How To Repair In Frame Welded Nuts

[@michaeldunagan8268]

@ 0:30 Damn straight! When I hear either old or rusted subframe repair they all jump ship worrying about the liability. Four body shops and three mechanical shops 1999 Toyota Solara is really start to become a bane of my existence. I soooooooooo love to drive this car! But I sooooooooooooooooooooooo hey to work on it. Your video has brought me cheer from a major depression. I put three grand in this car in the three years I've owned it and plus the purchase price I didn't want to throw it into the junkyard for nor did I want to pay $150 plus shipping for a subframe to be sent off eBay. So glad I stayed up late to catch her video and even more glad you made it.

[@apmotorsports5568]

Great to hear that the video helped you!

[@vicpnut1]

Was yelling at the burning bushing till you mention replacing em 😂

[@D3AtHrAiN333]

Nice video man literally exactly what I was thinking had this happen to the speed but on a Hyundai Sonata control arm

[@apmotorsports5568]

Glad the video could help! This is a fairly common thing to happen with control arm bolts and subframe bolts, especially in areas where road salt is used in the winters.

[@toddbraddock236]

Nice.....solid....work!!!! :)

[@alexdaniels8349]

Nice work

[@practicallysocial]

Question: The speed nut on my 07 Avalon is square. I stripped the nut and bolt by accident attempting to reattach the lower control arm. It appears to be free-floating in there inside small metal walls. Toyota says the nuts can only be part of a subframe assembly (and they have no way of finding an individual nut like this). Nut is M16x1.5 Thread Pitch. I don't have any welding tools (just a Dremel I could cut a square hole with). I think the nut will just drop free then. The bottom of the sub frame already has a hole there (a plastic cover fits into it). Since I'm working in my driveway instead of a lift, would you just do the cutting(I think I'll have to tap a piece of steel sized to the original nut shape), reassemble everything, and then take it to have the square removed piece spot welded back on by someone? Very helpful video, thanks!

[@apmotorsports5568]

This is a tough one. I think what I would do is, if the bolt is still in, cut off as much of the bolt as possible. Then try to push what's left of the bolt/nut into the frame and out of the way. You might then be able to get it out through the other hole. You could then try to get a new nut in through that hole and held in place, but it will be difficult and take some ingenuity on your part to find a way to do it. Otherwise the safest way to fix it would be to lower the subframe out and cut an access hole in the top of the subframe above the nut. This would allow you to pull it out after cutting the bolt off and get a new nut in. This would also give you a way to hold the new nut. Then you could have the hole you cut in the top of the subframe patched. I would avoid cutting on the side of the subframe as that is going to heavily weaken it even with a patch. Cutting the bottom around the nut would make it almost impossible to get the nut back in and held in the correct place while also patching it enough to keep it strong. This kinda goes without saying, but in this case the proper/safest repair would be to replace the subframe, although I understand that is more expensive.

[@davidb649]

Hello I accidentally tried to loosen the welded nut on suspension frame, thankfully nothing happened and I drove the car since yesterday without problem. I am not sure but I think I easily applied 100-140nm torque on the welded nut white the bolt was still thight on it. Do you think the weld got cracked and I may have problems in the future? Or if weld cracked I should have heard it? I stopped when I saw that the wrench started to bend and did not push further but I used about 25 inches iron pipe on the wrench. Look forward to hearing from you.

[@Song_ThePusanPerimeterTV]

I had a similar issue in my 1994 Cadillac Eldorado: a bolt on the frame insulator was broken when I tried to replace a rotten bushing. By dropping the engine frame, I made some space to remove the upper insulator (bushing). I cut the bolt on the upper end of the bushing. The bushing was removed and a nut engaged on the bolt. I used the brazing method to fuse the nut and the bolt by the brazing material (a brazing rod from Home Depot). After brazing the nut, the bolt was easily removed. I failed two times with welding, stick and Tig flux wire. My skill was not good with welding, but the brazing worked perfectly. A local welding guy asked me $1,000 for welding the nut, which was not affordable for me. My car price could be $500. How could I pay $1,000 for a single nut welding?

