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broken bolt inside differential

T

txjeep103

NAXJA Forum User
Location
South Texas
i was installing my aussie locker earlier today, and when i went to remove the carrier, one of the bolts broke off inside the differential housing. is there any way i can remove this bolt and just replace it? the bolt snapped in half, leaving one half in the diff., with nothing sticking out. the bolt is the only thing that broke. what type of bolt should i replace it with?
lockerinstall002.jpg
 
if one broke they all might be weak go to your local hardware store and find some grade 8 bolts that match the tread patten you need
 
Take a nut one or two sizes bigger than the broken bolt and mig weld the nut to the bolt around the inside of the nut. Works a lit better than drilling and tapping. Assuming the bolt is flushwith or sticking out a little.
 
As for getting that thing out Id say carefully. Maybe use a center punch and start out with a smaller size drill bit and work your way up to a size that will allow you use an easy out. If it is really seized up be careful though, those darn easy outs like to break easier than bolts do sometimes.

If you are good with a welder and if enough (even a butt hair) worth of bolt is sticking out it would be possible to weld a nut to the bolt through the center of the nut. I would soak the broke bolt in PB Blaster about an hour before I went out to weld on it though. Good luck and these arent the only solutions just what works for me. Just be patient and dont get too pissed.
 
IntrepidXJ said:
clean it off good and weld a nut to it. then put a socket on the nut
Click to expand...

This is a good idea, I would use one a little smaller than the od of the broken bolt, so you don't end up welding the nut to the housing.
 
The other thing that works well is a very sharp left handed drillbit. When the bit bites down, it will turn the bolt "out" instead of cutting. You want something 3/4" the size of the bolt, having drilled a 1/8" pilot hole 3/4" deep into the bolt or so.
 
Did you all not read:
txjeep103 said:
with nothing sticking out
Click to expand...

If he welds on it, it will weld to the housing!

The only thing to do is get a reverse drill bit or use something like this:
http://www.aldn.com/mdrillout/

or this:
http://www.brokentap.com/easy-outs.html

Did you ever have the carrier out? Do you know who put it in last?
There might be a lot of Locktight on it, and you might end up drilling it all out and re-threading that hole, or worse find a new carrier?

And get the new bolts from the dealer, carrier bolts are not that much and made just for this application.
 
thanks for all of the help guys, i got the broken bolt out with an exractor bit with no problems. got the locker installed and put the jeep back together. works great, thanks again.
 
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