LeonK

All,

I just had front stabilzer bar bushings replaced on 96 4runner and
after couple weeks one of the bolts snapped.
The mechanic used some bolts he grabbed from a bucket :-) to put them on.
The old one he had to cut off obviously.

What could be the reason? Bad bolt? overtightened?

I called Toyota and asked if I can order right bolts for this thing - they
say they haven't been ordered in a LONG time and they'll have to "source"
them from US or Japan (I am in Canada).

Similar confusion happened when I got new muffler - they didn't provide the
bolts and mechnaic had to cut off special nuts that were welded to the
muffler's flanges, cause he couldn't find bolts that'd fit.

Leon

mt_goat

Ace hardware has a good selection of metric bolts, unless it has some weird shank or something. If not, make the dealer order you one.

eric-the-red

If you're talking about the bolts that attach the sway bar to the frame those are just regular metric bolts, which in Canada you can get almost anywhere, Canadian Tire, Home Depot etc. If you've still got the broken one take it in and match it to a new one. Your maehanic probably used an old bolt or overtightened it.

Lone4runner

Yeah when I was removing one of my mounts one of the bolts snapped off and I needed to replace them so I just went to home depot. The bolts really suck after a certain amount of years worth of rust

instigator

if youre gonna be out looking for bolts you might as well look for the 10.9 grade bolts, phosphate and oil coated they are with out a doubt the stongest grade metric bolt availible. get the size and pitch of the bolt first then go from there. if you have a caterpillar dealer in your area they have some real strong metric bolts but i think they only have them in the course and fine thread of their chosen pitch. good luck

97Limited

Hey LeonK;

Where in Canada are you from??? Broken bolts happen all the time on 4x4's!!
Just have to drill it out or use a Hardware Extractor tool!! But as for finding a good place to find Grade 8 metric hardware, I haven't found a good place that has a good selection!!

Good Luck

Greg Gilreath

I have snapped 2 of the bracket bolts that attach the bracket and bushing on the driver side sway bar. I drilled the bolts out but they didn't extract -- I purchased a tap and attempted to re-thread the holes but it actually flattened the cutters on the tap....is there a particular tap that is required to tap holes in a frame. The holes are there from the factory and all I did was drill the broken bolts out and was left with 2 smooth holes. I thought the tap would do the trick but as I said - it did not cut any threads at all. It flattened the cutter splines on the tap. Not sure what to do here. I just put a new LUK® HD clutch kit in the 1987 Toyota 4X4 but don't want to drive it with the driver side sway bar hanging. Feedback and suggestions appreciated....Thanks in advance

ChevYota-UK

You get what you pay for when it comes to Tools, if the taps were cheap they will be probably made from a cheap soft steel and wont be up to the job. A good quality tap will not lose its cutting edge when in use correctly.

I bought this set, its not top of the range but as yet I havent broken any of them either

http://www.tooled-up.com/Product.asp?PID=133132