Broke An Upper Shackle Mount

[LilRhodyXJ]

Hey guys. I broke my driver's side upper shackle bolt today. I have JKS shackles and new leaves to put in. Is it a feasible idea to cut the bolt out leaving enough to tack weld a nut on to try and turn the rest out? Or should I just cut through the floor? The head plus about an inch broke off for reference.

 

[kootenayXJ]

just drill it out or hammer it through then pass a new bolt through by using tie-wire. If you google for broken shock bolts you should find a tutorial - no cutting required.

 

[PhotoJared]

just drill it out or hammer it through then pass a new bolt through by using tie-wire. If you google for broken shock bolts you should find a tutorial - no cutting required.

Shackle bolt, not shock bolt

OP, yes you could potentially make that work.

 

[TRCM]

May be able to do that.

Here's what I did when 1 side broke like yours, and the other side stripped out (nut inside broke loose)

http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1123584&highlight=captured

 

[LilRhodyXJ]

TRCM.. I used a similar tactic but not as nice. I ended up cutting the shackle in half and in the process found the weld nut broke off and took a piece of my frame rail with it a 1/4" or so. I ended up cutting the floor to extract it and putting in a slightly longer grade 8 bolt with a drilled small molded piece of steel and a washer between the inner frame rail piece and the new nut. The other side came out flawlessly and all was well until I snapped one of my upper shock mounts but that was a much easier fix lol.

 

[TRCM]

Gotcha....I had no choice...both sides of mine broke good...............

 

[LilRhodyXJ]

Gotcha....I had no choice...both sides of mine broke good...............

I don't envy your breaks but I do envy your fix, nice job on that!

Thanks for the help all

 

[typerr]

I know this is too late for you but I'll post this info as an FYI. I was doing the exact same project today and was concerned that my upper shackle bolts were going to snap as they were not turning smoothly at all. I had previously removed the stock rear bumper awaiting its replacement and noticed I could see the ends of the shackle bolts through the nutstrip opening. I was able to heat the ends of the shackle bolts with a propane torch and like magic the shackle bolts came right out. My guess is the factory used red loctite or something similar.