xjnewbe
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Richmond, VA
i was pulling my stock shocks off tonight and broke 3 of 4 of the upper rear shock bolts, any ideas on how to fix this????
+1easier to pop them out w/air chisel & drop in new bolts from the top
easier to pop them out w/air chisel & drop in new bolts from the top
I don't know why people drill holes through the floor to gain access. After punching the welded nuts away with a long drift, I simply taped the new bolts to an open end wrench and passed the bolt through the open channel near the shock bolt holes. Once in, I threaded a nut on and broke the masking tape free. Fishing line would also work, like MAxxXJ said.
When I broke mine I had to cut access holes from the top to get them out. My welded nuts had it seemed Extra welds on them. The above posted picture shows just spot welds. Mine had those spot welds then around maybe 1/4 - 1/3 of each nut was a solid thick weld seam. I beat on them with a 3lb hammer from below for a long time and got nowhere.
I ended up using a dremal from above to cut through weld. Not sure if the extra weld is from the factory on some XJs or if mine had been done before and someone decided to extra weld...
That's why?
Makes sense. That would suck to pound those out from underneath and get nowhere. I broke all four bolts on my first XJ and used my tape and wrench method. The bolts came right out on my current Cherokee, cuz it's a sweet machine.
Yea I mean I really beat on those things with everything I had and it didn't make the slightest difference. They were nowhere near breaking loose. After seeing the thick weld I think an air hammer wouldn't have done any better.
I actually went to sears and bought a punch just for that job, it was the strongest one they had supposedly. The ends started to mushroom and my mini sledge was getting dents from where I was beating the punch.
Carbon steel 16" pry bar from Harbor Freight for 2.99, or the three-piece set for 6.49. Great for punching the bejezus out of spot welded shock nuts. I keep the 6" bar in my glove box for unscrewing my recovery shackle bolts when I need to. Also handy for prying down the sway bar when fastening the disconnected sway bar end links.