camber bolt fell out/sheared

[korebit]

I drove at a moderate pace around a corner yesterday, heard a pop and smelled tire.  Drove for about half a mile back home and saw exactly what happened:

There's your problem

mysteriously missing camber bolt!  I had the car aligned at a shop about a month ago so I'm thinking they either under torqued it and it worked itself out or they over torqued it and it sheared, either way the tire is rubbing the strut so it's not drivable.  I think I'll just pick up a new bolt and throw it in, I assume the car will need another alignment?

 

[05RSKID]

I would make them pay for it and new alignment for free 

 

[Meyagi]

id say they didnt tighten it properly. that bolt is 14mm thick, ive never broken one off

 

[korebit]

I would make them pay for it and new alignment for free 

I'll be calling them today, that's what I'll be asking for.

On a side note if anyone has camber bolts that fit laying around shoot me a text or pm 207-653-3757

 

[Nigel Prodrive]

there's a bad temptation when fastening those strut bolts..."it's never tight enough" so ppl just tend to max out torque on the air gun, "THERE, that outgha hold it!"

what brand of camber bolt was it?

 

[korebit]

there's a bad temptation when fastening those strut bolts..."it's never tight enough" so ppl just tend to max out torque on the air gun, "THERE, that outgha hold it!"

what brand of camber bolt was it?

Stock.

 

[Nigel Prodrive]

Stock.

yeesh. If they overdid a stock camber bolt, it was waaaay too tight. some aftermarket ones a lil cheezy, but not the stockers.

 

[Trainable]

yeesh. If they overdid a stock camber bolt, it was waaaay too tight. some aftermarket ones a lil cheezy, but not the stockers.

IIRC their spec is 112 ft/lbs or something like that. Add me to the list that thinks they under rather than over tightened it.

I'd be shocked if you can't nab one from the dealer. I should have some if they need to be ordered.

 

[Meyagi]

ive got a ton of those, im in standish idk where you are though?

 

[korebit]

update: I got the bolt, threw it in and getting aligned tomorrow.  There's no way this friggin thing sheared they definitely just under tightened it

 

[korebit]

some strut/tire gore from earlier:

 

[Nigel Prodrive]

torque spec on front camber bolts: 129 ft lbs = freakin' tight! it's basically as tight as you can realistically go with a typical breaker bar without breakin the bar.

 

[Meyagi]

they owe you tires

 

[Nigel Prodrive]

...and probably a front brake line as well

 

[korebit]

they owe you tires

I guess the wear didn't seem terminal to me; is it bad enough to ask for new tires?

...and probably a front brake line as well

the brake line seemed fine when I installed the bolt.  Could there have been rubbing on the line, or are you seeing something that I'm not?

Also, should I be painting the bare metal spot on the strut?

 

[Jamey]

They would be buying me a new strut and tire.. But yah I'd spay something to cover it

 

[Nigel Prodrive]

I guess the wear didn't seem terminal to me; is it bad enough to ask for new tires?

the brake line seemed fine when I installed the bolt.  Could there have been rubbing on the line, or are you seeing something that I'm not?

Also, should I be painting the bare metal spot on the strut?

...I was looking at the damage pic again, this time on a better screen (and not on my phone), what I thought was wear on brake ine was actually a light reflection on the ABS sensor wire. Doh! (resolves to open eyes better next time before opening mouth)

 

[korebit]

Update on this.  I got the bolt in and dialed the camber as close as I could, then took it back to the shop.  They realigned the car for free (pic related).  Not too happy with the alignment, I had 0 cross camber (maxed) and 0 toe before, kind of got the vibe they were trying to get me out of there as fast as possible.  I don't think they even touched the bolt which I roughed in, even though I asked them to re-max the camber.