Snot!

[JeepINgeek]

i broke off all 6 bolts on my hitch today.. no skid, no hitch, no recovery until i get it to a shop to remove those bolts.

 

[mag03kj]

How the hell did you do that!?

 

[TAwesome]

Bro it's LEFTY Loosey, RIGHTY tighty!!!!

 

[JeepINgeek]

lets jsut say that it was an unfortunate series of events that backed me into a corner..

i imagine some of the others involved will pipe up..

but i dont think that it was somethign that could have been avoided, and install a skid

 

[LibertyFever]

Don't feel bad, I snapped off one of mine when I was trying to install my gas tank skid. I think everybody has, and to add insult to injury the bolts are in a real tight spot.

 

[mag03kj]

Do what?

 

[JeepINgeek]

ya, one was snapped off by the installers of the hitch 3 years ago

then the first one snapped and th comment was "thats normal we can fix that"

then when the second oen snapped it was decided that the hitch needed to come off so we tried to get the rest without damage.... thus.. failure

 

[tjkj2002]

Not normal.

If the correct bolts were used(M12x1.75x40mm,grade 10.9) and threaded/torqued properly you should not be snapping them.

I can see if they were crossthreaded or the wrong bolts used which means they where crossthreaded.Also using grade 8.8 bolts will net you the same result after some time as they are a softer bolt then the 10.9's.

 

[JeepINgeek]

id be more inclined to belive that the hitch installers used the wrong bolts..

we may never know

my big concern is getting them out. and trying to salvage the frames threadding. i dont know what ill do if that is damaged..

 

[Red_KJ_666]

id be more inclined to belive that the hitch installers used the wrong bolts..

we may never know

my big concern is getting them out. and trying to salvage the frames threadding. i dont know what ill do if that is damaged..

Mysterious Insurance Fire??

 

[LI02liberty]

you should be able to get them out by drilling into what's left and then using an easy out to Get the rest if the bolt out. When that's done rethread the frame bolts. It should be ok. Either way good luck

 

[TAwesome]

You may get lucky when drilling them out and they may just spin out. This has happened to me often.

 

[ThunderbirdJunkie]

This does have ThunderbirdJunkie somewhat concerned for the removal of his hitch, TBH.

 

[TAwesome]

You could always take it somewhere to have it removed. Then if they break, it's there responsibility to fix it. (I Wouldn't let someone do it but just saying)

 

[ThunderbirdJunkie]

No, because it wouldn't be their fault if the bolts broke.

 

[TAwesome]

Not their fault their problem. You still have to pony up the cash for it!!

 

[JeepINgeek]

i called my local body shop ( been going to themf or years) they said that those break all the time.. theyre used to removing them and they can have it fixed in about 2 hours..

 

[yellocoyote]

I hope they're right and they can. You guys struggled with that thing for at least a couple of hours that I saw...

 

[Dave]

Those bolts have threadlock on them probably. Then they might have rusted in too. I had to remove mine to drop the OEM hitch to install the skid and the new bolts supplied with the skid already had red threadlock on them. (grade 8 bolts) I am sure they will be able to get them out.

Dave

 

[J-Thompson]

They were installed with thread locker and now on top
of that they are rusty
drop the tank
get a map gas torch ,yellow bottle like little propane bottles
drill the center of the bolt ,for easy out
heat the frame rail ,very hot
then while it is hot remove the bolt
hardest part will be removing the fuel tank