Broke upper rear shock bolts!

[Westtown Willy]

Ok now i cut a window to access the nut. I cut the nut off. Prob should have made a slightly bigger access hole. But now I have the piece of bolt stuck between. Did I not cut enough of nut off? I tried pounding it out with a punch and a BFH but it’s not really budging. So what are my next steps? Grind it down some more? Keeping hammering away? And unfortunately I broke one of the two bolts on the other side too so I have to do it again on the other side.

just saw this, made the hair on my neck stand up . Were you able to get it out? The bolts I cut off looked about the same, at that angle, leaving a goodly chunk still stuck in there. Many many drill bits & pounding away with the BFH/punch to get them out. Then the new nuts wouldn't seat correctly due to the odd angle so I had to get in there with the grinder to level it out for better surface contact for the nuts. Just one ass-ache after the last with that job.

To answer your question, all of the above, keep grinding, pounding, hammering, drilling & cursing & eventually you'll break free & see daylight through those holes :campeon:

 

[jazngab]

just saw this, made the hair on my neck stand up . Were you able to get it out? The bolts I cut off looked about the same, at that angle, leaving a goodly chunk still stuck in there. Many many drill bits & pounding away with the BFH/punch to get them out. Then the new nuts wouldn't seat correctly due to the odd angle so I had to get in there with the grinder to level it out for better surface contact for the nuts. Just one ass-ache after the last with that job.

To answer your question, all of the above, keep grinding, pounding, hammering, drilling & cursing & eventually you'll break free & see daylight through those holes :campeon:

I did get it done thankfully. Just when I was about to give up and bring it to the shop I gave it one more go and I broke through. It was a wonderful moment of joy. The driver side hole I made 1.5x1.5”. The passenger side was much easier. I made that hole 2x2”. The other side was a lot easier and faster since the hole was slightly bigger. I’m actually not sure if I flattened out the one side enough but I said f it and I just put a bigger bolt (10x1.75x30) and nut. I didn’t have to drill or use the right angle attachment for the dremel. Just used the dremel with the EZ cut wheels (like 10 of them though because the holder kept breaking off the wheel) and the punch with hammer. Just hammered the crap out of it. I just ordered some 2x2” plug caps from amazon so that’s what I’ll use to plug the holes.

 

[Westtown Willy]

Very nice man, good job. And yea, you really need to get after this situation like a honey badger, it's not really about mechanical ability as much as brute force. Now lets go wheeling, next couple weeks we're heading up

 

[Drizit]

You do not need to raise the body mounts, nor lower the gas tank. I was able to do it without. Using a dremel With the flex shaft extension and metal cutting wheel. You can get it at Home Depot or Lowes.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000302Y8/?tag=wranglerorg-20

This method is a bit sketchy for several reasons.

1: bolt is single shear so you are counting on the strength of the bolt to not bend or snap. That's not what they are designed for.

2: most SS is about grade 2 or possibly grade 5... Don't do that, use grade 8

3: no sleeve in the frame so proper torture for that bolt could crush the frame rails (not sure what I mean? Look at how your steering box is mounted)

4: also related to no sleeve, any looseness on that bolt later on will wollow out the holes in the frame rail because it's only supposed at a very small point (the thickness of the steel on the frame side walls)

5: the tension holding that bolt in place on the frame rail is limited by the rubber bushing in the shock, no way in hell has it got the correct clamping force to stay straight in the frame long term.

6: the threaded part of the bolt is inside the shock bushing sleeve, this will alow the threads to eat into the mild steel sleeve essentially threading it and making it difficult to remove later. A few years down the road with some winter's added in for good measure, that bolt will not come out without cutting the head off and taking it through the frame with the shock.

7: did I mention how bad an idea having that bolt in single shear with no way to properly torque it is? Ok good.

8: no really, mounting a bolt that way is asking for it.

I bet if you look at the Tacoma he's talking about you will find that while a bolt does go through the frame it's got a sleeve inside so you can torque it without crushing the frame, I also bet there is a way to get correct torque on the bolt before the shock ever touches it. Even further, there may be a bracket that goes off the frame to the other side of the bolt as well to keep the tip supported.

—
There must have been a time
when we could have said no.

 

[skrelnik]

This method is a bit sketchy for several reasons.

1: bolt is single shear so you are counting on the strength of the bolt to not bend or snap. That's not what they are designed for.

