DIY: Remove and replace drivers broken body mount bolt -- how-to instructions w/ photos

[AndyB]

This is not the first post showing that Nut with the 3 holes in it . Now it seems to me the a much less destructive method would be to drill a hole from the bottom beside the bolt they stick a roll pin or something similar rotate the bolt head until it goes in the hole then it will lock the nut then turn the bolt out.

Not a bad idea, this wasn't a spinning nut though. It was a broken bolt and there is not enough room to drill out from the bottom at this location.

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[Stan H]

Not a bad idea, this wasn't a spinning nut though. It was a broken bolt and there is not enough room to drill out from the bottom at this location.

Even with an extension ?

 

[RoboticsRob]

I just did mine last week for my sliders install. I managed to get the passenger side front and middle bolts out being very careful, back and forth, with the reported terrible popping noises. Rear passenger bolt I couldn’t get out, just felt like it was going to snap. Gave in and bought an induction heater, which let me get the last one on the passenger side out, finish that install, and then used it on all three bolts on the drivers side.

The thing you need to be careful about with the bolt heater is that you don’t get the bolts too hot. I heated them gradually, 15-20 seconds at a time, checking bolt temp and then waiting till the bolt head got below 300 F, then repeated until it the bolt head didn’t really cool down much, indicating that the bolt had warmed up throughout. Those rear bolts are about a foot long, they will take a long time to heat. Lot of reasons to not get them too hot though, since you don’t want to mess with their temper, plus I looked up the curves for the bolts, and they start to lose strength rapidly over ~450 F, which drove my desire to not be wrenching on them above 300 F or so.

 

[Stan H]

I just did mine last week for my sliders install. I managed to get the passenger side front and middle bolts out being very careful, back and forth, with the reported terrible popping noises. Rear passenger bolt I couldn’t get out, just felt like it was going to snap. Gave in and bought an induction heater, which let me get the last one on the passenger side out, finish that install, and then used it on all three bolts on the drivers side.

The thing you need to be careful about with the bolt heater is that you don’t get the bolts too hot. I heated them gradually, 15-20 seconds at a time, checking bolt temp and then waiting till the bolt head got below 300 F, then repeated until it the bolt head didn’t really cool down much, indicating that the bolt had warmed up throughout. Those rear bolts are about a foot long, they will take a long time to heat. Lot of reasons to not get them too hot though, since you don’t want to mess with their temper, plus I looked up the curves for the bolts, and they start to lose strength rapidly over ~450 F, which drove my desire to not be wrenching on them above 300 F or so.

Very informative

 

[AndyB]

Even with an extension ?

Anything is possible, but drilling out with an extension, then retapping the nut with a really long tap could be done. Although upside down, even with my lift would definitely suck, plus the risk of being off center because you can't really see the bottom of the bolt through the body insulator. This seemed easier, I probably went overboard welding the floor back up. I could have made a blank plate and tech screwed it to the floor, and used some sealant to prevent water intrusion. I'm not professional shop though, and there may be other ways. This was 3 hours of work, with about 2 extra hours drinking beers and bragging what a great job we did. Lol.

 

[Pliny]

Gave in and bought an induction heater, which let me get the last one on the passenger side out, finish that install, and then used it on all three bolts on the drivers side.

The thing you need to be careful about with the bolt heater is that you don’t get the bolts too hot. I heated them gradually, 15-20 seconds at a time, checking bolt temp and then waiting till the bolt head got below 300 F, then repeated until it the bolt head didn’t really cool down much, indicating that the bolt had warmed up throughout.

Once the bolts were heated, did you still do the "back and forth" to loosen them enough to get the brackets in? Or at that point is the thread locker melted enough so that you didn't have to do that?

 

[RoboticsRob]

Once the bolts were heated, did you still do the "back and forth" to loosen them enough to get the brackets in? Or at that point is the thread locker melted enough so that you didn't have to do that?

I still did tighten the bolts a bit to clear the threads but only because I was concerned, not because they felt like they needed it.

 

[Stan H]

So the question I have is how many people are putting thread locker back on that bolt and subsequent bolts during the install ??

 

[RoboticsRob]

So the question I have is how many people are putting thread locker back on that bolt and subsequent bolts during the install ??

I did. Loctite Blue 248. Torqued to 92 ft-lb front and rear, 80 ft-lb centers, per factory torque specs.

 

[RacerAV]

My bolt heater is out on a rental right now, lol... BUT if anyone else wants to rent it after him, shoot me a PM. $30 shipped (CONUS) You pay return shipping and a deposit. Venmo works. I leave the money there and send it back to you once I get the heater back. Not really trying to make money, just covering costs and usage, helping out other forum members who don't want to blow $200+ on the tool! Heater works like a freakin charm!

Cheers!
Adamo

 

[RacerAV]

I just did mine last week for my sliders install. I managed to get the passenger side front and middle bolts out being very careful, back and forth, with the reported terrible popping noises. Rear passenger bolt I couldn’t get out, just felt like it was going to snap. Gave in and bought an induction heater, which let me get the last one on the passenger side out, finish that install, and then used it on all three bolts on the drivers side.

The thing you need to be careful about with the bolt heater is that you don’t get the bolts too hot. I heated them gradually, 15-20 seconds at a time, checking bolt temp and then waiting till the bolt head got below 300 F, then repeated until it the bolt head didn’t really cool down much, indicating that the bolt had warmed up throughout. Those rear bolts are about a foot long, they will take a long time to heat. Lot of reasons to not get them too hot though, since you don’t want to mess with their temper, plus I looked up the curves for the bolts, and they start to lose strength rapidly over ~450 F, which drove my desire to not be wrenching on them above 300 F or so.

Shoot man I think I did like 5 sets of 5 seconds, and my socket was HOT after I got the bolts off! lol... 15-20 seconds at a time sounds crazy!

 

[RoboticsRob]

Shoot man I think I did like 5 sets of 5 seconds, and my socket was HOT after I got the bolts off! lol... 15-20 seconds at a time sounds crazy!

Sounds like you got a better heater than I did.

 

[RacerAV]

Sounds like you got a better heater than I did.

lol, didnt even think about that. Makes sense.

 

[whiteglad]

I did not heat the bolts on either my 2020 or 2022 and got the bolts out with a breaker bar and careful turning. I greased new grade 12.9 allen bolts for the Rock Hard sliders. I carefully chose the lengths because the threaded portions of the new bolts were shorter than the OEM bolts.

 

[Uparms]

Have to ask, what is a cheaper alternative for heat then the induction heater ( though I do want one). Bad areas for flame? What about heat guns? Thanks for heads up!!

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