Hello all from Pittsburgh (temp in the 50's and no sun today)
I've run across a modification in the attachment of my left front upper
control arm and wonder if this arrangement is known to the list.
The standard attachment for the upper control arm (according to what is
displayed in the Nissan parts catalog), which fits what I see on my right
front suspension, is to have the upper control arm secured by two bolts
oriented as follows. The hex-heads face the center of the car (heads
towards the engine). The bolts pass through the mounting points and screw
directly in to the upper control arm. That is, the bolts point outward.
(There is lock-washer under the hex head, along with withever shims are
needed for alignment.)
On the left front, however, I find a modified setup. Two 10mm x 50 mm
bolts (8.8 strength) have been used (with added nuts) in the reverse
orientation: with the hex-heads facing outwards and the bolts pointing
towards the center of the car. This was achieved, it appears, by filing
down the threads in the screw holes in upper control arm, to a snug 10 mm
fit all the way through the control arm, and using nuts & locking-washers
on the farside (where the hex-head is in the original design) to secure the
control arm with the bolts.
I found this out because one of those 10 x 50 bolts failed yesterday -
while the car was still, fortunately. (Irrelevant detail: the bolt sheared
half way down, just where the threads end. It appears from the rust
pattern on the cut surface of the bolt that it had been cracked half way
through for some time.)
Does anyone know about this modified design for securing the upper control
arm? I'm prepared to install two new (8.8 strength 10mm x 50mm) bolts to
replace the one that broke and the one that I don't want to worry about
following suit. I don't think I have much choice, I guess, since the
threads in the control arm have been removed.
Thanks,
Teddy
69 2000
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