Cross Pin Reatainer Woes

Did some searching and tried some ideas but none have worked. The cross pin retaining bolt in my 8.25 is stuck and will not come out. I started with a 5/16 box wrench and it started to round so I stopped. I tried tapping on various 6pt sockets that would fit the head and it didn't budge and rounded off with them. My next step was a little localized heat from a solder torch and a splined turbo socket, which made some nice grooves in the head but wouldn't turn the bolt. I've tried various vice grips and pliers and nothing will grip the head. My next step is to try dremeling a cut in the head letting me turn it with a screwdriver... any other ideas before I go that route?

Get a nice pair of vice grips that feel like they will fit on the head of the bolt, tighten the grip so that it grips the bolt head with the most force you can muster and try to turn it.

Last resort is to find on of those sockets that feels like it will fit over top of it and weld it to the top of the bolt head and pray no spatter or anything gets on the gears.

My fingers are crossed for ya.

Are you running gears > 3.73? If you didn't put them in, check to see if the installer ground down a ring gear tooth on one or the other ends of that pin so it would slide past. If not, they may have beat it past the teeth knowing they would never have to open it again. Stock shouldn't be a problem at all. Should just fall right out unless it got tweaked.

dan1977p said:

Are you running gears > 3.73? If you didn't put them in, check to see if the installer ground down a ring gear tooth on one or the other ends of that pin so it would slide past. If not, they may have beat it past the teeth knowing they would never have to open it again. Stock shouldn't be a problem at all. Should just fall right out unless it got tweaked.

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You're talking about the pin itself, I need the retainer bolt out.

slot it, apply heat to the area where the threads would be, get it as hot as the propane torch will allow and back it out. Someone may have put locktight on it

LilRhodyXJ said:

You're talking about the pin itself, I need the retainer bolt out.

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Oops. All I saw was crosspin.

Had one like this on my 8.8

ended up having to weld the socket to the bolt, after the socket split.

New bolts are cheap

dan1977p said:

Oops. All I saw was crosspin.

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No worries...

Don, I slotted it and heated it as much as I felt comfortable and still no dice. I think I'm going to do the socket weld. I was going to try to drill through it sideways and get a bar in there to give me some turning leverage but with the slot cut there's enough integrity already compromised. Thanks for the help gents, I'll keep you posted

you'll never get it hot enough with a propane torch to hurt anything. just sayin.

Went from propane to MAP gas with no luck...touched it eith a oxy/acet torch and it came out like butter. Thanks all