Stripped Nut in Sway Bar Bushing (Solved)

I was in a shit show when replacing my sway bar bushing and I accidentally stripped the nut that weld inside the frame holding the sway bar bushing passenger bracket. I bought a new bolt at Toyota for about $2 and the size for the OEM bolt is graded 10.9, M10 X 1.25. I tried to hand tight the bolt with the nut for testing and it was completely stripped so it could not even grab onto each other.




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There are several ways to solve this problem, but here is what I did to solve the problem.

Parts needed:
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$6 Drill America - KFDRSD3/8X27/64 27/64" Reduced Shank High Speed Steel Black & Gold KFD Drill Bit with 3/8" Shank, KFD Series

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Step 1: I went to the nut and bolt place in my local area where this shop is wholesale for some big box stores. After a long conversation, they recommended going with a bigger size bolt which was graded 10.9, M12 X 1.75. The length will be matched with the OEM bolt, and the most awesome thing here was they did not charge me for that.

Step 2: After getting home, I dropped the skit plate and then removed the sway bar by disconnecting the sway bar link with an 18mm socket and an 18mm wrench. I removed the kid plate mount brackets using 17mm for additional room. After removing these bolts, the sway bar will drop down so be careful because it is very heavy.



Step 3: Then I drilled the stripped nut with the 27/64 drill bit and tapped the hole with an M12 X 1.75. I took my time and was very careful with the nut with a lot of leftover motor oil because I only had one chance (I tried to buy an aluminum block for drafting before drilling but it was too expensive). Then voila.









Step 4: Make sure to make a hole in the sway bar bushing bracket a bit bigger for that new bolt since it is a bigger bolt, but not too much.

 

Excellent write up and thanks for sharing your experience. It’s nice to see others take a challenge and create a learning opportunity for others! Happy wrenching