Broken easy out inside a broken bolt

Hammer24

TJ Enthusiast
Joined
Jan 29, 2019
Messages
428
Location
Melbourne, Australia
I've found myself in quite the pickle here. The other day we had super high winds and i opened my door, and it swung out so hard that one of the bolts snapped holding that little loop for the door strap. I tried to use an easy out and the easy out bit snapped inside the bolt so now I can't even re drill the snapped bolt because the snapped bit is hardened steel. Anyone have any ideas or am I just going to have to drill a new hole to the right of the original and rivnut it.
 
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Walton makes a tool that will remove broken taps.

Walton Tool
 
I think I would just consider relocating the bracket rather than invest in a $60.00 -$90.00 in a solution to remove the broken extractor. However if I routinely ran across rusted bolts in my restoration projects, I think that Walton set would warrant additional investigation.
 
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No reason to panic - you simply need a different bit. Same exact thing happened to me on my rear upper shock mount. Bolt broke, easy off broke, life sucks.

The only reason this is an issue is because easy-outs are hardened - so much so that it is harder than your drill-bit.

The solution, of course, is nothing other than getting a better drill bit.

In my case, for space reasons alone, I used my dremel with a carbide tipped bit in it to create a small crater in the middle of the easy out, then switched over to split-point carbide I ordered through Amazon.

When I broke off the Grade 8 bolt in the shock bump stop I skipped the easy out and went straight to the carbide. Drilled right through it like nothing at all.

d-
 
Thanks for the suggestions guys, might look into some harder cobalt or carbide bits as I can't seem to find those other options available near me. I can get some left handed cobalt bits, could be a good option?
 
Carbide drill bit at low speed and plenty of oil (not WD-40) to keep it cool. Its likely when you tried to drill it out before the material got way to hot essentially case hardening it.
Make small pecks while blowing out chips and re-lubing in between cuts.
 
Thanks for the suggestions guys, might look into some harder cobalt or carbide bits as I can't seem to find those other options available near me. I can get some left handed cobalt bits, could be a good option?
Left handed cobalt are perfect! Sometimes you’ll get lucky and since it’s spinning to the left it will also act like an easy out.
 
i was doing a bedliner on the tub and snapped 3 of the 4 bolts that hold in the rear seat brackets. they wouldnt come out after a night in liquid wrench and a screw extractor. i ended up drilling through 2 of them and decided maybe i could try the extractor on one last bolt since its been sitting in the liquid wrench the longest. bad idea. screw extractor snapped off right inside the bolt and i couldnt drill through it anymore. i ended up installing the backseat with only 3 bolts because i needed to drive family to the airport but i'd
extractor bit.jpeg
like to solve this problem the right way. maybe i'll see if i can find a carbide bit bc ive broken 3 of my milwaukees. rough day,