Hi everyone I am in a bit of a jam with my 5 rebuild and need some help or advice if possible. I recently bought another 5 that needed a lot of work to get it back on the road, I'm not far from getting it done now but hit a problem yesterday that has me stumped. I fitted the rear axle to the car and then went on to fit the rear shocks, no problems fitting the top bolts but when I installed the bottom bolts that go through the trailing arm I noticed they were just sliding in and out. After closer inspection there doesn't seem to be a thread in the hole on the trailing arms either side where the mounting bolt goes to. The car didn't come with the bolts, I had to get them from my local Renault dealer (£47 for 4 bolts, 2 nuts and 2 washers!!!) anyway, I know they are the correct bolts, I've checked against the Haynes manual and the dialogys on here and there isn't a nut here, the bolt just goes through the shock and threads into the trailing arm. Has anyone ever come across this before? Any advice on it if you have? Failing that does anyone have a pair of trailing arms or a complete rear axle they are willing to part with?
Could presume that someone with a lowered car found it easier to slide the bolt through, then fit a nut. So drilled the thread out. That way they didn't have to scissor jack the arm down far enough to clear the petrol tank.
Thanks for all the responses guys, it's much appreciated.
There is definitely not meant to be a nut on the other side, the trailing arm should be threaded there for the bolt to go tighten into. Looking at it, would be a real chore putting a nut on there, doesn't look like there is a load of room but it may be do-able. I've had an email back from Mike at GT Turbo spares and he has seen it a few times due to people using a gun and winding them up too tight that the threads get destroyed, makes sense and it is what I suspected after checking all the diagrams to confirm there shouldn't be a nut. I think I'm just going to get a decent set of second hand trailing arms from Mike to solve the problem and go from there.
Still plenty more to do as I am trying to put this car back to a relatively original state with some mild upgrades. I will get some pics up at some point, plenty as I have photographed the stages as I stripped and began the rebuild.
Yep, theres no nut on that bolt and there should be a threaded section in the trailing arm Can you run a tap through it? there should be enough room to do that. Perhaps shine a torch and see if it looks like the thread has been stripped by an air gun.
I don't fancy changing the trailing arms off the beam with it in situ, it might be easier removing the axle again or getting (another!) second hand axle?
Could maybe helicoil it? or if there is enough material on the sleeve inside the shock bush, drill and tap the arm to the fit the next size bolt (possibly M12) and drill out the sleeve for the new size bolt.
I'm going to remove the whole axle again this afternoon, get it on the bench and have a proper look. From under the car I certainly cant see or feel a thread in there so it must have been stripped. I certainly could try helicoil it, does anybody know which size I would need of hand? Misplaced my thread pitch gauge when I moved all my stuff into my unit so need to buy a new one.
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Can you run a tap through it? there should be enough room to do that. Perhaps shine a torch and see if it looks like the thread has been stripped by an air gun.