How do I remove factory skid plate spinning bolt inserts?

G-Whiz

G-Whiz

TJ Enthusiast
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Apr 13, 2017
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Hayward, CA, United States
Need to get the the transfer case and need to remove the factory Skid Plate; however, the bolts seem to be seized inside the inserts and just spin the inserts.

Anybody else had this issue? And if so, how did you get the bolts out.

Worse case scenario, take a cut-off wheel and grind them off...
 
Better go ahead and order 6 new nutserts from Blaine. You'll probably have to end up cutting the bolts off and drilling out the nutserts.
 
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If you can get the bolts out you could tack weld the nutserts to stop them from spinning if the threads are still good.
 
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Just finished fighting with them myself. Had to cut off the two front most bolts. The other 4 came out. Replaced those 4 bolts with new ones and added lots of anti seize. Not going to worry about the two front ones right now.
 
xxdabroxx said:
I had one spin. I jumped up and down on a prybar creating tension downward on the skid while my dad used an impact to zip it off. I haven't replaced that one bolt yet but plan to when I do my clutch.
Click to expand...
Yeah this, but good luck. If they are corroded at all, it takes a LOT of pressure to bind the nutsert...and still allow the bolt to spin. You'll probably end up cutting the heads off. Just fought that fight with my front bumper...Stupid Rust :BangHead::BangHead:
 
G-Whiz said:
ah, BMB... I use there pads & shoes!

but the link is for <2002 TJs, mine is '06.... same same??





What was the method and/or tool used to cut-off the head? kinda tight space to use a 3" cut-off wheel...
Click to expand...

I think 03 up used 12mm metric thread. 02 prior was 1/2uss. @mrblaine for clarification?
 
Just crawled underneath the car and its the 2 Tranny Skid Plate bolts that are gonna be a pain; the u-shape of the brace makes it hard to get a cut-off wheel to.

I can use a cut-off wheel to decapitate the belly skid with no problem... I hope!
 
G-Whiz said:
Need to get the the transfer case and need to remove the factory Skid Plate; however, the bolts seem to be seized inside the inserts and just spin the inserts.

Anybody else had this issue? And if so, how did you get the bolts out.

Worse case scenario, take a cut-off wheel and grind them off...
Click to expand...

What sometimes works is to get a prybar in there and pry down on the skid and then hit the bolt with an impact to spin it out. Try tightening by hand first with a long handle ratchet to see if you can get the nutsert to set tighter before you do much else.

Barring that working, pry it down and go in the gap with a thin cut off wheel.
 
G-Whiz said:
ah, BMB... I use there pads & shoes!

What was the method and/or tool used to cut-off the head? kinda tight space to use a 3" cut-off wheel...
Click to expand...

I had a skyjacker drop on it that was there when I bought it I was trying to remove. So I cut right through the square tube they use for the drop and cut the bolt in half. Sawzall would have worked too if I would have had one but I used an angle grinder with a cutoff wheel.
 
The prying did not work for me so I got out my 7" HF grinder and sliced the bolts then installed Blaine's nutserts. Make sure you put anti-sieze on the new bolts.
 
joy... Joy... JOY!!!! Wahoo!!! Well, partially...

crawled underneath to physically check how many bolts (inserts) were compromised and actually was able to easily remove all 6 from the TC skid plate!!! I noticed that each bolt had blue threadlock on some of the threads, but areas that didn't had some form of corrosion or rust. Took a die and chased all the threads on each bolt and took a tap a carefully chased the threads on each insert. Applied a liberal amount of Anti-sieze to the threads, re-installed and torque'd to 40lbs.


Now the bad news, both the bolts/inserts on the Tranny skid spun like a top; will break out the sawzall and cut-off this weekend. Ordered replacements from MrBlaine.

At least now, I can get the TC down to prep it for a SYE; which comes in next week...

 
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Did a complete skid-plate nut-sert replacement last year- all 6 of the existing factory nutserts were spinning inside the frame while tring to remove. Tried many of the suggested methods of removal but what worked best for me from what I recall was:
1. support the TC and the skid.
2. get a slight gap started between the skid plate and the frame rail.
3. get a Sawzall with a steel cutting "Carbide-tipped" saw blade.
4. get enough of a gap started by any means - for the blade to get to the bolts - cut each bolt right outta there.

5. Prepare to drop the Skid- plate - IMPORTANT - FIRST: don't forget to remove the 4 small nuts in the area of the center of the Skid, these support the small mounting bracket connected to the rear of the trans/TC - these 4 nuts "HAVE-TO" be removed before dropping the skid.

5a. This is a very good opportunity to get some POR 15 onto the frame rails and skid to slow down future rust in this area.

6. use a drift pin and hammer and punch the existing nutserts into the frame rail - if that doesn't work, try drilling using a drill-bit the same size as the existing hole in the fame rail so as not to "enlarge" the the existing hole.
(I left the old factory nut-serts inside the frame-rail without any noticeable issues)

7. Ordered the new Nut-serts from BlackMagic - followed the instructions on how to make the Nutsert Tool - to make the "Tool", it will cost you about $5 bucks at the hardware store.

8. I found getting the new Nutserts started in the Frame-rail was to "Pre-load" the new Nutsert, slightly expanding it before getting it into the hole - this step was to prevent the new nut from spinning while your in the process of "crushing" it so it expands into the fame rail.

9. Also decided that this was a good opportunity to install a 1 inch TC drop - since I had just installed a 2 Inch lift kit and 31's a month prior. (if you do the TC drop, you will need longer bolts than the ones that come with the new Nutserts - these can also be bought at any Hardware store for a few bucks.

10. Got the skid plate positioned under the jeep (most any type of jack will work in supporting the plate while getting new bolts into their respective holes) Installed the 1 inch spacers between the skid-plate and the frame-rail - tightened all the bolts - removed the support that was mentioned in step #1 - removed the support mentioned in step # 10.
 
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Decide to tackle the spinners this morning, so I took a grinder and ground off the head of the bolt.

I started in the middle and went side-to-side, i left ears on the outside of the head to keep the wheel from falling off:
20170422_062251.jpg


Once I ground down to the washer, I grounded off the ears:
20170422_062829.jpg


then all I had to do was take a small pry bar, pry off the washer and done&done!

All in all, it took about 5 minutes for each bolts...
20170422_063310.jpg


Next step: spot weld the insert, take a pair of vise-grips and remove the bolt thread...
 
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