Steering box cross-thread strip out

so i unbolted my steering box today to fit up a new bumper im making, and of course, all 3 bolts end up stripping out and i had to severly cross thread them in to make it back to my house as i had no other choice. and naturally it sits in there a bit loose now.

has anyone here had any luck in re-tapping the holes in the steering box? or is there any other solution im overlooking before i go to the hassle of this? i really really really wanna avoid pulling the whole damn box out of the jeep but im afraid that may be the only way to do this, any help id greatly appreciate

thanks guys

Someone here on this forum had drilled and retapped their box for 1/2" bolts during a steering brace install I think. You'll most likely have to take the box out to do this but I could be wrong. You could also Helicoil the holes and keep the bolt size as 7/16". I suppose you could put a longer bolt thru and put a nut on the other side, but I'd question whether there is enuf clearance to do so and how safe that would be.

I stripped mine too!!! Damn it, supposed to go hunting this weekend in the jeep...


Did you have to take the steering box completly off to fix it? Did you re-tap or drill and use a nut?