OK those damm tork bolts are at it again. I'm in the mist of a rebuild of my
93 wrangler and have broken the heads off a number of tork bolts. Really not too bad out of the roughly 30 if have freed only 4 broke ott. They have broken clean to the body. Any trick or suggestions. Thanks.Drill them out and tap the holes. It is essential to get a good center when you do this. Punch the broken bolt really carefully with a center punch, and then drill a small pilot hole. If you have to, clean it up with a dremel before punching. It is hard to put a good punch mark, in a surface that is uneven or slanted. No trick, just hard work and being careful. It might help to soak with penetrating oil. Sometimes, if you do this the broken bolt will break loose when you get a drill bit in it. Don't count on this though.
If you get impatient just blast a hole in it with a cutting torch, and put a nut behind it. ;^)
Earle
Which ones snapped?
If you are specific, there are tricks for some of them.
Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail >Broken bolts are two on the windshield brackets, and two on the passenger seat bracket and one on the tailgate to body bracket.
Thanks for the help.
The body side torx bolts for the windshield frame had glued on nuts so they can just be punched through. Those are the two on the body side of the door post. A little heat can also just make them fall off the inside.
I soak the broken bolts first in the best penetrating oil I can find. Just a note, WD40 isn't a good penetrant.
Other than that, I take a punch and make a mark, then run an 1/8" bit down the bolt, then one larger after. I normally soak these in oil while drilling. I try hard to run the small bit slightly 'off' center, I don't want it centered at all.
Then when I run a larger bit down through the bolt, it will hopefully slightly tag the threads on one side of the bolt. This leaves a quarter moon shaped chunk of metal in the hole that usually will just spin right out.
Depending on how close I made the small hole, I used a 3/16" or a 1/4" or a 5/16" bit for the 3/8" body bolts. Which ever one I think will 'just' skin the threads on the one side, but usually the 1/4" one is right.
I have had very good luck using the above method on rust snapped bolts and have seldom damaged the threads beyond re-use. I do use a thread sealer like loctite on the new bolts to stop future rust.
Mike
Lovs2fly wrote:
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