Rear Shocks Upper Bolts Broken.... What to do

greta · 03-01-2010, 05:34 AM

Hi,
Tried to replace the shocks yesterday. Front went on really easy. The rear had 3 out of 4 upper bolts snap/break. WTF??? I spent about three hours trying to drill out one of the three broken bolts. Got pretty far but never made it. Broke about 5 or 6 drill bits. Amazing how the head of the bolt can be such a POS and the length of the bolt can be undefeatable. Anyway, what can I do from here? Are there any secret techniques to fixing this or just keep on, keeping on?

dualtjs · 03-01-2010, 05:43 AM

Drill them out, use a dremel type tool to cut them off, big screw drive & BFH or air hammer are the most successful methods. Many people, who don't have a 1" BL loosen the tub bolts and lift it an inch or so to get better access to the nuts to cut them off.

99TJtommy · 03-01-2010, 05:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dualtjs

Drill them out, use a dremel type tool to cut them off, big screw drive & BFH or air hammer are the most successful method. Many people, who don't have a 1" BL loosen the tub bolts and lift it an inch or so to get better access to the nuts to cut them off.

Thats what i had to do. Have fun.

greta · 03-01-2010, 06:34 AM

any special type of drill bit to use? like i said, i broke several bits... they weren't el' cheapo's either...

blacksmithdog · 03-01-2010, 06:51 AM

I drove a cone shaped burr on an air powered die grinder, up through the broken off bolts. I then drilled them to size. I through bolted them with nuts and lock washers on top. They are still tight. It's a royal PIA.

Whenever I take any bolt out anymore, I put some OMC water proof grease on the threads.

**TheBoogieman** · 03-01-2010, 07:12 AM

Jeep Horizons :: Fix Broken Upper Shock Bolts

tjthorson · 03-01-2010, 07:20 AM

Dont drill them - get a large punch (12" long, round flat tip of at least 1/4"). Hold the punch verticle and use a 5 lb hand slegde to hammer "up" and bend the nuts out of the way. They are only tack welded along one edge. Once they bend up, you can reach in between the frame and tub (may have to loosen a few body bolts and jack up the body a bit if you dont have a body lift) and use pliers to bend back and forth until the nuts come out. Get 5/16" x 1" stainless steel bolts, 4 flat washers, and nylon locking nuts to put it back together and never worry about it again....

**Wheelin98TJ** · 03-01-2010, 07:34 AM

You can also break the tack welded nut off the frame.

I think its a square nut if I remember correctly.

You can put a wrench on it and twist it right off. A breaker bar helps too.

**Unlimited04** · 03-01-2010, 07:37 AM

the bolts are hardened 10.9 steel...you need to Cobalt steel drill bits to get through them. drill a 1/16" pilot hole carefully with LOTS of lube. then follow it with a 1/4"....lots and lots of lube. long extended drill bits do wonders to help make the drill fit in the tight area.

if you have a body lift, you can stick a chisel in there on the weld-nut and attack the welds directly. have a buddy hit the chisel with a BFH/sledge. attack the weld itself...not the nut. you'll just dent the nut, you need to break the weld to bust the whole thing off.

dualtjs · 03-01-2010, 07:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wheelin98TJ

You can put a wrench on it and twist it right off. A breaker bar helps too.

Forgot about that method when I wrote the list. A big pair of vise grips works too.

greta · 03-05-2010, 07:10 AM

finally got this fixed with the help of my brother-in-law.

got three of the original four bolts back in their original position however had to drill a new a new hole slightly offset on the rear, upper, drivers side, closest to the center of the vehicle bolt b/c we could not get to that bolt because the gas tank was in the way... we would litterally had to have dropped the gas tank b/c of the angle it was at.

anyway, thanks for all the help and suggestions.

reckit21 · 03-05-2010, 08:12 AM

Just did the same thing last weekend while installing my lift... We ended up going the hammer and chisel route... Never would have worked without the body lift though...

Metzroth · 01-13-2011, 09:08 AM

Another vote for BFH and punch. I put off installing my rear shocks because I got under there and looked at them and knew they would snap. This morning I got on here before I started and saw that people had simply beat them out using a BFH so I went at each bolt knowing it was probably going to break. EVERY ONE broke. When I got done I took my 2lb sledge and a punch and beat them out. The first three came out in less than 5 minutes. I beat on the last one for about 45 minutes but it did come out. An hour later I am done with removing the broken bolts and simply need to head to the hardware store to pick up new bolts. Save your self the hassle and get the new bolts, nuts, and washers ahead of time. If you don't end up needing them, good for you! Atleast you will be prepared.

**greg_kulosa** · 01-13-2011, 01:45 PM

After snapping off both of the upper bolts doing the passenger side, I sprayed PB Blaster on the drivers side bolts every day for a week before I tried taking them out. Worked like a charm - they came right out without a problem.

Before I do my lift, I'm going to PB-Blaster everything under there to make sure I don't run into this problem.

**biffgnar** · 01-13-2011, 02:04 PM

Given that this thread is 9 months old, I'm hopeful that OP's problem is solved and he doesn't need any further advice. Additionally there are countless threads on this topic so even new people with this issue should have no problem finding answers if they use the search function.