sway bar stud broken

[backyardbill]

Hopefully this is the last of my front end rebuild issues.

The front bolt/stud on the driver-side frame rail was broke off. I was going to drill it out and tap it. But when I tried to center punch the bolt end, the stud receded in to the rail. Apparently, the part of the weld broke loose inside the rail. So I thought I'll just punch it all the way into the hollow portion of the rail. But it didn't go all the way and I can still see a little bit of it. I can probably keep beating on it to get it all the way out of the path of the new through-the-rail bolt. Or just file it until so.

But here is the question. The hole left in the rail is about 12mm d. So I was thinking of welding 6mm flat bar stock over the rail with a hole drilled for the remaining stud to pass through. This will give me the original mounting location. Then drop an 8mm bolt down through the rail. Shim the passenger-side frame the same way as the drivers-side.

However, will lowering the sway bar 6mm with the shim screw up the geometry of the bar and effect the handling?

Any opinions?

[kmead]

No difference in handling. Doing so won't actually change the suspension geometry but it will change the preload on the sway bar bushings which may effect their life span.

Now as for welding thick steel to thin steel, that will be a bit more worrisome.

[backyardbill]

I had some extra 6mm laying around. But, I can get some bar stock the thickness of the frame rail. Thanks