ChuckstrPT
NAXJA Member #791
- Location
- Birmingham, Alabama
Ok, here is how the story went. This is in an '01 Limited. Got the first 3 bolts out no problem, all pre soaked. The last bolt, on the driver's side, SNAP! Drilled, EZ-out snapped in the bolt! Since then I've dulled numerous bits, broke a bit, bought SUPER TOUGH bits and dulled them. Bought "Bolt Extractors" and dulled them. I really thought they were going to be the answer, but never could get anything to drill into that broken EZ-out. Now you gotta understand, this went on for about 4-6 nights, cramping arms and all . I just about couldn't apply any pressure to the drill anymore when I Whipped out the Air Hammer. Plugged in the pointy chisel thingy...never used one of these before. It came with my compressor! Hit it about 3 times and the POS welded in nut with my broken bolt popped right off!!!!!!!!!!!!!! party1: I wish I would have done that first.
Problem not solved yet, but I've made more progress in 5 minutes than I had in the past week. Now, search the garage for a suitable bolt and nut. First try, the bolt is too short. Next try with longer bolt. Now I used the Coat Hanger method, with a little magnetic pick up thingy to fish this bolt up in the subframe. It can be done. BUT, the longer bolt won't make the turn to go in the hole :bawl: ...........Whip out the Die Grinder.....make that hole a little longer and WHAMO! We're in. Hit the grinded part with some paint....go pee and eat. Come back out and assemble. You CAN get a wrench back up in there to hold the top of the bolt, not easy but doable. I thought about sticking some JB weld up on the bolt head to hold it, but was too impatient at that time to let it set up!
So, done. Got a bolt up in there, and a nut on the bottom. Sinched down good. seems to be tight, and I'm sore all over!
Hope this helps some one in the future. Just bang it out, and spend your time slipping in a bolt from the top. I really didn't want to cut into the floor, and this wasn't nearly as bad as wasting my time and energy drilling no where. Forget the EZ-out. If anyone tries the "Bold Extractors" first, let me know if that works? My situation was too far gone at that point!
Problem not solved yet, but I've made more progress in 5 minutes than I had in the past week. Now, search the garage for a suitable bolt and nut. First try, the bolt is too short. Next try with longer bolt. Now I used the Coat Hanger method, with a little magnetic pick up thingy to fish this bolt up in the subframe. It can be done. BUT, the longer bolt won't make the turn to go in the hole :bawl: ...........Whip out the Die Grinder.....make that hole a little longer and WHAMO! We're in. Hit the grinded part with some paint....go pee and eat. Come back out and assemble. You CAN get a wrench back up in there to hold the top of the bolt, not easy but doable. I thought about sticking some JB weld up on the bolt head to hold it, but was too impatient at that time to let it set up!
So, done. Got a bolt up in there, and a nut on the bottom. Sinched down good. seems to be tight, and I'm sore all over!
Hope this helps some one in the future. Just bang it out, and spend your time slipping in a bolt from the top. I really didn't want to cut into the floor, and this wasn't nearly as bad as wasting my time and energy drilling no where. Forget the EZ-out. If anyone tries the "Bold Extractors" first, let me know if that works? My situation was too far gone at that point!