[hot-damn!]

I know that it is probably not the ideal way to replace it - But can you replace the eccentric bolt with the suspension together? Meaning, can I support the control arm with a jack and slide the bolt out and slide a new one in? If so, is there one of the mounts(front/back) that is preferable/easier to accomplish this?

I am rebuilding my suspension and am to the point of re-installing everything and just found out that someone cross-threaded one of the bolts in the past. I've looked for a die to re-cut the threads, but no one local has one that size(this late at night). I would really like to get everything back together so I can get the car out of my parents garage. I know that I could just take everything back apart once I get a new bolt, but I really would like to not have to go through all this again. So my idea/hope is to rebuild everything now with the bad bolt and just replace it in a couple of days when I can get a new bolt. Not ideal, but will it work?

Any ideas?

 

[Zeitgeist]

I wouldn't try it with the spring in place. Remove the spring, and it shouldn't be too bad. Be sure to wire brush the nut-side eccentric, and then carefully use a center punch to create a locating divot on both the eccentric and body. I even use a little dab of paint on the divots to be sure I can see where they reside. You can re-use the removable eccentric to help set the new bolt roughly where it was before. You'll want to have a front end alignment done any time you mess with the eccentrics, but I've had good luck with the aforementioned approach.

 

[knapster]

hot - you should be able to do this - in a pinch of course. You should have replaced all 4 bolts and nuts. The nuts are self locking - meant to be taken off once. Hopefully you can r&r the bolt while the wheel is on the ground - less likely that the control arm moves out of place.

As a side note, last year I had a thunk noise whenever I left from a stop or came to a stop. I was stumped for a long time about where the noise was coming from. Turns out one of the eccentric bolts was loose (recommended torque is 170 nM!). The guy who did the wheel alignment didn't tighten it down or not enough.