stripped front ds bolts

some time ago i was trying to remove my front drive shaft. i was able to get the bolts off at the axle end just fine. i ran into trouble when i tried to get the bolts off where the ds meets the transfercase front output yoke. i got 1 of the 4 bolts out no problem. i ended up stripping the heads on the remaining three. i had been repeatedly spraying them with pb blaster for two weeks prior to the attempt. i have stripped the heads further with vice grips and they still wont budge.

i am wondering what other methods i could try to get those bolts off. i am leary of using heat in that area due to it being attatched to the tc. it is also quite a tight squeeze in there and only a box end wrench will fit. i dont have enough clearance to fit a socket and wrench in there otherwise i would get and try one of those sockets that will take out even stripped bolts. i was wondering if it would be feasable to cut the head of the bolt off with a dremel, remove the ds and then remove the stub. or are both pieces threaded.

second question, what is the size needed for replacement bolts. obviously the bolts are fubar'ed and i am not wanting to get the stock bolts with that funky flange from the stealership. hopefully something with a little shorter of a head allowing for the use of a socket wrench.

thanks
stewie

a few good whacks from the hammer and that flange will move tight out of the way....then use your socket

Those small heads are easy to round off, especially using an open end wrench. When I managed to stripped one on my MJ, I heated it with a torch which loosened it up nicely and it came right out. I had extra bolts, but I believe there is not enough room to use standard hex hex bolts. You might need to find some allen head bolts. I think they were 10.9 grade metric, but I'm not 100% sure.

My wifes Nissan frontier was a bitch. I had room to get a box end wrench on those, but I couldn't bust them lose even with a 3-ft cheaper bar and using my foot. I ended up using a cutoff wheel on the heads and replacing the bolts. The FSM called for 50 ft-lbs on the bolts, btw.

Use a Dremel to cut a straight slot in the head. Heat them up just a little with a torch and use a screwdriver to remove them. To get more torque on the screwdriver, you can use a wrench on the shaft if it is a square shaft or use vise grips if the shaft is round.