Thread: How To: Upgrade Your OEM Strut Mount Studs

That is not good news. Hummm.. The bolt should be fine because I'm putting a spacer in there. Bloody welds.

anxiously awaiting your update!!

I'd go with zinc coated rather than black oxide if you can find them. Zinc will resist corrosion a lot better.

Literally because I found 3/8'ths and the existing hole only had to be tapped with that size thread (not drilled and then tapped). Which was very, very easy to do (as above) and worked out perfect (for the fronts).

I still have left-over grade-8 hardware I purchased and which did not work. Buy it, take it to Mike, ponder/cuss/discuss/engineer/figure/scratch head, and then....go buy some more hardware in a different size. Till I ended up with what we figured would work, and it did.


That may work as well. I honestly don't know.



Permanent, easy, done deal.....

Not sure on the locking nuts, if there would even be room for them, I don't *think* there is enough clearance (in front). I used the button-heads specifically because they would clear the other piece (in the front) of the "sandwich" top-hat assembly.

However, that rear assembly is quite different as the two pieces are welded together. I do not see how you can change those out without breaking (prying, cutting, whatever...) that "metal plate sandwich" apart.



Right now, that lower metal plate is preventing you from changing out the studs at all.


Bingo X2.


You'd need lots of spacers, and to check all clearances first. I *think* you want bolts (stud replacements) that have thread all the way to the head, or just a little bit of unthreaded neck.

Whatever you find out about the rears it will be new-news. So please document and post your results and/or findings and solutions. I'd personally like to know, because when I go CSK, it will be a perfect opportunity to upgrade/modify the rears with longer/stronger studs.

Maybe my thread title should have specified fronts only?


Yeah, still getting to all the updates.


Yep, the black oxide ones will rust. Like mine have done.

However, I used what I found after several trips to several hard-ware stores.

I am going to hit the exposed (rusty) threads with Rust Cure on a rag and clean them up a bit. Still very happy with my results despite the surface rust on the exposed threads.

I decided not to do this upgrade on the rear struts because of the welds. Once I pulled it out and realized what I was up against, I didn't have the time nor energy to figure out the best way to pull those two pieces apart and then how to weld them back together. When I have time in about 6 months to a year, I'll document what I do, if someone hasn't beaten me to it first.

I suspect you could just drill three access holes, hammer out the existing studs and then put some new ones in. There might be a few details to work out but that's the gist of it I bet.

I don't think stud length is an issue on the rears. I have the Octotat RSTB on my B13 and have between 0-2 threads above the nuts.

i have the Octotat also, i'd like a few more threads than what I have, but i'm not going through all of this trouble.... unless i pull the whole suspension apart again..

oh wait, i AM going to be doing that.. hmm...

Does anybody know if the tophats from the front and rear struts are interchangeable? As posted previously (and in the pic below), the rear strut tophats are welded together making the studs difficult to remove while the fronts apparently are a piece of cake. So could I take the top hats off my rear and swap them with ones from a front set so that I can change out the studs? Here's the pic of the rear ones that I'm talking about:

I will answer my previous post. I have been running front tophats on the rear of my B13 for 5 months now without any issue. So far so good; no unexpected 4-wheel steering or anything. I will post up if something comes up. However, you cannot run the rears on the front of the car as it will not rotate for turning.