2: most SS is about grade 2 or possibly grade 5... Don't do that, use grade 8

3: no sleeve in the frame so proper torture for that bolt could crush the frame rails (not sure what I mean? Look at how your steering box is mounted)

4: also related to no sleeve, any looseness on that bolt later on will wollow out the holes in the frame rail because it's only supposed at a very small point (the thickness of the steel on the frame side walls)

5: the tension holding that bolt in place on the frame rail is limited by the rubber bushing in the shock, no way in hell has it got the correct clamping force to stay straight in the frame long term.

6: the threaded part of the bolt is inside the shock bushing sleeve, this will alow the threads to eat into the mild steel sleeve essentially threading it and making it difficult to remove later. A few years down the road with some winter's added in for good measure, that bolt will not come out without cutting the head off and taking it through the frame with the shock.

7: did I mention how bad an idea having that bolt in single shear with no way to properly torque it is? Ok good.

8: no really, mounting a bolt that way is asking for it.

I bet if you look at the Tacoma he's talking about you will find that while a bolt does go through the frame it's got a sleeve inside so you can torque it without crushing the frame, I also bet there is a way to get correct torque on the bolt before the shock ever touches it. Even further, there may be a bracket that goes off the frame to the other side of the bolt as well to keep the tip supported.

—
There must have been a time
when we could have said no.

I have literally no idea what you said or are even referring to.

I used a dremel to cut a broken bolt and then inserted a new bolt. Lots of people did it this way without any issue or concerns. Some raised the tub to access the bolt, some cut a hole in the tub to access the bolt. All bolts were cut and new bolts were used.

All I was saying is that flex shaft attachment is small enough to get into the area with having to cut an access hole or raise the body off the frame.

How would you remove a broken rear upper shock bolt?

 

[jazngab]

I have literally no idea what you said or are even referring to.

I used a dremel to cut a broken bolt and then inserted a new bolt. Lots of people did it this way without any issue or concerns. Some raised the tub to access the bolt, some cut a hole in the tub to access the bolt. All bolts were cut and new bolts were used.

All I was saying is that flex shaft attachment is small enough to get into the area with having to cut an access hole or raise the body off the frame.

How would you remove a broken rear upper shock bolt?

From what I gathered, I feel like he is referring to that YouTube video of putting the bolt thru the frame of the Jeep to mount the shock. But then again I could be wrong

 

[skrelnik]

From what I gathered, I feel like he is referring to that YouTube video of putting the bolt thru the frame of the Jeep to mount the shock. But then again I could be wrong

Oh, so maybe he is talking about installing the new bolt and shock instead of how to remove a broken rear upper shock bolt?

 

[Squatch]

From what I gathered, I feel like he is referring to that YouTube video of putting the bolt thru the frame of the Jeep to mount the shock. But then again I could be wrong

That's how I read it, as well...

 

[Drizit]

From what I gathered, I feel like he is referring to that YouTube video of putting the bolt thru the frame of the Jeep to mount the shock. But then again I could be wrong

I was indeed referring to the video where the guy talks about drilling a hole in the side of the frame and putting a long bolt through so as to not use the stock mount setup.

—
There must have been a time
when we could have said no.

 

[Drizit]

I have literally no idea what you said or are even referring to.

I used a dremel to cut a broken bolt and then inserted a new bolt. Lots of people did it this way without any issue or concerns. Some raised the tub to access the bolt, some cut a hole in the tub to access the bolt. All bolts were cut and new bolts were used.

All I was saying is that flex shaft attachment is small enough to get into the area with having to cut an access hole or raise the body off the frame.

How would you remove a broken rear upper shock bolt?

Sorry I should have paired down the quote to just the link to that video to make it clear what I was on about. My only excuse is I'd been up for 23h at that point.

—
There must have been a time
when we could have said no.

 

[skrelnik]

Sorry I should have paired down the quote to just the link to that video to make it clear what I was on about. My only excuse is I'd been up for 23h at that point.

—
There must have been a time
when we could have said no.

Haha...gotcha. I was so confused at first but makes sense now.

No excuses, drink more coffee! It's the lifeblood that fuels the dreams of champions!

 

[Drizit]

No excuses, drink more coffee! It's the lifeblood that fuels the dreams of champions!

Lol, you are not wrong.

—
There must have been a time
when we could have said no.

 

[Tigger09]

I replaced my shocks today and didn't see this method posted so I figured I'd add it to this thread for the next person.

I replaced my shocks today and only one rear bolt came loose after trying kroil, heat and time. I ended up removing the fender liners and there was just enough access behind the liner to see the bolts and get a 13mm wench on to each of the bolts when installing the new shocks.

