Picked up a 2nd 940 mostly for the better seats. Got it at a decent price, needing a tow home, because the driver's ball joint just blew through its two "strut bottom" mounting bolts. The car is not rusty so I would not exclusively blame rust nor does it seem shagged, even at 278k miles.

Anyway the ball joint hanging off the LCA is still tight so I'm just going to drill out what's left of these bolts and stick new ones in. Anyone know the specs? I found 12mm, grade 8.8 (metric) but wanted to double check.

Also, is the inside of the "strut bottom" tapped? I found the rusty remnant of what looks like a nut on one side but not the other. I have taps but would feel more warm and fuzzy using locknuts. Just want to know what I'm getting into when I drill.

 

here's what it should look like (sway bar was not installed yet when this pic was taken)


(click for bigger)

 

Yeah I know how it goes together I was just wondering, barring opening a box with replacement BJ, what the hardware was.

Got one hole drilled out, 12mmx1.75. Guess I could look at a bolt head on the opposite side to get the grade. Going to use a nut too, I don't trust the tapping exclusively.

 

pretty sure they are serious hardness bolts, and pretty sure they are tapped into strut tube, no nuts are evident in my picture, anyways.

 

Just funny how a replacement BJ shows nuts & bolts. I'm going with a whole new joint anyway; they're cheap enough and I've got it this far apart.

 

ah, there ya go. I looked closely but didn't see any evidence of the nuts in my picture.

I might have crawled under my car to double check, except I've got a broken foot, and am hobbling around on crutches, so thats too much of a pain.


hmmm. this late 740/940 parts diagram doesn't show the nuts, either

 

sorry about your foot; I did in my ankle back in February and crutches suck.

I found some tapped threading in there but don't trust it. Oddly, both bolts sheared off halfway up from the bottom. IDK if the bolts were smooth below that point or how this whole thing happened. Just glad I only had to drill through 3/4" not 1.5".

 

Epilogue: my new joint came with 12mm x1.75 grade 8.8 bolts. Guess they don't have to support the weight of the car: struts do that, just have to hold against the twist of the sway bar and the sideways shear forces of turning.