Leaf spring bolt help, please!

[NCSUcherokee]

So as I am attempting to put on some new leaf springs on the jeep I ran into the all too common problem of the bolt breaking free inside the frame, so I cut out a slot and put a wrench on it, the only thing that succeeded in doing was rounding the nut off.

Since then I have tried to:
Lube it
Heat gun it
Torch it
Grind two sides flat and get a wrench on it
Vice grip it
Sawzal it
and more...

Maybe tomorrow will bring more luck, but if it doesn't, does anyone have a suggestion about how to get this nut off and out of the frame rail?

 

[bshaw]

Kind of confused on your situation here but I'll try to help ya. The front bolt is what you’re talking about correct? Sounds like you got if turning, right? If so, that bolt is just spinning in the rubber and that's where the problem is. You need to pull on it, and keep turning it at the same time. The rubber freezes around the bolt and sometimes makes it impossible to get the bolt completely out. If I'm on the right subject here, what I did was torched the hell out of the rubber. It finally let go of the bolt. Might even try tapping it out too, with a wrench and hammer. Get the wrench behind the bolt head so it won't slip off and start tapping on it with a hammer or what ever. Anyway, hope this helps. If not repost with some more detail on what's going on.

 

[gjxj]

Has anybody tried drilling a hole in the side of the frame so as to
use a socket on the nut? Maybe if you did that you'd also be able
to punch the bolt though if it froze in the bushing.

Of course minimizing frame damge is most important...

What size is the nut by the way..??

 

[NCSUcherokee]

you can't drill a hole in the frame because the nut isn't actually inside the frame rail, it has its own little pocket

as for the size, i am not sure, the only thing open ended i had big enough to fit on it was 15/16. it seemed snug, but i guess it wasnt the right size since it rounded off


bshaw-
You are confused with the other all to comon problem with leaf spring bolts, my problem is that the nut that is welded to the inside of the frame broke free so the bolt would spin but it would not loosen

 

[bshaw]

I didn't even know that there was a welded nut on the end. Thought there was just a drilled/threaded hole for the bolt. Guess I learned something new today.

If ya can't get the sawsall in a position on the spring side to cut the bolt, torch the nut off. If it were me, I'd cut the head off the bolt, try slide the spring out a little, then cut again at the frame, then punch it through. Easier said than done though I know, but that's what I'd try. Just a suggestion........

 

[xj92]

You could always just weld a long, flat piece of steel against the nut to act as a wrench on it if your access hole is big enough to be able to weld in there a little. Or you could just weld the nut back on, but I'd put a new nut in there since you have to go through it anyways. Or you could use a slightly smaller wrench (the smaller metric equivalent?) and beat the crap out of it to get it over the nut maybe.

 

[mikeyl]

i ran into this problem recently while putting a lift on a friends ' sons' rig. the nut on the inside broke loose. unfortunatly we did have to come in from the otherside with a hole saw in order to get to the nut. there needs to be one whole thru the inside "frame" and then there is an opening in the outer box to clear the bolt as it comes thru. this needs to be enlarged also. this worked and we were able to mount the spring. the nut still needs to be retacked in place and a plate added to cover the new hole in the frame i imagine to retain the integrity of the "frame". though i am thiniking that it might be best to leave the nut loose and weld a sleeve in through the frame and weld it to the backside. depends on what he wants to spend i suppose.

 

[jeepsrock]

I am in the process of taking out some leaves off an xj and want to know whats the proper step for removing that front spring bolt ? Whats he best way so i dont need to drill the other end.

pete

 

[gjxj]

I would have guessed it might be metric. If its an odd size like 23mm that
will mess you up since its not in basic wrench sets..

 

[Eagle]

I would have guessed it might be metric. If its an odd size like 23mm that
will mess you up since its not in basic wrench sets..

It is metric. I believe the actual bolt size is 14mm, but I don't know what wrench size fits the head of a 14mm bolt.

 

[jeepsrock]

so how does one correctly remove the front leaf bolts. Do you just remove them or must i hold something else ??

pete

 

[Ludakris]

I had to go the Hole saw thru frame route... cut the head of the bolt off, drill a decent size hole thru the "frame" and knock the bolt thru... new bolt, new nut... done. I may weld a plate later on, just to minimize the risk of cracking, but it should be fine....

 

[lesslimited]

In my experience it has not been the bolt rusted in the weld nut that's the problem, but the bolt rusted into the metal sleeve inside the rubber bushing. With a large enough breaker bar you can usually get a couple turns out of the bolt, then the sleeve hits the outer mount, and then more turns have the effect of pushing the weld nut in, to the point where it breaks free. What I've learned to do, after those first couple turns, is to cut the bolt. First on the outer side, then pry the spring and bushing to the outside and cut the bolt on the inside, leaving as much of the bolt on the frame side as possible. Either a cutting wheel on a grinder, or high-quality sawzall blade (Dewalts have worked for me). Since the bolt has already been broken free, in most cases it can be turned out with a vice-grips, or a wrench after grinding some flats on it. At a recent wrenchfest, we did have to heat up the frame area, too, but we got the bolts out of an older Chicago based (lots of road salt) XJ without breaking the weld nuts.
It is quite amazing how solidly those bushings can rust to the bolts. On my previous approx. 5 year old 2.5" leafs, after I cut them out, I set them sideways on the floor and soaked them with PB Blaster for a week and still could not get the bolts out with an air hammer.
HTH

 

[PapaPump]

DAMNIT I am having this same issue...I need to put my new leafs on but it is turning out to be way more work than expected. I guess it's because my XJ has been tranported over oceans a couple times.

 

[Eagle]

DAMNIT I am having this same issue...I need to put my new leafs on but it is turning out to be way more work than expected. I guess it's because my XJ has been tranported over oceans a couple times.

My suggestion is to avoid the entire problem. Just leave the main leaf in place and either replace all the other leaves, or take a second pair of XJ main leaves, cut the eyes off, and use them as add-a-leaves. This brings the body up about 1-1/4" to 1-1/2" in the back, firms up the ride a bit, and reinforces the spring pack.

Someone recently posted a writeup on this.

 

[PapaPump]

i have new packs that i would like to use though. my entire pack rests at negative arch. i think the main leaf is too shot to reuse. i think i maybe have 2' of uptravel back there, and none with passengers.

 

[DantheMan05]

2 weeks ago I went through the same situation while removing my leaf springs. The spring eye nut came loose from the frame. I took a dremel rotary tool and cut the bottom of that pocket where the nut was. I then cut the nut and bolt with the dremel untill there was nothing left of it. Then I just slid the bolt and leaf spring right out, and used another bolt and nut for the new leaf spring.

 

[NCSUcherokee]

2 weeks ago I went through the same situation while removing my leaf springs. The spring eye nut came loose from the frame. I took a dremel rotary tool and cut the bottom of that pocket where the nut was. I then cut the nut and bolt with the dremel untill there was nothing left of it. Then I just slid the bolt and leaf spring right out, and used another bolt and nut for the new leaf spring.

This is the basic method i ended up using for the driver side. The passenger side bolt turned out so easy, i thought the bolt was already broken off...