2003 TJ tailgate hinge screws not budging

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GabrielB

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Hilton Head, SC
Well...hello again. Next step on fixing my wife's TJ is replacing the tailgate. It is all corroded on the bottom. Crunchy on both sides. So. I ordered another used tailgate and painted it. Got it ready to go, but I cannot remove the 4 screws that hold the thing to the hinge. Broke 2 T40 bits already. Sprayed the screws with PB Blaster for a few days in a row, heated them with a mini torch, used my regular ratchet and later an impact gun. Screws are just not moving. Any idea besides drilling them out? If anyone had to drill those screws out before....tips to avoid damage to the hinge? I don't care too much about the tailgate itself. Thought about repairing it, but that will involve cutting out the whole bottom of it, cutting a good bottom of another tailgate, welding both parts together with the MIG welder, grinding, using bondo and messing with the reinforcement that the tailgate has spot welded inside. Sound like an awful lot of work, and chances that it will look good are slim. I'm just being realistic about my aptitude as a welder.
So, any ideas or tips will be much appreciated. Thanks a lot!
 
I took mine off for repair, it's a 97 rustbelt Jeep. You are on the right track. I used a torch with a small welding tip, it took 3-4 heat-cool cycles to get them to break free. You have to get the bolt red hot then let it cool, lather rinse repeat. I put the blue feather in the center of the torx crater. Don't impact a red hot bolt as it can twist off because once you heat a hardened bolt it is no longer a hardened bolt, the temper is gone. Careful with the heat because the hinge is aluminum or some kind of pot metal. BTW I bought a set of Harbor Freight impact torx bits and they are proving to be a very good set. Good luck.
 
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Lisle 61980 is an extractor set specifically made for stripped out internal torx. I have used them many times on stripped torx fasteners with excellent results. They also work on stripped internal Allen, and have even used them as a regular easy out. Might be worth a try here.
 
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I got lucky and only had one. There wasn't enough of it left to weld a nut onto it. But, I was able to take a thick washer, grind sides into it to fit a 9/16" open end wrench on it, then weld the washer onto what was left. While warm, started spraying it down with penetrant. started working it back and forth, back and forth, then a little more and so on, until it came out.
 
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Well, since you are already replacing the tailgate anyway the easiest way is to drill the heads of the torx bolts to get the crusty tailgate off. Buy new bolts to install the new tailgate. Done.
The real trouble comes when trying to replace the hinges and trying to get the bolts out of the quarterpanel corners. Been there, done that, what a pain.
 
Don't use a bolt/screw extractor. That's what I used and that broke inside the screw. That was funny drilling out for about 3 hours and you won't be able to salvage the hinge.
I believe a 3/8 drill bit works perfectly. You'll know when to stop because the head will come off on the drill bit. Once you have all 4 out you can move the hinge out of the way and I'd spray some more PB blaster on the remaining pieces. Just use a vice grip and spin them off. They are a lot easy to spin at that point.
 
rhanna said:
Don't use a bolt/screw extractor. That's what I used and that broke inside the screw. That was funny drilling out for about 3 hours and you won't be able to salvage the hinge.
I believe a 3/8 drill bit works perfectly. You'll know when to stop because the head will come off on the drill bit. Once you have all 4 out you can move the hinge out of the way and I'd spray some more PB blaster on the remaining pieces. Just use a vice grip and spin them off. They are a lot easy to spin at that point.
Click to expand...
5/16" bit
 
PB Blaster isn't a very good penatrant to begin with. Use Kroil, or mix your own up. When you get the bolt (or whatever) up to temp try to rapidly cool it to help shock the corrosion bond between parts. If you are inside then even using water to rapidly cool the part down will work better than PB Blaster. They make a special tool that attaches to your air chisel to impact the fastener in/out and you turn with a wrench to help get those stuck S.O.B.s loose. Rather than applying rotational force like an impact will do. Hopefully someone can chime in as to where/what it's called. But if you don't need to reuse the old tailgate, just use the air chisel and knock those suckers off quick and easy👍
 
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Lots of good feedback here!!...Thanks a lot y'all!...I think I'll drill them out and toss the old tailgate or just cut it out for floor and body patches. My only concern is to minimize the damage to the hinges. They're expensive and I don't want to mess with the other 4 screws at the quarter panel corners.
I'll post some pictures whenever I'm done.
Thanks again!!
 
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GabrielB said:
Lots of good feedback here!!...Thanks a lot y'all!...I think I'll drill them out and toss the old tailgate or just cut it out for floor and body patches. My only concern is to minimize the damage to the hinges. They're expensive and I don't want to mess with the other 4 screws at the quarter panel corners.
I'll post some pictures whenever I'm done.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Used OEM tailgate hinges aren't all that expensive at places like Ray's Wranglers Baseline 4 x 4 Davies Jeeps
 
OK...I was finally able to finish this project (had very bad cold and soggy weather over here). I removed the 4 screws to the tailgate, not without breaking first 2 drill bits (one of them a fancy Milwaukee Titanium, that broke like it was made out of crystal as soon as it started digging on the screws) and 2 T40 bits (was trying at first with my impact gun). Had to drill all 4 screws out. After I removed the old tailgate out, I lined up the "new" one and installed 4 new screws. The original tailgate had a vent on it, and the "new" one does not. I didn't think there was any other difference between them until I tried to move the key lock from the old one to the new one. The hole for the key lock is different (bigger hole on the newer version with vent), so I had to disassemble both lock mechanisms and move the original key drum from the old gate to the new one. It was a PITA, but I was finally able to do it. Overall, I'm satisfied with the results, even though the color does not match exactly. I'd rather have a slight color mismatch, covered anyways by the full size spare tire, than a rotted tailgate.
Thanks a lot to those who gave me ideas and feedback!...Now, on to fix the bad rust at the bottom of the windshield frame....
Hasta la vista.....

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Drill a hole or find a place to spray in a LOT of Fluid Film or even baby oil to soak that entire pinch seam at the bottom of your new tailgate. Tape up any drain holes for a few days to be sure the rust prevention goes from side to side all the way and has time to seep into the seam.
Do this to your doors too. Best rust prevention you can do for these three parts.

Every couple years repeat. You can warm up 'Crisco' to a liquid and use that too. It will cool back to a semi-solid at the pinch seam that should be a near permanent way of keeping water away and stop any rust from ever forming.👍
 
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I had to drill out three of the four on the tub side, Could NOT get the others out. Ended up tapping on the "stubs" and the plates(flag nuts?) fell out. I was able to use the top one but had to make a new one for the bottom. It was a complete PITA to get put back in place but it worked. Just another option.
 
Thanks Goatman for the advise. Yes, the tailgate has drain holes on the bottom, but they get covered by the weather strip. But I'm planning on using them to spray oil or WD-40 inside the tailgate to protect it.
Maktal...that's the reason I'm trying to avoid disturbing stuff unless absolutely necessary. I know perfectly well how south things can go when you start removing parts....I don't understand why Jeeps rust so much. This is my first vehicle ever to have this kind of rust, and was a GA vehicle most of its life, so no salt or snow...but I'll leave the discussion about rust right there...don't want to open a can of worms.....:censored::LOL:
 
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Not WD. Dosen't stay where you spray it. Use oil that will stay put. That's why so many use the Fluid Film. It will not all drain out. Most (or all) will seep into crevices and climb g to the metal to prevent water from even reaching the seam. This will force the water out the drains without soaking into anything.
 
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