[Talx]

While working on the suspension in the rear one of the 3 bolts holding the damper on top got damaged (for the life of me I don’t know how)
when I started installing I drove the bolt in by hand felt like it was ok maybe a bit hard going in so I removed it for inspection, one of the threads on the bolt was a bit damaged and must have striped the thread in the chassis, now when I install I can’t seem to torque it up (I stopped when it felt like it wasn’t getting any tighter)

Any idea how I can fix it?

Will halicoil work on this? I have only used a halicoil on aluminum

I couldn’t find access to the thread from on top to see if it has enough meeat around it to be able to drill it out and use a Halicoil.

Any idea how to fix this?

[HP Autosport]

Take a look at Time Sert as well. Most forces are in bump anyway.

[Talx]

Thanks I’ve looked at it as well ( I’m just not sure there is enough meat) I’m actually starting to think of installing studs since I’m always finding my self dismantling these screws when I’m playing around with the suspension

I must have disassembled the rear damper screws 10-15 times already considering I track the car a lot and I’m always improving and tuning the setup

[inTgr8r]

Just drill & tap to a larger size.

[Ata_T1T]

Just do a tap first and that might fix it

[F87source]

Originally Posted by Talx

While working on the suspension in the rear one of the 3 bolts holding the damper on top got damaged (for the life of me I don’t know how)
when I started installing I drove the bolt in by hand felt like it was ok maybe a bit hard going in so I removed it for inspection, one of the threads on the bolt was a bit damaged and must have striped the thread in the chassis, now when I install I can’t seem to torque it up (I stopped when it felt like it wasn’t getting any tighter)

Any idea how I can fix it?

Will halicoil work on this? I have only used a halicoil on aluminum

I couldn’t find access to the thread from on top to see if it has enough meeat around it to be able to drill it out and use a Halicoil.

Any idea how to fix this?

Helicoils should work, they take less material out of the hole compared to a timesert or tapping to a larger thread, so the chance of success (not having the side walls crumble) should be higher. BMW also specifies to use helicoils to repair sub frame threads in ISTA, so it's safe to say helicoils are a good solution. Use a stainless steel helicoils vs. an aluminium one so it is stronger, and yes helicoils will work on steel it is just harder to drill out and tap, but it will work the same way. I personally have done A LOT of helicoils on steel, and it is the same process as aluminium.


Also helicoils are a better solution than tapping to a larger hole because you can retain the stock fasteners and torque specs (helicoils when done right can hold the same torque as the stock threads), this is a benefit because if you are dealing with stretch bolts yielding them is vital to get the correct clamping load. This means with a larger bolt you can't get them to stretch at the same torque + angle as a smaller bolt, meaning a different and incorrect clamping load.