Rusty skid plate bolts

[Johnfromphilly]

I am in the process of removing, cleaning, painting and rehanging my skid plate. As much as I thought my TJ was rust free, there was rust in the area around the skid plate bolt holes on both the frame and the plate itself. I wire wheeled most of it off and am applying Rust-Oleum rust reformer to the area right at the bolt holes that still had some rust.
Question: can I paint the bolts? I hit these with the wire wheel and cleaned these as much as I could, hit them with rust remover and cleaned them again. Still some rust remains and I don’t want to put them back in like this. Can I paint these with the Rust Reformer paint and then a top coat of frame paint? How else should I deal with this? I plan on adding anti seize before they go back in but the rust scares me for the future.

 

[CharlesHS]

I wouldn't paint the bolts...., but once you have them installed you could lightly dust the head of each bolt.
IF you decide to add anti-seize (not recommended); I would not apply any otherwise the blue loc-tite will not work.

 

[Johnfromphilly]

I wouldn't paint the bolts...., but once you have them installed you could lightly dust the head of each bolt.
IF you decide to add anti-seize (not recommended); I would not apply any otherwise the blue loc-tite will not work.

I have read in many places to add anti seize to avoid the bolts sticking and ripping out the nurserts.

Is the blue Loc tite? why would they have put Loc tite on these bolts?

 

[qslim]

I just replaced all my nutserts & hardware with Blaine’s kit. Definitely put some anti-seize on the new bolts & added some drain holes in the frame. I also added a washer in between the skid & frame at each bolt location just to provide a small air gap, that way moisture won’t get trapped & I can get fluid film in there.

I’m not sure why there would be loc tite on these bolts, I’d clean that off.

 

[Kid Mechanic]

They have been on for twenty years and neglected. I think you have done a wonderful job and with the thoughtful care you are giving your Jeep should be good to go for another twenty.

 

[qslim]

They have been on for twenty years and neglected. I think you have done a wonderful job and with the thoughtful care you are giving your Jeep should be good to go for another twenty.

I think it’s impressive they all came out in the first place! I was throwing sparks off cutting wheels for days the first time I dropped my skid.

 

[CharlesHS]

Recently when I was preparing to remove the skid plate bolts; I soaked them a couple days earlier with PB Blaster to make their removal easier. Once the bolts started to move I rotated them CW and CCW to ensure the debris in the threads was pushed out so that bolts didn't bind up in the nutsert threads. After I removed the bolts I chased the threads with a tap and wire brushed the bolts to clean the threads before installing the transfercase skid plate drop bolts.

 

[Johnfromphilly]

So I decided to tape up the threads and paint the base of each bolt. This should allow the threads to go in as before but it hit the heavy rust areas on the base with “rust reformer”.
I don’t know what to do about the blue if that is Loc tite. I will be adding anti seize before putting them back in.

This is what I did, top right I took off the tape to show the threads:

 

[Johnfromphilly]

I just replaced all my nutserts & hardware with Blaine’s kit. Definitely put some anti-seize on the new bolts & added some drain holes in the frame. I also added a washer in between the skid & frame at each bolt location just to provide a small air gap, that way moisture won’t get trapped & I can get fluid film in there.

I’m not sure why there would be loc tite on these bolts, I’d clean that off.

How do you clean it off? It didn’t come off with a wire wheel on a drill.

 

[qslim]

How do you clean it off? It didn’t come off with a wire wheel on a drill.

Bench grinder wire wheel

 

[Johnfromphilly]

Bench grinder wire wheel

I don’t have one. I have a wire wheel on my drill and hit it hard yesterday and it didn’t make a dent. I am just going to add anti seize to each bolt before I put them back in. Will that work?

 

[never monday]

I don’t have one. I have a wire wheel on my drill and hit it hard yesterday and it didn’t make a dent. I am just going to add anti seize to each bolt before I put them back in. Will that work?

Yes, be sure to add some to the cone seat of the head as well as the threads.

 

[Midtenn]

Does the conical bolt head matter? Mine are just standard bolts.

 

[never monday]

Does the conical bolt head matter? Mine are just standard bolts.

IIRC the early OE skids have a cone seat it engages.

 

[Johnfromphilly]

Does the conical bolt head matter? Mine are just standard bolts.

My skid plate has a recessed area the cone fits into.

 

[JMT]

I am in the process of removing, cleaning, painting and rehanging my skid plate. As much as I thought my TJ was rust free, there was rust in the area around the skid plate bolt holes on both the frame and the plate itself. I wire wheeled most of it off and am applying Rust-Oleum rust reformer to the area right at the bolt holes that still had some rust.
Question: can I paint the bolts? I hit these with the wire wheel and cleaned these as much as I could, hit them with rust remover and cleaned them again. Still some rust remains and I don’t want to put them back in like this. Can I paint these with the Rust Reformer paint and then a top coat of frame paint? How else should I deal with this? I plan on adding anti seize before they go back in but the rust scares me for the future.

View attachment 238014

Just buy some new stainless bolts. Use anti-seize, torque to 75-80% of spec.

 

[Midtenn]

IIRC the early OE skids have a cone seat it engages.

Mine is an 03. I wonder if it changed over time.

 

[Johnfromphilly]

Just buy some new stainless bolts. Use anti-seize, torque to 75-80% of spec.

Where can I get them? I was planning on finishing the reassembly today after painting.

 

[JMT]

Mine is an 03. I wonder if it changed over time.

Yes, they did. The 97-02 are an SAE thread and the 03-06 are a Metric.

 

[JMT]

Where can I get them? I was planning on finishing the reassembly today after painting.

Any local hardware store. Just take one in the store and get a matching thread. Get help from a person who works the floor or lay the threads in each other to make sure they are identical. If you need to drive your Jeep there, put 5 in the skid and you’ll be fine. Buy stainless to avoid future rust as much as possible.