So I am tackling the suspension job on a '01 Discovery II SD. In the process of putting the new shock on the front, I overtightened the bolt on the bottom of the front left shock and it is now stripped. For a hold-over fix, I bought a similar bolt from the local Home Depot, which the guys said was the strongest they made. As you probably know, not only is the old bold bad, but the thread in the connection is too. As part of the temp fix, I included a washer and nut on the temp bolt to hold the shock down.

The question that I have is; should I get the connection rethreaded and replace with a LR bolt, or do you think that the washer and nut combination can suffice. If the washer/nut combo works is there any guidance on strength? (I think that these are graded on tension strength?)

 

What is the bolt actually rated? You will probably be fine with the nut an bolt. Many more common bolts on a land rover you cannot even get from a LR dealer. They just get most of theirs from a hardware source.

 

X2... My dealer carries nothing, and they won't order anything. They source fastners from a local supply. Did the Home Depot people tell you what grade it is?

 

bolt / washer / nut should be fine, use a grade 8 bolt. Do not use a grade 2 as they are too soft, a grade 5 may suffice but the price diff will only be a few cents anyway. A self locking nut would be a good investment, you dont want this to fall apart.

 

Thank you for the suggestions on the quick fix here.

So the HD clerk couldn't tell me the strength grade of the bolt. I contacted the manufacturer and they said that unless otherwise stated, all bolts sold in hardware stores are a grade #2, and that the one that I purchased for $1.47 was grade #2. I hope to pick up a grade 8 today to make sure that this is taken care of as directed above. In the mean time it looks like I will stay on the surface streets and avoid the moon size craters on the streets here in Atlanta.

My discussion is now moving to the top of the shock connection. I may not understand the physics of the Discovery Design, but how in the world do those 4 little bolts on the top of the shock shroud keep the thing from going through my hood? I've used bigger screws then these to hang pictures.

 

Ours is not to reason why...

 

Isn't it comforting to know that you could safely hang a 1 1/2 ton picture with the screws you are using currently.

 

Only a ton and a half? I better get another one in the wall then, its a pretty big picture.

Obviously a joke, but thinking about it more makes sense given that almost all of the pressure is downward with the coil.