[@apmotorsports5568]

Glad to hear you were able to get the bolt out. Personally I don't ever have much luck getting those out when the break the way yours did. My guess is the $1000 they quoted you was to cover what I show in the video (cutting an access hole, welding in a new nut, and repairing the hole cut in the frame/unibody), or they were expecting to attempt to drill out the bolt first. Either way there is a good amount of time/labor involved which is why the estimate was so high. They also likely gave you an estimate higher than what it would actually end up costing just so they were covered if they needed more time.

[@Song_ThePusanPerimeterTV]

@@apmotorsports5568 Oh, I see. Thanks!

[@brianblithe2271]

GUy was crazy as f i guess

[@klauscottonswab2322]

Upbeat November Rain lol🤣

[@Tyler-kf7ww]

Is that a 73 charger you were working on? That looks a lot like my k frame and I have the same issue

[@apmotorsports5568]

It was a charger, I can't remember what year it was though.

[@mrsemifixit]

Would anything happen if say you drilled a hole just big enough to get a socket on the nut that’s broken and didn’t close up the hole?

[@apmotorsports5568]

It would be recommended to close up the hole. Adding a hole to the frame will weaken it slightly. That being said, I have seen plenty of people put holes in frames and not have any issues, I just prefer not to risk it.

[@Wakeuppeople63]

I have a 2007 Honda Ridgeline and the welded nut on the lower control arm broke, do you have to weld a new nut back on the frame, or can I use another nut or maybe a castle nut or cotter pin?

[@apmotorsports5568]

Are you able to access the nut easily? I can't remember if the nut is visible on those vehicles or not. If you can easily access the nut then I would just use a normal nut and hold it with a wrench, just make sure it gets tightened properly.

[@joshhamlett5968]

Would it still pass inspection

[@apmotorsports5568]

As long as it is done correctly. You just need to be sure that you properly reinforce the area that you cut out for access.

[@justinbieber3957]

Hi I got a Honda Pilot 2013 my problem is the shock mounting welded nut cage? is broken. The bolt just keeps on turning but doesn't tighten or loosen. I manage to remove it by applying a pry bar between the body & the mounting holes of the shock while racheting it to came out. I will put in a new bolt, the problem is how to install the bolt if the weld nut is loose, yes it is loose i can poke the thread side to side up & down - i don't know whats holding it? Any suggestion or help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks

[@apmotorsports5568]

Without having one of these cars to look at I can't be sure, but I'm guessing that the nut sits inside a thin piece of metal that forms a cage around the nut. What's likely happening is that cage wasn't strong enough to hold the nut after a little bit of rust made the bolt harder to turn. There are a couple things you can try. First, I have sometimes had luck cutting a small access hole just big enough to get a wrench in to hold the nut while tightening the bolt. The other option is to find a spot that you can cut a hole to access the nut/cage and cut the nut out of the cage. You then would put in a new speed nut. You will want to patch any hole you cut buy welding in new metal to add some of the strength back into that area of the frame.

[@justinbieber3957]

@@apmotorsports5568 thank you for the advice

[@apmotorsports5568]

Your welcome, good luck!

[@janillecampbell9828]

The bolt to hold on my subframe broke on my 2005 g35 Infiniti coupe … how can I replace it

[@apmotorsports5568]

If the bolt broke flush with the weld nut then you will likely need to drill it out and rethread the hole. If there is any on the bolt still sticking out you may be able to grab it with a vise grip and turn it out.

[@chasedavis2358]

Most body shops will do those repairs

[@JohnSmith098761]

Why not just add a rivnut?

[@apmotorsports5568]

In my experience, rivnut tend to break loose when used in higher torque applications like subframe bolts. Also, in most cases you would need to cut the hole to remove the broken weld nut anyway so why nut weld a new nut in place. I'm not an engineer but I would assume that manufacturers would use rivnuts instead of welded nuts if they were strong enough for the application since that would be much easier than weld nuts. Usually better to repair with the OEM style.

[@rustybaws5313]

Engineer here, agreed with the content creator. The torque loading on seized bolts can be tremendous!! I mean they will break a heavy duty bolt before giving up so rivnuts would give up a Looooong time before this and not suitable for high torque applications. Cutting a circle in the side of the rail as small as possible that still allows access is preferred then weld it closed when finished and can add a diamond shaped plated over it for added strength.... just weld a new nut inside with a few tacks.