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Doing Lift Need Help With Leaf Spring Bolt

K

Khary23

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Brooklyn, NY and Worcester, MA
So this is my first lift and every thing that can go wrong has. All but three of the upper shock mount bolts broke, and the front drivers side leaf spring bolt was seized pretty bad. I tried every thing that I could to get it out with no luck. Finally I decided to cut it out. I tried to get the blade as close to the spring as possible so that I would have something to grab with me vice grips As luck would have it I cut it too close to the frame and now the end of the bolt is stuck in the rail. I have no experience welding, so would like to ask for suggestions on how to get this bolt out.
Thanks
 
I'd hardly say that everything has gone wrong. If you were planning on installing your lift without running into these issues, you were severely misinformed. Your only chance of retrieving many of these bolts would have required a week or two of prep work (i.e. lots of penetrating oil)...and that's not even a guarantee.

As for the leaf spring bolts, I for instance drilled straight through the 'frame' and purchased some new 8" or 9", grade 8 hardware. You odds are quite slim that you'll end up retaining the factory weld nut.

Now is not the time to get discouraged...take your time and don't be afraid to use your imagination. This site will answer all of your questions. After all, the 'search' feature is your friend.
 
theNAST1EST said:
I'd hardly say that everything has gone wrong. If you were planning on installing your lift without running into these issues, you were severely misinformed. Your only chance of retrieving many of these bolts would have required a week or two of prep work (i.e. lots of penetrating oil)...and that's not even a guarantee.

As for the leaf spring bolts, I for instance drilled straight through the 'frame' and purchased some new 8" or 9", grade 8 hardware. You odds are quite slim that you'll end up retaining the factory weld nut.

Now is not the time to get discouraged...take your time and don't be afraid to use your imagination. This site will answer all of your questions. After all, the 'search' feature is your friend.
Click to expand...


I did the PB for a week and a half. I expected the shock bolts to break, but not the other ones. How did you secure the new bolts to the frame after drilling?
 
They make this fancy thing called a bolt extractor kit, I would suggest using that first, and then if that fails over size the holes and tap some new ones.
 
Joshooha said:
They make this fancy thing called a bolt extractor kit, I would suggest using that first, and then if that fails over size the holes and tap some new ones.
Click to expand...

Tried that on the shock mount bolts and the bit as well as the extractors broke. I'll see if they have a good kit at home depot. The one I got was from autozone and really cheap.

I'm trying to see if I can get some one to weld a nut on the bolt that's left in there and then just use a wrench to get it out.
 
don't bother on the shock bolts... use a chisel and a hammer to knock the weldnuts out (as detailed by many threads here) then use a piece of thread to fish a new bolt in from the top, then put a nut on the bottom. There is another way that some people like (it's more like what I did) here: http://www.rocklizardfabrications.com/broken_shock_mounts.htm

On the spring bolts, good luck.
 
maybe a vice? I've seen that used for control arm bushings and they're about the same size. You might need a fairly large one...
 
ah wow cool, I graduated from WPI in 08 as an ECE, I'm still in the area as I work nearby now. I'm planning on replacing my "age lowered" OEM springs after my next paycheck (or the one after it... or the one after that... you know how it goes) so I've been reading up a lot, checking build threads, and helping/lurking when people I know do a lift.
 
kastein said:
ah wow cool, I graduated from WPI in 08 as an ECE, I'm still in the area as I work nearby now. I'm planning on replacing my "age lowered" OEM springs after my next paycheck (or the one after it... or the one after that... you know how it goes) so I've been reading up a lot, checking build threads, and helping/lurking when people I know do a lift.
Click to expand...

even with all the reading I did I was not prepaired for this.

I'm back in school studying Physics now and the subject I hated the most in PHY 2.5 was electric circuits LOL.
 
I have made some progress. I was able to get the bushing in with the aid of a hammer, thick screw driver, and oil. All the upper shock mount screws have been drilled out. I just got to get that leaf spring bolt out and then I can assemble the rear.
 
If you can borrow an impact wrench somewhere it may help... hose the thing down with PB Blaster, go at it with the impact wrench for a minute or so (it may help to try alternately tightening and loosening with the impact wrench), hose it again, leave it for a while, etc etc etc.

Also, if you can weld or have access to a friend who can, you might simply cut a hole around the weldnut for the leaf spring bolt, yank it out, get a new M14x2.0 grade 10.9 nut, weld it to a piece of sheetmetal (18ga steel? I forget the unibody frame rail thickness, maybe go 16 or 14 gage just in case) with a hole in it, then weld that onto the frame rail like a patch with the nut sitting in the hole from the old nut. As long as there is enough clearance on the sides of the bushing (I am pretty sure there is) you should be fine then.

EDIT: if you go this route - here's the nut (other people sell it too, google 11502814 or "grade 10.9 nut" then find the M14x2.0 one) http://stores.zmjeeps.com/Detail.bok?no=114333
 
When I did my lift earlier this year, I was working with a 1995 XJ, roughly 180k miles, primarily driven between Montana and Alaska - TONS of nastyness underneath, and the rust on fasteners was horrible!

My biggest problems were with the Leaf Spring Bolts up front, not even my Ingersoll Rand 1/2 drive impact gun @ 640ft-lbs in reverse and 2 weeks worth of PB Blastering the thing would work. We also tried heating the weld-nut with propane... wouldn't budge.

I got mad, and bought a 3/4" impact gun making 1350ft-lbs in reverse, heated the heck outta the nut, and, it *BARELY* backed the bolt out. Just remember that when attacking a rusty nut/bolt, keep the threads oiled and stop every few turns and run it back in a turn or two to clear the build-up of rust out of the threads. Yeah, it takes a while, but you don't bust your nut/bolt by doing that.

Remember, the harder the bolt is to remove, the more foul language you are expected to use. Don't hold back, tell that bolt how you really feel. :rof:

Eric
 
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