Trailer Hitch Install and Frame Weld Nuts

[StructEngineer]

Is it a common problem for the weld nuts in the frame to break loose on Subarus? The shop installing my hitch broke 3 of the 7 weld nuts. I watched them and they weren't using air tools and it was pretty a legit problem they didnt cause. Cant even run a bolt through the frame because there's no access to the top or inside of the frame rail. Sucks, no hitch for the forester unless you guys know of some way to overcome this....easily.

[EVOthis]

is this the new 09 forester?

[Reveeen]

Is it a common problem for the weld nuts in the frame to break loose on Subarus?

 

Weld nuts breaking:

1) it is always prudent to run a tap through first (one that matches the bolts)

2) Subaru (among other Japanese car makers) use fine thread metric fasteners, many hitch "kits" have course thread metric fasteners.

3) Age (specifically, crap seems to gather in the holes) which might not be the case here, but 5 years on, and counting on weld nuts is near imposable in places where there is winter.

4) sometimes quality control is not quite what it should be on non-essential operations (fitting of stuff that is not essential)

 

Weld nuts and me:

I have learned over the years to treat weld nuts with kid gloves, so to speak, it seems given the opportunity to mess up, they do, especially the ones that are in "blind" situations.

 

know of some way to overcome this....easily.

 

Easily, no. I suspect you can drill the trunk floor, above the frame rail to access the back side, making the holes "rubber plug size". Do your worst, rustproof when done, then stick a rubber plug in it.

[StructEngineer]

Is it a common problem for the weld nuts in the frame to break loose on Subarus?

 

Weld nuts breaking:

1) it is always prudent to run a tap through first (one that matches the bolts)

2) Subaru (among other Japanese car makers) use fine thread metric fasteners, many hitch "kits" have course thread metric fasteners.

3) Age (specifically, crap seems to gather in the holes) which might not be the case here, but 5 years on, and counting on weld nuts is near imposable in places where there is winter.

4) sometimes quality control is not quite what it should be on non-essential operations (fitting of stuff that is not essential)

 

Weld nuts and me:

I have learned over the years to treat weld nuts with kid gloves, so to speak, it seems given the opportunity to mess up, they do, especially the ones that are in "blind" situations.

 

know of some way to overcome this....easily.

 

Easily, no. I suspect you can drill the trunk floor, above the frame rail to access the back side, making the holes "rubber plug size". Do your worst, rustproof when done, then stick a rubber plug in it.

 

This is a 2002 Forester. The frame and area was basically rust free. The hitch utilized the original bolts, so no difference in thread. It was like the nuts weren't centered over the holes. Once the bolts were removed, it was nearly impossible to get them back in. It's a shame, oh well, Towing a trailer would probably blow my 2.5l headgasket anyway

[johnceggleston]

i've never touched an forester, but on a legacy 95 - 99 there are rubber plugs already installed for inside rail access making the hitch install possible. usually the hitch maker knows this and supplies the correct parts for the job.

 

is the forester that much different??

[Gloyale]

This is a 2002 Forester. The frame and area was basically rust free. The hitch utilized the original bolts, so no difference in thread. It was like the nuts weren't centered over the holes. Once the bolts were removed, it was nearly impossible to get them back in. It's a shame, oh well, Towing a trailer would probably blow my 2.5l headgasket anyway

 

Remove the bumper and you have access to the nuts through the rear of the frame rail.(where the bumper mounts go in.) Granted it's long access , and you'll need some long wrenches to hold the nuts you will need to place in there.

 

Some of the kits I 've seen have long flat bars welded to the nuts, so that they can be inserted and not spin while tightening the bolt.

[StructEngineer]

Remove the bumper and you have access to the nuts through the rear of the frame rail.(where the bumper mounts go in.) Granted it's long access , and you'll need some long wrenches to hold the nuts you will need to place in there.

 

Some of the kits I 've seen have long flat bars welded to the nuts, so that they can be inserted and not spin while tightening the bolt.

 

I considered that and there isnt access on mine as you describe. The rear bumper beam has a "finger" that slides into each of the two frame rails, but is covered by the bumper crossmember itself. The weld nuts are located on top of those "fingers", so what I'd really need to do is remove the rear bumper cover, beam, and then tack weld new nuts onto the "fingers", slide the beam back in and hope everything lines up.....truly doubtful. Maybe once I get my own garage I can mess with it, but the shops here suck so bad I doubt they could grasp the concept. Might even take a piece of 1/2" plate from one of my steel fabricators and drill/tap some threads in myself.

 

I think part of the problem is that the bumper finger hole doesn't really line up to the hole in the frame rail, causing the bolt to go in cockeyed, thus stripping and breaking the weld nuts.. Would have been a lot nicer if Subaru added a little meat to the bumper beam and tapped some threads into that instead of crappy a$$ weld nuts that are unserviceable.

 

 

[J A Blazer]

Maybe your car had been rear-ended?

[StructEngineer]

Maybe your car had been rear-ended?

 

Nope, owned from day 1.

[Gloyale]

You're not understanding.

 

The captive nuts that hold the bumper in are on the *fingers*, but the holes that the hitch mounts to are in the unibody. Once you pull the *fingers* out, you will be left with a view in through the frame rail from behind. You don't have to weld new nuts, you just need to get them in there and hold with a wrench.

 

Unless you are using a hitch setup I am totally unfamiliar with, it should only utilize the frame rail the recovery brackets.

 

 

And if you did have to weld new nuts onto the *fingers* why would that be so hard? You critisize Fuji's ability to line stuff up, yet you have no confidence in you're own ability to do so? The holes are already there, stick the nut on top and weld. What's so hard?

[StructEngineer]

You're not understanding.

 

The captive nuts that hold the bumper in are on the *fingers*, but the holes that the hitch mounts to are in the unibody. Once you pull the *fingers* out, you will be left with a view in through the frame rail from behind. You don't have to weld new nuts, you just need to get them in there and hold with a wrench.

 

Unless you are using a hitch setup I am totally unfamiliar with, it should only utilize the frame rail the recovery brackets.

 

 

And if you did have to weld new nuts onto the *fingers* why would that be so hard? You critisize Fuji's ability to line stuff up, yet you have no confidence in you're own ability to do so? The holes are already there, stick the nut on top and weld. What's so hard?

 

Yea man, your setup must be different because the bolts that fasten the hitch are the same ones that fasten the bumper beam to the unibody. Shown as "T" in the diagram above. 12mm x 1.25 bolts. Yea, I could bolt up the hitch by using a nut and long wrench, but then I'd never be able to install the bumper beam.

 

If I look up through the hole from underneath the car, I see as sandwich of unibody, then bumper beam "finger" then weld nut.

 

Yea, I'll criticize them because I've been in plenty of auto assembly plants and see how easy it is to fit brand new pieces together while on a assembly line.