broken crosmember bolts

I tried to do the crosmember drop on my 93 to eliminate vibes today, but ended up breaking a bolt. I stoped when this happend because it is a dd and I dont want to have the t-case hanging. My qusestion is that will the studs most likely be fine or will they snap off also. And is drilling and re-taping the best answer for the broken bolt. I am pretty sure the other bolt will break also and want to learn from others experiences to speed up this for myself.

PS. I was surprised to be at 5" lift with only a 2 1/2* shim and have minimal vibes, but any vibe is bad.

I only found one thread on this and it was not very helpful.

Since you live in Michigan, I'm sure your used to dealing with lots of rust from the salted winter roads. So you might want to get comfortable with drilling and re-tapping. Who know if they will break off, sometimes they do sometimes they dont. The only thing you can really do to help is spray them with LOTS of penetrating oil for several days. You can also try heating the bolts. It usually helps. When I did mine I only broke one bolt, but maybe I was just lucky. So good luck.
Later.

all of mine broke on my 93.......and thats with 2 weeks of PB blasting them(penetrating oil). I cut open the frame rail and cut away the old welded nuts and just hung bolts down where the holes are, spot welded them and used nuts on the bottom

Mine came out OK with 90,000 miles on a 96. The bolts were easy but I did PB Blast them and my best friend is a guy named Torch. The studs sucked butt. I Blasted the snot outta them and used the torch and double nutted them. I just had to work them back and forth for about 10 minutes a piece and they finally co-operated.

I got all my bolts and one stud out with no problem. The last stud broke about halfway into the hole. I was able to tighten the new drop bolt into the hole so I figured it would hold. About 2 weeks later I was hearing a loud thunk when taking off. Bolt and spacer were gone, and the other bolt on that side was backed out almost all the way! I did what was mentioned. I used my dremel and made a slot just big enough for a box wrench to fit into . I fished a nut in there and used a new bolt and some loctite. Worked like a charm. Got pics if you want. Not pretty but it wont come back apart on me! I tried drilling...I think since the stud was hardened it made it really impossible. Couldnt even hurt it with a new bit. If you do cut into the frame rail, make sure you shoot some paint or something on it to keep the rust away as much as possible...

Justin

Thanks guys. I thought I would end up either drilling or cutting through the frame. I think I will wait till the weekend to do this, and I will also pick up some 3"x3" angle steel and put frame strengtheners on at the same time to cover up the holes in the frame. But hopefully the other three will come off fine. Thanks again.

i used por-15

My 92 is from Quebec and now in Vancouver so it's nicely rusted. I used good ol WD-40 and only broke one. I drilled and tapped and replaced all the bolts with stainless. The only problem (in my opinion) was lying on my back drilling up for so long.

I recall reading that you can remove the seat, peel back the carpet and pop some plugs off the floor to gain access to these bolts inside the frame rail....true?

i have no idea

Good call on the POR-15. Great stuff. As far as accessing them from the inside...that would have been great! I tried looking all around and my 94 didnt have anything. But other years might. That'd be sweet.
I was all stressed about mine breaking...but it literally took me about an hour inthe cold to fix it. Not too bad of a job. Let us know how you make out.

Justin

I own a '00 XJ which originally came from Michigan. I was trying to replace a rear bump stop, and sheared one bolt. I just used a hammer and punch, and broke the spot welds on the weld nut inside the frame rail. Then I fished a peice of wire inside the frame rail from a hole large enough for a bolt, star washer and flat washer. Wound the wire around the threads of the bolt and gently pulled the bolt assembly through the frame rail and out the hole made by punching the sheared-off bolt/nut out.

Cutting the frame rail from the outside scares the heck out of me. I think I'd rather drill a nice round hole from inside the vehicle, directly over the offending nut, if I couldnt pull a bolt through from the outside. Square holes have corners from which cracks start. Round holes are less likely to form cracks.

broke one myself overtightening...

used a drill, tap and helicoil to keep the same bolt size...