Broken front bumper bolts

[lovemachine]

So I decided to remove the front bumper so I can repaint it. The bolts came right out, except 2.

One bolt, the head broke right off. Damn.
The other bolt, it spins. I'm assuming the welded nut inside the frame broke loose.

I can't get that bolt out.

Anyone have any ideas what I need to do next? How do I fix this?

 

[Rob5589]

Probably going to have to grind the head off of the remaining one then try an EZ out or drill them out and re-tap.

 

[lovemachine]

Probably going to have to grind the head off of the remaining one then try an EZ out or drill them out and re-tap.

Retap? So the hole is just tapped? I thought those were nuts welded into the frame.

 

[lovemachine]

This gives me a headache.

 

[glwood]

I haven't gone outside to look, but is there a hole anywhere near on the bottom of the frame that you can get access to whatever is on the inside that the bolt threads into?

 

[Rob5589]

Retap? So the hole is just tapped? I thought those were nuts welded into the frame.

Ya know, I never looked that close when swapping bumpers so I assumed the frame was threaded.

 

[Upstater]

Those bolts look too new to be giving you that much trouble. The nuts on 2 were welded to frame other 2 could be reached from below. If these welds broke, just grind head off with 4" grinder. Rest of bolt will fall out. I used 3/8" thick rectangular steel stock about 1.5" long with hole drilled for bolt as alternative for welded nut. Slip it through frame hole and start bolt. It will wedge itself against inside of frame when you tighten it.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[lovemachine]

So I was able to cut the head of the bolt off. And I got the bumper off.

The bolt to the factory sway bar is still broke and stuck in the nut, in the frame.

The welded nut for the bumper bolt did break loose, and is now stuck in the frame.
I also noticed that the welded nut, closest to the front of the jeep frame, is a bit loose.

Any ideas how to fix that?

I'm wondering if I can break it loose, and slide a piece of steel in there, with nuts welded to it. And use that.

 

[cramil]

Getting ready to pull my front bumper to install an Antirock and I hope this doesn't happen to me. Gonna see if I can get some penetrating oil up in there before I try this.

BTW using a nut "fished" in on a strip of metal is pretty common to replace nutserts in these situations or add them where they aren't from the factory.

 

[JeepNWilly]

My bumper bolts got yanked out by being snatched out from a bad mud hole many years ago. I had to cut the back section off the top of the frame and welded new nuts to a new steel plate slid it into the frame and welded it back on. I have pics some where. when I find them I will post them