FJ Cruisers of Northern California

Stripped bolt

In a bit of a pickle. As I wasmounting my new front skid it appears that the bolt they gave me was too long, or the spacer they gave me to short so as I tightened the bolt the end came in contact with the back side of the frame/cross bar and either stripped out the bolt or the threads. Now I can not remove the bolt. Unfortunately I am not supper mechanically inclined so i am not sure what to do at this point.

I have emailed the skid manufacturer and am awaiting a reply to see if they can help me figure out why this happened (wrong parts, I followed instructions wrong, etc). I am planning on attending the SPOD install tomorrow so if anyone that will be there has any thoughts that might help me that would be great.

Thanks for reading

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by cypilk on October 1, 2010 at 7:25pm

So, let me try to figure out what you are dealing with.

Is the bolt still in one piece? If so, is it spinning freely, or is it not moving at all?

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Permalink Reply by Lance on October 1, 2010 at 7:39pm

spinning freely left and right, fully intact

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Permalink Reply by DWH on October 1, 2010 at 7:59pm

I think the frame members have a nut tack welded to the inside of them. Maybe it broke loose. Try using a pair of pliers and pull on the bolt as you turn it. If that is the problem, you may be able to back it out.

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Permalink Reply by Lance on October 1, 2010 at 8:46pm

Thanks, I thought of that but was having a difficult time getting an angle to check. I will take a better look in the morning.

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Permalink Reply by cypilk on October 1, 2010 at 9:17pm

Good luck!

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Permalink Reply by Estysalinas on October 1, 2010 at 9:19pm

Could cut off the bolt with a dremal or something similar...but then you may have a loose bolt rattling around in your frame! Was the bolt not threaded all the way to the head? Did you thread it in so far that it went past the threads. If that is the case you may still have a shot at pulling it out.

I would get some pliers or vise grips and see if and some pressure away from the frame as you un ratchet it...

Keep us posted....good luck!

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Permalink Reply by Estysalinas on October 1, 2010 at 9:20pm

Take a picture....may help us visualize the problem...

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Permalink Reply by Lance on October 1, 2010 at 9:32pm

I just checked and the weld nut is not spinning free. I think what happend is the bolt is a bit too long and the spacer was too short so the part of the bolt with no threads made it all the way into the nut.

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Permalink Reply by gringo on October 2, 2010 at 8:46pm

hmm, I got back from high sierra run and I had one bolt gone from my skid on the crossmember, I bought another bolt and when I tried to put it on, wouldn't thread in, no bite, seems all the internal threads are gone in the crossmember thread hole

gonna have my mechanic brother look at it tommorrow