Trailing arm bracket bolts ripped from body

[m3f_Samon8ive_7677abcf91]

I'm going to be welding one of my bungs back in tonight (front side passenger) and welding in reinforcements for both sides. It should be noted that the front of my RTA console bent when the bung tore out and there is a crack through another part of it. I have to replace the console as well as the repair the bung.


I'll take photos and post it all tomorrow.


OahuPower - How long did it take you to weld yours in? I've got an experienced welder/mechanic helping me tonight, but I'm wondering how much time to budget.

[m3f_Samon8ive_7677abcf91]

this is starting to concern me as well....OP, you said you recently got the car, I assume you didn't happen to get a look at those mounting points prior to them failing? Do you track your car or do you live in an area w/ bad roads? I'm just curious if they failed on account of your driving or if they were on their way out when you got the car from the previous owner...seems like a fairly catastrophic failure for simple street driving.



While I'm not the OP I thought I'd chime in on this one. I live in Los Angeles where the roads are pretty good. The car has been seeing some track time lately and I would guess that the issue came up from the track use.

[m3f_OahuMPower_17503f01cd]

OahuPower - How long did it take you to weld yours in? I've got an experienced welder/mechanic helping me tonight, but I'm wondering how much time to budget.



the welding isnt the bad part... about 30-35 min per side to make sure its done right..



it's removing the parts to get access and then removing ALL the undercoating not just right under the reinforcements but another 2-3" all around the reinforcements. The undercoating will contaminate the welds if you dont remove it ALL and get it perfect.



That's the worse part... talking an hour per side getting rid of that stuff EASY. you HAVE to make sure it perfect, and you get further around than just the reinforcements. Make sure you have a die grinder with a bunch of pads, angle grinder with a steel wire wheel, etc....

[m3f_Samon8ive_7677abcf91]

That's the worse part... talking an hour per side getting rid of that stuff EASY. you HAVE to make sure it perfect, and you get further around than just the reinforcements. Make sure you have a die grinder with a bunch of pads, angle grinder with a steel wire wheel, etc....



We'll have two guys working on getting off the undercoating, so I'm hoping we can do both sides simultaneously. Then once the welder is done with one side I can be doing re-assembly while he's welding the other side, etc.



Fingers crossed!!

[m3f_Synenergy5_c9247e934a]

Wow that seems like a real pain. I think I'll just retorque mine to 57 ft-lbs each tonite. The last place I got an alignment from zapped it with an air gun. I'm guessing on their high settings, they're up to 80 ft-lbs or even higher. If I do one bolt at a time, I shouldn't mess the alignment up right? Loosen, then re-torque each of the 3 bolts on both sides one by one...

[m3f_Samon8ive_7677abcf91]

Wow that seems like a real pain. I think I'll just retorque mine to 57 ft-lbs each tonite. The last place I got an alignment from zapped it with an air gun. I'm guessing on their high settings, they're up to 80 ft-lbs or even higher. If I do one bolt at a time, I shouldn't mess the alignment up right? Loosen, then re-torque each of the 3 bolts on both sides one by one...



Not sure what benefit you'll get from a re-torque of your bolts?!? This damage is caused by either track driving or a failed RTAB (I prefer to believe track driving).

[m3f_OahuMPower_17503f01cd]

retorqueing these to proper specs is not going to help.... if you already have weakened inserts.. you are already asking for trouble...



I will continue to promote these reinforcements, as well as the rear swaybar reinforcements, even on a street driven only car.... these areas really are weak

[m3f_EliteM3]

this is starting to concern me as well....OP, you said you recently got the car, I assume you didn't happen to get a look at those mounting points prior to them failing? Do you track your car or do you live in an area w/ bad roads? I'm just curious if they failed on account of your driving or if they were on their way out when you got the car from the previous owner...seems like a fairly catastrophic failure for simple street driving.


Since i've had it the car its been road driven only. street are not bad here. the car has had 2 previous owners and just reached 170,000 miles so who knows what its been through.