Hello, it's spring and Mango Mel has come out of the woodwork. Last year the bolts on the windshield hinges froze - the ones that you need when you take off the doors and put on a mirror to be legal.
Several people including a Jeep builder tried to loosen them and succeeded in stripping the bolts. Now it appears that the only solution is taking Mango to a body shop. Someone suggested a torch....
Anybody have any suggestions? I'd like to hear them.
TIA,
Mango Mel & the Jeepdogs '95 Wrangler
I used an impact wrench on mine and broke three Torx sockets before I gave up. But I HAD to change my rear door hinges, and had the same problem. I ended up drilling them out. You might try and EasyOut, but I wouldn't hold my breath. I didn't try a torch because I felt I'd bubble the surrounding paint with my luck. The tailgate hinge bolts weren't even rusted - they were just frozen. I'm not sure why. I blame it on the Torx bolts - the system works well for initial installation, but removal torque often renders them useless.
Dana '93 YJ
The ones that go into the body tub have heat activated 'loctite' on them.
If you use a torch they come right out in my experience. Then you 'will' have to repaint the hinges though...
They also have nuts on the inside that you have to remove the dash to get at. This means you can just take a 3/8" drill bit and drill out the heads. The bolt and nut will then just fall or can be pushed inside.
I have seen a nice set of mirrors for going doorless though. Steve Seppala from this group uses motorcycle mirrors he picked up at a Honda shop cheap. The fit right into the hinge hole and just need one nut on the bottom. They stay put and don't vibrate according to Steve.
Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT'sMango Mel wrote:
I had the same problem. I tried to get the out with a torx, but just stripped the bolts. I put a small brush in my die grinder and took the paint off the bolt heads with out getting the paint off the hinge (that was a challenge). Then I took a regular 3/8 bolt and tacked it to the torx head with my mig welder. The heat from welding melted loose the locktite, with out making the paint bubble. Worked great.
-Dan
Mike Roma> The ones that go into the body tub have heat activated 'loctite' on > them.
A couple years ago a friend of mine had this same problem on one of the four bolts. It was the first one we did, and we used a crappy quality torx bit on it (Learned our lesson and got the other four out easier by making sure to push REALLY HARD while trying to turn them, with a better quality torx bit).
Anyway, to get that one we'd stripped the torx teeth out of, we tried an easy out--NOPE. Broke the easyout inside. We were just getting ready to drill into it, when his Dad, stubborn as he was (he'd been insisting this would work), started using a narrow flathead screwdriver and hammer and actually managed to tap the edge of the bolt head in a circular pattern until it actually broke free and began moving. Overall damage: One paint chip where his dad slipped and got the hinge with the screw driver. But much safer probably than us going at it with a drill ;-)
I might suggest using a dremel to put in a better slot, using a small cut-off wheel, then trying this method.
Good luck!
I solved the problem by buying a $6 generic replacement mirror and attaching it to my roll bar where it meets the windshield frame with two Velcro straps. Although the particular mirror I bought is a tad smaller than I would like, at least I'm legal now. Thanks all!
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