falcon

His do I remove and replaced this thing?



It looks like it is suppose to unscrew I tried drilling a reverse threaded nut and could not get to it to budge with a breaker bar. The original was snapped off.

tgordon

I looked at the FSM and looks like it is permanently installed on the D pillar.
So the answer would be cut it out and weld in another one. Check with a local body shop for confirmation though.

falcon

Thanks tgordon! PS I like your blue BWM bike!!

I found a part number for replacement ball studs, the ones on the tailgate are bent a little vs straight on the pillar... I don't know which part is for what. It seems silly to put torx heads on those ball studs on there if they don't unscrew. I tried the one on the tail gate just for fun but it didn't budge either, and I didn't want to apply my gorilla torque and break that off as well. The previous owner looked like he tried to remove and when I stuck those struts on there it popped off and flung around after the head popped off. I suspected that it might be a problem as the strut was missing and the ball was clearly damaged when I got it. I was hoping that a body shop wouldn't be necessary to fix that. Dang. Maybe I will just suck it up... Broom handle method of holding it open?

The description of the part is:
Support cylinder ball stud Right $5.00

It would have been nice to just screw a new one in there. The part itself will actually physically turn but only about 45 degrees before it absolutely wont budge. Its loose in there previously. I guess I just assumed that if it had a torx head it would unscrew.

timber.tiger

Most of us just use a section of wood, like a broom handle, closet rod, etc. It also doubles as a sweet zombie-hitting weapon. Or, in my case, I use a closet rod, and at camp, fly my Jolly Rogers from it.

DFlintstone

I've been round and round with those things for years. There is a nut welded inside there alright. Instead of breaking off an extractor, you might drill it bigger and bigger till you can tap it for the new ball/stud. If you drill good and straight and get it right you might even get lucky and just chase out the original threads. It gets more interesting when the nut comes loose inside there Btw. It just drops into the frame..by by. I think I saved one (ball-stud), somewhere with the extractor still in it, just for show and tell.

hbracing13

What I did to solve mine is you can either drill a small hole next to it and catch the nut and weld and grind it smooth or cut the back section enought to get a wrench on and then tighten or lossen it up I did it both ways

5-90

If it's whole, it will usually have a Torx recess to bite with a key.

If the ball has snapped off (it happens, it's happened to me!) then either cut a slot across the remaining bit or grind flats in the side. A slot will allow you to use a heavy flat screwdriver blade, flats will allow you to use a crescent wrench, pair of pliers, or a vice grip to grab the thing.

Turn it carefully when you grip it - pay attention to what you feel while you're doing it, or you're going to snap it off lower down and have more work.

The studs are made using powder metallurgy, so there's not a lot of structural integrity there. Be careful.

When you install the new one, apply grease or never-seez to the screw threads, tighten it until the flange touches the sheetmetal then an additional 1/3-turn or so - no more!

(Yep, I've been through this before...)

Slick761

Lmao.... The struts are only like 12$ each on rock auto

Slick761

Heli coil! Simple solution. Find out what the size/thread is and go get a Heli coil kit. Drill to the size it says, tap it and install the Heli coil. Viola

DFlintstone

Hey Chad! Where u Been? Yea...heli-coil this! (looking for photos)

DFlintstone

I ended up plunge cutting into the frame with an angle grinder to make room for needle-nose vice grips to position a nut to receive the stud.

falcon

Oh... That is a little above my skill level in metal working (experience is 0). I tried to drill it out but now it keeps spinning but its not coming loose. I can't grip it either. Its kind of stuck in this state :'( I don't know what kind of place would help me with this body shop?

I don't exactly have any metal working tools... College student budget...

DFlintstone

I suppose it might to make sense to just get some estament's from a few places. I wouldn't rule out a metal fab/welding shop as well as body shops.

Maybe take a replacement ball/stud with you. If you could grip it well enough to saw it off...easier said and done though! With it off maybe some one with a wire feed could gust weld the new one on...IDK

I did "compromise my frame" here, but the truth is it's cracking to pieces elsewhere so this is just one other small issue. (in photo)

The plunge cut with the angle grinder let me hold a nut inside with a needle nose vice grip. It's been holding for over a year of rough duty.

Coloradorich

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I had the same issue. The RH ball stud seem loose. I thought it was broken. As it turns out as I was turning it I heard the nut on the back side drop into the side panel. So it was a gonner. Fortunately, I found a nut to fit the ball stud that now was lying in my hand. But, how to attach it on the rear?
I did what another person did. I drilled a small cavity behind the pillar and enlarged it slightly with a multi-function cutter (for soft steel)/ Thus, I was able to carefully place the replacement bolt and lock washer through the hold by placing them on a 1/2 closed wrench (with a little tape to hold them in place) and inserted it in the hold. I then inserted the ball stud and screwed it in place holding the wrench behind it (with my left hand inserting the wrench through the new cavity). Locked it in place and fasted it with a lock wrench. The cavity is covered by the interior plastic so it's completely out of sight. The hold I opened was about 1 1/2 inch by about 1 1/2 inch. Have to be careful drilling, however, as there is a wire cable for rear lights, etc., that runs down the pillar so watch carefully for that so you don't accidently drill into it and cause more problems.