Broken Rear End Bolts

[red78]

Found out today......the bolts holding the rear end assembly in place were missing.

Over the last couple months I had noticed a slight "fishtailling" effect as the accelerator was pressed and released during normal driving (not hot-rodding). Then last night I heard a metallic pop like something broke. The fish-tailling became more noticeable after that pop. I decided to stop by the garage this morning and put the vette on a lift. The leaf springs were out of alignment (one had turned up against the exhaust pipe). Some had actually twisted free of the alignment pin. The bolts located on the rearend housing were broken into and only the threaded portion of the bolts remained. Needless to say, I left the vette in the shop for repairs.

This seems to be a first for the guys in the garage as no one has an answer as to why this happened. Has anyone heard of this happening before? Is this an age related thing or is there another cause for this to happen?

PS: This is a car that had been parked under a barn shelter for a couple years so I don't know how it was driven by the previous owners.

 

[69MyWay]

The last person to work on the car must have cross threaded, or started to cross thread the bolts and actually created a weak spot. That weak spot eventually snapped with use.

this is not an uncommon problem to have trouble with those bolts. You may end up having to call around for a replacement rear cover as often the threads will be so damaged a new bolt can't be put back in and torqued.

Good thing you caught it in time!

 

[red78]

Followup..... Thanks for the reply 69myway.

OK, so there are 6 bolts holding the leaf spring under the rear axle; 4 under the center of the rearend (3 of those 4 were broken off) and one on each end of the leaf spring (the one on the right had a 10 degree bend in it...the left side seemed OK). Our local dealership said those bolts can not be gotten from chevy. We have been able to find replacement bolts for the center section and are having trouble finding 9/16 fine thread 6 3/4 inch long bolts that go on the end of the springs.

The search continues....

 

[Tweek]

I bought my bolts from Ecklers, in "kit" form with the rubber cushions, washers and cups, part # 38302, but I'm sure all of the other manufactures of Vette products have them in stock. The price of the kit was 29.99.

 

[400hp_76]

I believe there is a huge misconception about where to buy corvette products. Example. i bought a steering cupler bushing for my 76 for 36 bucks from mid america. Walked in napa the day after the bushing arrived from MA. and saw the same bushing for 7 dollars. Like take the bolts for your rear end, they are simply a type of grade 8 bolt. Just remember that other cars were made during your corvettes year. Many parts are exactly the same on those cars and can be used on your corvette. Just because it is a corvette doesnt mean it is a corvette bolt or bushing.

 

[red78]

Red78 is back on the road!!! Managed to find the bolts locally.

And "T", you are right ..... it is cheaper to shop for parts without saying "corvette" in your sentence. Someone needs to put together a "parts list" match so we can walk in and say "chevette", "camaro", or "whatever" model when asking for a part since they always ask "what does it go on?".