W124 Sway bar studs broken
 

I managed to "snap" both mounting studs to the left side control arm . Any help would be greatly appreceiated from the "Forum". I have a digital camera and can provide pictures of the location. I was able to punch both studs out of the control arm. The Top stud is not a problem as I can replace with bolt and nut. The bottom seems to be welded to the control arm and has no access to the rear of unit.

Thanks in advance
Harrison

Yuck! Not what I wanted to hear, as I'm planning to doing both W124 chassis soon.

If the stud was welded in, I suppose you are going to have to weld in the replacement, too, unless it is just like a carraige bolt. Not a pleasant prospect, actually.

Sorry I can't help!

Peter

Make sure you use a socket and not a "Impact wrench". I believe this was the cause of my misfortune. I have removed the sway bar attach points several times but found myself in a hurry on this last task.

Harrison

What is your question?

I believe the question is how to replace the lower stud (now broken) since there is no cleanance to install a bolt from the back side.

Peter

I would consider the following procedure
- file off any broken stud still showing
- drill and tap a hole in the centre of the old stud to take a length of studding the same spec as the broken stud
- chamfer the edges of the hole just created
- screw in a lenth of the right studding
- MIG weld the base of the studding the the surrounding metal, filling up the chamfer you created

Potential problems
- insufficient metal to tap
- welding hardens the metal and may fatigue
- welding may undercut the stud and cause a stress point

I wonder if it would be possible to fish a nut or bolt in there with a pair of long needle-nose pliers, 'magnet on a pole', or somesuch. Probably easier said than done. Also probably easier with no spring in the way, and the CA sitting on a bench.

I would probably consider drilling a strategic access hole if I did not have a welder, but I really hesitate to recommend that to anyone online for fear of how or where it would be done.

Welding is probably the easy answer. You could certainly avoid removing the CA with a weld. The strength of this weld is not super-critical. It takes only half the load, and the tiny (6mm?) studs are a good indicator that the load is not that great.

Even if you do not have a welder, I find that welding shops charge very reasonable rates for small jobs in my area.

Thanks for the replies. I'm looking to have the bottom 6mm bottom stud welded into place. Should not be too tough of a job as I have access to a welder. Hopefully this will work as I would rather attempt this fix instead of replacing the control arm.


Harrrison