Busted Rear Shock bolt and thread nut, help!!!!

Well i busted my upper rear shock mount bolt and in my carlessnes drilling it out messed up the welded thread nut. Is there any hope for mount a shock in the stock location again?

I just did the same on both Rt Rear upper bolts yesterday. :doh:
I'm going to try drill them out with some left hand bits. this weekend.

Any tips would be a huge help.

i drilled and tapped 2 of the bolts only one worked stock, and one got so bad i through bolted it up into the cargo area and used a square peice of 1/8'' steel as a washer cut into a 4x4inch square. it holds up to some abuse, its a last resort but it works. Just make sure to double nut it

I broke off all four upper shock bolts last week so, using a hammer and a big rod i hammered out the welded nuts. Bought new bolts and nuts, and using the pockets in the frame I fished the bolts though so they hung down out from the frame through the holes and mounted the shocks back in the origional position with the nuts on the outside. It was pretty tricky and it took a while but it worked out well.

i've done it too. ended up drilling out the threads and tacking a nut onto the orignial location to mount the shocks

did the same thing. impact hammer knocked out old hardware, fished in new bolts with lockwashers. checked bolts a week after install. never had a problem.

Welded these to some plate and welded the plate to the stock location.
http://www.rubiconexpress.com/Products.aspx?Cn=169&Pn=1900&XnPath=169&Vid=EF42364312851

I broke 1.
I just drilled right through and nut and bolted it lol
has been a problem since

I broke all four. I was able to drill and tap three of them to the next larger size. The fourth I had to drill it out, then cut a hole in the cargo area and put a bolt in. I covered the hole with some scrap sheet metal and a couple screww to hold it.

Yeah, broke all four, then had my buddy weld up some bolts. The sheet metal tore many times. The last time I said the hell with it and am running with only 3 shocks currently. Will get around to a better idea later on.

I really should have not posted because when i did a search i found some good solutions. Even though the drilling got a little messy I think i managed to tap a 3/8 thread. I don't have time right now to put the shock and bolt fully on. If not ill work on coming from the back with a bolt or nut.

I ended up breaking one loose and I just cut a small hole in the floor undr the rear seat and holding the nut on the bolt from there whileit was tightened by someone else. Did not have a tap/die or welder handy and it has been great since then- no issues and it was free and hidden under the rear seat.

jforse said:

Welded these to some plate and welded the plate to the stock location.
http://www.rubiconexpress.com/Products.aspx?Cn=169&Pn=1900&XnPath=169&Vid=EF42364312851

Click to expand...

Jforce,
I think you get the prize. Without doing a complete upper shock bar mount, think that is the best way to do it while being a upgrade to boot.

Man I would not cut a hole in the floor to fix this problem. IMO, I think that is over kill and will lead to other problems......rust!

Just knock out the nutcerts and fish new bolts in there. You can get a wrech on them without cutting the floor.

Use fishing line and take a air/blow gun and blow the fishing string thru the hole and grab it after you blow it out the hole in the frame channel.

Turfzilla said:

Man I would not cut a hole in the floor to fix this problem. IMO, I think that is over kill and will lead to other problems......rust!

Just knock out the nutcerts and fish new bolts in there. You can get a wrech on them without cutting the floor.

Use fishing line and take a air/blow gun and blow the fishing string thru the hole and grab it after you blow it out the hole in the frame channel.

Click to expand...

you don't need to put a wrench on them, an impact gun can spin the nut faster than the bolt will turn, you just have to hand thread them on in the beginning. we also had to clearance the top shock mount channels to fit around the 3/8 bolts we used.

The tap worked good and it was very easy!

All these ideas will work. Just be sure to replace the carbon steel hardware with quality stainless stuff, or you'll be playing thesame games all over again.

If you tac weld the new nut to a small piece of plate you can fish it right into place and you won't have to worry bout keeping it from spinning with a wrench.

Despite repeated soakings in Pb Blaster, I broke all four of mine. Got pissed. I drilled through two and managed to snap the tap off in the second hole. Got more pissed. Got the hole saw out, cut four nice holes through the floor above each bolt (after removing the trim, drilling the tie downs out, and pulling up the carpet). One hole went a bit too far, cut the shock brace. Cussed. Took a break and left my buddy's house. Came back later. Buddy had knocked broken tap out of second hole (good), drilled through the third bolt hole (even better), and broke a drill bit off in hole number four that had gone off center. Bad mood returns. Then found out all the drill bits we had between us were now dull - even my titanium ones (damn). This did nothing to improve my mood. Contemplated buying a Drill Doctor. Got back to business. Found another bit. Had a bit of luck. Started drilling. Got two metal shavings in my right eye. Ran out of luck, cussed (a lot), and fumed a little that there were no safety glasses around. Found tweezers in the console, pulled out both pieces of metal. Felt better. Began drilling again. Broken bit came out. The remainder of the original bolt also came out. Things begin to look up. Stuck longer bolts in from top (easy now). Spent an hour putting bar pins in shocks. Slightly tore both rubber bushings. Got pissed again but finally pushed them in. Finally managed to get the shocks installed, Finally! And in the month since: the floor is still open, the carpet still loose, the spare tire is just laying there, and the rust (and mud) I discovered in the passenger side quarter still needs attention. Maybe when I am back in the mood... or at least until the bar pin eliminators arrive, I'll finish. Until then, I just keep telling myself that the duct tape will hold and that POR-15 and seam sealer are my friends.

Good luck with your project!

Vertigo-
I had almost the EXACT same experience minus the hole saw through the floor part. other than that, same, even the metal in eye (mine was the left eye and hot shavings on my neck). I ended up welding a nut to a piece a flat bar (did for all four) and welded the flat bar in place over the old holes. Worked great.

posting up some pics of everyones's fix on this issue would be nice!