Today on the way home from work I felt a slight change in my steering. When i got home I took a look near the tire (That looked like it was going to fall off) and seen that a bolt had broken. It looks like the retaining Bolt that goes through the control arm shaft? Bolt goes through a bracket welded to the frame right under the upper control arm. The bolt goes through the bracket and through the control arm shaft. Can anyone elaborate on my problem let me know the size of the bolt. Can I simply get this bold at the auto-parts store and put it in by slipping it under the control arm? Is it going to come out (I have not tried to punch it out yet) Why would this bolt break should I look into replacing something that might have caused this? Any help would be great!

1999 Chevy Blazer just purchased for 3K my wife is going to kill me as I already have to replace the heater core.. Or have it done..

This is a picture of the bolt I think I am talking about...

 

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I don't know the size off the top of my head, but I can say that it would not be a general purpose bolt. If it were UNC thread size (ie. not metric), it would be a grade 8. Without looking it up, I couldn't tell you the metric equivalent for a grade 8 bolt. You would likely need to get it from a hardware store.

You are going to want to get an alignment done afterwords because I doubt that all of the shims stayed right there.

 

I agree that you shouldn't use a standard grade 2 or 5 you should use a grade 8 bolt. I would also check the rest of the bolts for damage. These bolts just don't break some thing caused it and there's probably more damage.

 

I was thinking of using the
1995-2005 Chevrolet Blazer Front Suspension, Upper Alignment Kit - Moog they are basically bolts that I assume go into this location but I am unsure because I read that sometimes you have to modify the shim to get it to fit correctly. See picture I will post someplace here ect.

 

(ryanleh) I know its over a year past when you posted, but I currently find myself in the same situation. I was wondering how the whole bolt search went...I think my bolts are stripped out, or something. It seems like I have to take the truck into the shop every 1000 miles because my drivers side wheel is about to fall off...and worst part is that I have a broken knee and leg, so I cannot crawl under my truck anymore!