Broke Bolt While Installing Strut Tower Brace

[Gojr47]

I was tightening the last nut on the Ford Performance strut tower brace when the bolt broke. Has anyone broken it before or know the part number? I couldn't find it. Is the reinstall easy?

The instructions say to torque it to 41 lb.ft but my torque wrench starts at 50lb.ft so I was torquing to 50 and then loosening it a turn. I know it's not the proper way :doh:

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[mikes2017gt]

There are several threads on this problem in this forum, and they have lots of pics too.

Not a happy answer but not the end of the world.

That's not a bolt, it's a stud. They are welded into the inner fender from the other side. It's easy enough to get at. Remove the wheel, remove the plastic splash shield. But getting it out requires drilling it out. Most folks replace it with a bolt/nuts/washers. Of course, if you remove the nut to remove the strut brace, the bolt will fall through.

There are a couple diff ways to fix it. All involve initially drilling a hole in the center of the bolt. Some use progressively larger drill bits to enlarge the hole and then use a bolt. Other's will drill that initial hole and then use a die grinder to enlarge the hole. In either case you have to be careful not to elongate the hole (turn a circle into an oval) or a new stud/bolt won't fit correctly.

I don't know if a replacement stud is readily available but if it was me, I'd open up the hole enough to take the correctly-sized bolt, to keep fasteners uniform, and then have the bolt welded-in. Any muffler shop should be able to do that in about 5 minutes, assuming you have the splash shield out already.

Not a difficult fix, but a bit PITA fix. Good luck.