I was able to cut the welded nuts through the hole for the shock and see what I was doing from the wheel well. Then I was able to punch the bolts and nuts from the bottom and then twist the nut out from the area behind the liner. All in all I spent more time trying to save the bolts than I did cutting them out.

In the photo you can see the bolt head next to the rail and the white Rancho shock.

 

[DarkStar]

Greetings all.
I had managed to twist off both of the upper rear shock bolts on the driver side on my TJ. I had soaked the bolts with Blaster, Kroil, Creep, etc. for months prior to my attempt at removing the shocks. I used my Dremel with the 90° attachment and a EZ cutting disc to cut loose both welded nuts. It was not overly difficult to access as I have a 3" body lift on top of the 4" suspension lift. It was tedious and took a bit of time. After separating both nuts from the frame, I used the Dremel with a grinding disc to smooth out the surface. Once I could see the "rusty ring", I used a punch from underneath to knock out what remained of the bolt etc. I then cleaned up the surface a bit more. The holes through the frame were wide open without a need to drill them out. I have ordered M8x1.25 10.9 bolts with serrated nuts. Hopefully this will do the trick. Rebuilding the rear suspension equates to more fun than an old man deserves.

 

[Fonz54]

Today was the day. After months of spraying the upper and lower rear shock bolts with Kroil for months, was ready to rock and roll! Passenger side easy peasy came out with little effort. Drivers side, inboard upper bolt piece of cake. Lower nut and bolt ditto. However that not good rotten SOB of an outboard top bolt no bueno. Started to come out was working it slowly singing sweet love songs to it when suddenly the sucker snapped. Some much for that love affair. Now I am left wondering whether to cut the hole in the tub or do a Savvy BL and see if get enough room with the tub unbolted to get in and cut the offending nut off. Any thoughts from the members here as to whether I would have enough room doing the BL to get a Dremel in there and cut the nut off?
Thanks

 

[whitrzac]

I spent more time trying to not break those bolts than I did cutting the nuts off and dropping bolts down through the holes.

Get the $20 diamond cutoff wheel for the dremal.
Stick dremal up through the hole for the shock
Cut off nut
Drop bolt with lock washer from the top. The lock washer will allow you to get the night tight.

Done.

 

[jazngab]

Today was the day. After months of spraying the upper and lower rear shock bolts with Kroil for months, was ready to rock and roll! Passenger side easy peasy came out with little effort. Drivers side, inboard upper bolt piece of cake. Lower nut and bolt ditto. However that not good rotten SOB of an outboard top bolt no bueno. Started to come out was working it slowly singing sweet love songs to it when suddenly the sucker snapped. Some much for that love affair. Now I am left wondering whether to cut the hole in the tub or do a Savvy BL and see if get enough room with the tub unbolted to get in and cut the offending nut off. Any thoughts from the members here as to whether I would have enough room doing the BL to get a Dremel in there and cut the nut off?
Thanks

I cut the tub and used 2” square plugs when all said and done. Future shocks won’t be a problem.

 

[skrelnik]

Today was the day. After months of spraying the upper and lower rear shock bolts with Kroil for months, was ready to rock and roll! Passenger side easy peasy came out with little effort. Drivers side, inboard upper bolt piece of cake. Lower nut and bolt ditto. However that not good rotten SOB of an outboard top bolt no bueno. Started to come out was working it slowly singing sweet love songs to it when suddenly the sucker snapped. Some much for that love affair. Now I am left wondering whether to cut the hole in the tub or do a Savvy BL and see if get enough room with the tub unbolted to get in and cut the offending nut off. Any thoughts from the members here as to whether I would have enough room doing the BL to get a Dremel in there and cut the nut off?
Thanks

No need to cut the tub. I broke the same bolt and cut the nut with a Dremel. This attachment helped out.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000302Y8/?tag=wranglerorg-20

 

[Fonz54]

No need to cut the tub. I broke the same bolt and cut the nut with a Dremel. This attachment helped out.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000302Y8/?tag=wranglerorg-20

Where or how did you get access to the welded nut? Also, how did you get wrench on the new nut?
Lou

 

[BryantJT]

With the shock out you can go up through the hole where the head of the shock sits and get 1/3 to 1/2 way around the nut.

I used a 1 1/4" hole saw and drilled a hole in the tub to get more of the weld off with the dremel. Mine were not tack welded, they were full perimeter welded square nuts.

If you manage to get the nut out without drilling a hole, you can get a wrench in between the body and frame in the wheel well to hold the bolt head. Not sure if you can reach the inboard one that way once the shock is in though, which is why I just drilled a hole.