Broken Bolts!

Damn, every time I do anthing to the Jeep, I break things. Even all the studs for the fender flares broke when I took them off. I had to remove the rear bumper to put in some nut strips for the hitch I was installing and broke 3 different bolts. Now upon trying to get them out, I broke my easy out. How the hell do I get it out now?! I guess I will have to find a welder and tack something on there it grab it by. Does anyone else have this kind of trouble all over their truck? What is wrong with mine, it is only a '92.

Yes, you are not the only one. I have broken all of the bolts you have talked abount and more. I do not know if that will make you feel better or not. I replace almost every bolt that I take out with grade 8 standard bolts. redrill and tap. Use some anti seize and it will hopefully never happen again.

katarn

Easy outs, yea right, better label is 'how to make a PIA job a Major PIA job'. Thankfully I gave my last easy out kit away to a neighbor kid to use on his VW which might have been a mistake, his parents are customers of mine but I did warn him in front of both of them, several times but he was determined. May haps I should have had him sign a wavier... did warn him that I would shoot him if I caught him bringing them back...
I broke a big one removing a broken bumper bolt on the YJ last year, that sob took me over 3 hours to drill out and that was sitting on a empty 5 gallon bucket, steady supply of coffee, can't imagine having to do it from underneath. I actually got into the habit of taking those nutplate bolts out yearly, one at a time, just to clean them and re antiseize them and it still is a fight every time....
I have actually thought about using one of those squirt type oil cans, the half pint ones, to squirt oil, atf, holy water or SOMETHING in there, in liberal amounts, every time I change the oil and do a grease job...
As for removal of the broken easy out, buy 5 good bits, 1/2 drill, one of those oil squirt cans and get comfortable under there with a nice face mask, go slow and lube it good...
As for replacing with grade 8's, sheesh, grade 5's are bad enough to drill, can't imagine if EVERY bolt was the hardness of an easy out...

yes, those hard bolts are a PIA. i had to use an an easy out on the steering box bolts as well. it worked that time though. i also had the dreaded leafspring nut. i had to cut a hole in the frame pocket to get a wrench on there because it broke free from its tack weld.

RichP said:

As for replacing with grade 8's, sheesh, grade 5's are bad enough to drill, can't imagine if EVERY bolt was the hardness of an easy out...

Click to expand...

If every bolt was grade 8 (as hard as an easy out) then it would be very rare to break that bolt, thus no need for an easy out.

katarn

Only a 92? Man, mine's a 94 and I know exactly what you're talking about. Broke one of the front sway bar bolts when I did my lift. Then broke the EZ-out in that. After trying to drill that out I gave up and took it to a shop. And it wasn't easy finding a place that was willing to even take a look at it. Cost me $70. I was just glad that was the only thing I snapped. PB or Gibbs can work wonders, after snapping 2 of my rear bumper bolts I hosed the rest down and waited about 2 hours. A little tapping, and the other 6 came out whole, if not easily. The 2 I snapped I just left. I'm gonna have somebody weld the bumper there to the unibody if possible. If you live somewhere they use salt on the roads in winter might as well expect this to happen to most bolts exposed to the elements. If you want to try the ez-out, hose the bolts down with a bunch of quality penetrant, like those above. And give it a few hours. But remember if the ez-out breaks, that steel is alot harder than what the bolt is hence the marathon drilling mentioned earlier. And I don't want to talk about my upper rear shock bolts..... uke:

I feel your pain, my 91 hates me. Installing my poly bushings in the stock suspension I had both main spring-eye bolts sieze in the inner bushing and I had to cut both of them out. I can't take my front skid off if I ever want to put it back on because the bolts started breaking last time I took it off. And then there was the OME install...pulled out a broken coil, stripped spring retainer clip bolt, the the best one of all actually broke the passenger shackle bolt off into the "frame." Makes me wonder some times why I love the thing so much and put so much money into it. Good luck getting those bolts out, the tacking option is probably your best bet.