HELP! Broke body bolt

[Free2roam]

Damn that sucks! I was able to get mine loose and install my RSE sliders without breaking any of them.

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[MSFTMatt]

My jealously of you and everyone who had no issues is immeasurable

 

[Lunentucker]

It's been documented here numerous times.
They're tight AF and red Loctited in.

You have to use an induction heater or get them really hot with a torch.
Service manuals have been posted in stickies in the Maintenance section for months.

Go to a body shop or a reputable machine shop to get the stuck pieces out.

 

[Lunentucker]

 

[MSFTMatt]

I’m hoping to find a shop around me to pop them out tomorrow while I’m on duty. Hate to leave it till the weekend

 

[Freems]

I’m hoping to find a shop around me to pop them out tomorrow while I’m on duty. Hate to leave it till the weekend

Do you own a MIG welder? I’ve had good luck welding a nut back onto the broken bolt, after you weld it on be ready while the weld is still hot, it will melt the lock tight and let you back the bolt out. This only works on a bolt that’s broke off high enough to reach with the welder, if it’s broke off half way down the hole, this won’t help you. Good luck.

 

[MSFTMatt]

Unfortunately I don’t and am not Knowledgeable enough in that to tell if it’s too high up in there. I feel like it is tho. Great idea tho

 

[22EcoDs]

 

[RK Racing]

Where there is a will……. There is a way. This is my wife’s 2022 wrangler. When I was finished removing the bolt which was not hard but a little time consuming, I made the hole nice and round and made a very nice thin metal cover and silicone it and screwed it in place.

 

[Stan H]

Nope, it was just a small breaker bar. Makes no sense to me. I wasn't trying to muscle through a sticky section. Every time I started to feel tension, I would tighten it a little and go again. Both times it was moving then...SNAP

In my experience when it feels like it's moving it really is fixin'to break off.

 

[Wheelin98TJ]

Nope, it was just a small breaker bar. Makes no sense to me. I wasn't trying to muscle through a sticky section. Every time I started to feel tension, I would tighten it a little and go again. Both times it was moving then...SNAP

I'd rather use an impact.

I think it's easier to snap a bolt with a breaker bar than it is an impact.

 

[Wolf Island Diver]

My jealously of you and everyone who had no issues is immeasurable

I installed ARB sliders which is one of the most involved mods you can do since you also have to drill tons of holes in your body and install rivnuts. It went well, but only because I followed a process.

I had issues with the body bolts. All the problems with them is well documented here and elsewhere. However, I followed the recommended procedure so it wasn’t a disaster. @Northridge4x4 has a great video of the install and they use heat to remove the bolts. 1 of my bolts had been loose and popping but the dealership had refused to check them.

To the folks that say they did it without heat, I say “Great, congratulations!” You can do lots of things without following the recommended procedure. You may get lucky or you may get f$&@ed. Never listen to folks that didn’t follow procedures and didn’t have issues. Those are lucky people or full of shit. I, myself am not lucky, so I followed the procedures and mountain of recommendations.

The consensus and documentation states to use heat as @Lunentucker said. I used an induction heater. https://a.co/d/0aj3VW1C.

Several of my bolts had damaged internal clips and even the loose bolts would bind at some points. I used steady torque after the heat and the non loose ones were still very tight. Like, @Northridge4x4 I applied anti -seize to the bolts to reinstall. I also reheated upon reinstallation because any remaining loc-tight (only 3 had it) can give you false torque wrench readings. Even with heat, this was never a good feeling bolt install. This is an upside down blind install with inaccessible internals, unseen mystery retention clips, the loctite variable and well documented problems.

Personally, I would have quit after breaking one bolt, as it’s evidence that my process was flawed in some way and the stakes are too high. I’d do a search on what people do in this case. The horror stories of having to cut into the body to remove bolt pieces had me running straight to the heater method, $200 for a 1 use tool, is the lesser of evils. Unfortunately a body shop is going to have to fix this unless there’s some kind of extraction method that can get into those recesses. If so (I haven’t seen one) they’ll certainly be using heat to remove the broken pieces.

 

[Minty JL]

I have been meaning to buy one of those heat induction tools for ages

 

[MSFTMatt]

I installed ARB sliders which is one of the most involved mods you can do since you also have to drill tons of holes in your body and install rivnuts. It went well, but only because I followed a process.

I had issues with the body bolts. All the problems with them is well documented here and elsewhere. However, I followed the recommended procedure so it wasn’t a disaster. @Northridge4x4 has a great video of the install and they use heat to remove the bolts. 1 of my bolts had been loose and popping but the dealership had refused to check them.

To the folks that say they did it without heat, I say “Great, congratulations!” You can do lots of things without following the recommended procedure. You may get lucky or you may get f$&@ed. Never listen to folks that didn’t follow procedures and didn’t have issues. Those are lucky people or full of shit. I, myself am not lucky, so I followed the procedures and mountain of recommendations.

The consensus and documentation states to use heat as @Lunentucker said. I used an induction heater. https://a.co/d/0aj3VW1C.

Several of my bolts had damaged internal clips and even the loose bolts would bind at some points. I used steady torque after the heat and the non loose ones were still very tight. Like, @Northridge4x4 I applied anti -seize to the bolts to reinstall. I also reheated upon reinstallation because any remaining loc-tight (only 3 had it) can give you false torque wrench readings. Even with heat, this was never a good feeling bolt install. This is an upside down blind install with inaccessible internals, unseen mystery retention clips, the loctite variable and well documented problems.

Personally, I would have quit after breaking one bolt, as it’s evidence that my process was flawed in some way and the stakes are too high. I’d do a search on what people do in this case. The horror stories of having to cut into the body to remove bolt pieces had me running straight to the heater method, $200 for a 1 use tool, is the lesser of evils. Unfortunately a body shop is going to have to fix this unless there’s some kind of extraction method that can get into those recesses. If so (I haven’t seen one) they’ll certainly be using heat to remove the broken pieces.

I watched the video from north ridge a dozen times and read thru all the pages of threads. I used heat. In hindsight I should have stopped after 1 but I figured it was a fluke. Pretty bummed to saw the least

 

[RHINO79]

Exactly why I didn't use the body mount sliders, guaranteed the same would happen to me!

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