bolt to be 12x85 so Napa got me a bolt that was that size but it is an american bolt so it's grade 8. And it is 1.25 pitch. This should be fine right?