Hey everyone! I hope this post can give some guidance on what should be an easy install and the issues I ran into with getting my old tailgate hinges off.
I recently purchase a Rugged Ridge Spartacus HD Tire Carrier as I expect to move up in tire size and the carrier needed some additional support. I love the product and this was an easy install... other than the old Torx40 bolts not coming out of my tailgate hinges. I ended up having to drill through 4 of the bolts, so I will share my experience with this.
This install should have taken about an hour, but like many tasks, you run into issues. I will walk you through the process and provide a link to a very helpful video.
First, I went to remove the old hinges Torx40 bolts. I have an impact wrench and was trying to be careful not to strip the bolts. I noticed the 4 bolts in the tub would come out with no issues. However, the 4 bolts in the tailgate would not budge, even with Penetrating Oil. I sprayed the bolts several times over, hoping they would come loose. They did not.
I read that heat sometimes helps loosen the bolts but do not have a torch, so I went straight to the drilling. I used a 5/16 and 1/4 inch drill bit to do the drilling and tried to be careful not to go too far. I got 3 of the 4 bolts heads to come off with no issues but the bottom right bolt on the tailgate hinge would not come out and drilled wonky and is now unusable (I will likely replace my tailgate in the future and the tire carrier is sturdy without this bolt for the time being). Once I got the bolt heads off, I sprayed the threads with the Penetrating Oil several times and used needle nose pliers (vice grips wouldn't squeeze into the small area) and got the threads out to install the new hinges and carrier. I had to adjust the bolts some to get the tailgate to close and the nut bracket in the tub was hard to hold along with the heavy duty hinge from rugged ridge while I threaded the new bolts, but I got it. This is where the extra hands would be handy.
The video that really helped me is here:
I hope this is helpful if you are thinking of replacing your tire carrier or hinges. It was not as bad as I thought it would be but it did take some time.
I recently purchase a Rugged Ridge Spartacus HD Tire Carrier as I expect to move up in tire size and the carrier needed some additional support. I love the product and this was an easy install... other than the old Torx40 bolts not coming out of my tailgate hinges. I ended up having to drill through 4 of the bolts, so I will share my experience with this.
This install should have taken about an hour, but like many tasks, you run into issues. I will walk you through the process and provide a link to a very helpful video.
First, I went to remove the old hinges Torx40 bolts. I have an impact wrench and was trying to be careful not to strip the bolts. I noticed the 4 bolts in the tub would come out with no issues. However, the 4 bolts in the tailgate would not budge, even with Penetrating Oil. I sprayed the bolts several times over, hoping they would come loose. They did not.
I read that heat sometimes helps loosen the bolts but do not have a torch, so I went straight to the drilling. I used a 5/16 and 1/4 inch drill bit to do the drilling and tried to be careful not to go too far. I got 3 of the 4 bolts heads to come off with no issues but the bottom right bolt on the tailgate hinge would not come out and drilled wonky and is now unusable (I will likely replace my tailgate in the future and the tire carrier is sturdy without this bolt for the time being). Once I got the bolt heads off, I sprayed the threads with the Penetrating Oil several times and used needle nose pliers (vice grips wouldn't squeeze into the small area) and got the threads out to install the new hinges and carrier. I had to adjust the bolts some to get the tailgate to close and the nut bracket in the tub was hard to hold along with the heavy duty hinge from rugged ridge while I threaded the new bolts, but I got it. This is where the extra hands would be handy.
The video that really helped me is here:
I hope this is helpful if you are thinking of replacing your tire carrier or hinges. It was not as bad as I thought it would be but it did take some time.
