Snot!

[JeepINgeek]

ill let a professional do this one.. ill keep you all updated..

 

[zoomie]

Yikes!. I just installed my hitch, this sounds like a major PITA. I think I'll treat those bolts with a little "anti-seize".

 

[boebr1]

Another thing to try (before breaking them all), hold a large metal drift (or punch) against the head of the bolt, and give it a couple solid whacks with at least a 32oz hammer, then try to unthread stubborn bolt. This will frequently crack the locktite and rust loose. I also recomend "PB", not peanut butter, the penetrating spray, also known as PB Blaster... about the best penetrating lube I have used

 

[Boiler]

Ok I'll finally chime in.

I've removed skids now off of 5-6 jeeps, and have seen basically the same thing when skids are left on for a while in the rust belt. The portion of the bolt that extends past the nutsert threads gets really rusty. Then when the bolts are removed they turn for about 3-4 threads. They start out hard and get harder and harder as more rust is dragged into the nutsert. Finally, they stop turning.

We found this exact thing on his bolts. We would run them out 1/8" with an impact, spray them with PB, run them back in, then run them back out, etc. The problem is once you get them down far enough that the rust really bites in, they stop turning at all. He started on the side that already had one broke, and broke one himself. I said 'no problem, we'll get it out". Then the other one broke. Now the skid is hanging, supported only on one side. Now we attempt to get the other side out, but have no better luck. Finally, we snapped off two of them and got out the drill.

These suckers were hard! I've drilled out one in the past, as well as one thread chaser, and these were just killing our bits. We'd drill 1/4" then it would just stop. We got one drilled out enough to get three quarters of a bolt out with an easy out, a little bit of the next one, and gave up. We just couldn't drill these well enough. Plus it was hot as heck.

In fact I gave up before Geeky and Tony did. Usually Tony cleans up my "man I can't get this to" messes. He couldn't get them in a reasonable amount of time.

Also one issue could be a combination of a rusty hole (we've all seen these when adding skids) and the bolts rusting above after install for a few years. I can't recommend running a tap through these holes, a thread restorer over your bolts, and using anti-seize enough. I do that stuff about every time I add or change anything under there. All my stuff can be installed with nutdrivers now.

 

[Boiler]

Another thing to try (before breaking them all), hold a large metal drift (or punch) against the head of the bolt, and give it a couple solid whacks with at least a 32oz hammer, then try to unthread stubborn bolt. This will frequently crack the locktite and rust loose. I also recomend "PB", not peanut butter, the penetrating spray, also known as PB Blaster... about the best penetrating lube I have used

will have to try the "solid whacks" idea next time.

 

[jeeper4life]

If you still need help installing the skid afterwards, you can bring your junk over here geeky...You know where I live lol if your brave enough to come to this part of town.

 

[JeepINgeek]

i think your neighborhood is about a wash for my neighbor hood lol...

thanks for the offer i may take you up on it.. it really depends on what the body shop does.. they may just install it for me since theyll be right there..

 

[Boiler]

Just ask them to please run a M12x1.75 tap through the holes, and to use the new bolts with anti-seize.

Thats the problem with using shops, they just cram stuff and skip the little things.

 

[jeeper4life]

I've got a pretty powerfull corded dewalt drill but the drill bits I have suck, if you wanted to try it...

 

[boebr1]

on the topic of using anti-seize on fasteners... always try to avoid getting it on the bolt head and shoulder, and the surface that it contacts... ESPECIALLY on your wheels! The majority of your contact surface for holding strength is that surface and it's frictional bind against the other surface... only apply it to threads in small amounts, wipe off the excess before applying the nut or bolt that you put it on. a little goes a long long ways... the stuff is like ******, it will be slick and wet on what ever it touches, i use disposable shop towels rather than risk getting it on other things. Not implying that anyone does this, but for those that are unfamiliar with this stuff... Keep this in mind

 

[Boiler]

When I apply anti-seize, I run maybe a 1/8" diameter bead down the length of the thread, and then with a paper towel folded to approximately 1-2 inches wide, I twist the fastener against it and it wipes the anti-seize along the threads.

 

[zoomie]

on the topic of using anti-seize on fasteners... always try to avoid getting it on the bolt head and shoulder, and the surface that it contacts... ESPECIALLY on your wheels! The majority of your contact surface for holding strength is that surface and it's frictional bind against the other surface...

Great advice on the anti-seize. It does have a habit of getting everywhere if you're not careful.

 

[JeepINgeek]

Just spoke to the body shop. as of right now he has 5 of the 6 bolts out. hes having problems with one of them i guess. so im considering this a victory.

dont know about $ yet though....

*scared look*

 

[JeepINgeek]

$207

not bad..

crisis over

 

[yellocoyote]

Were they able to reinstall the hitch with the skid too? To ensure that the threads were still okay?

 

[JeepINgeek]

i dont know for sure.. ill find that out soon.

 

[JeepINgeek]

so i call the guy that fixed my bolts.. and asked him if there were any specific reason why i shouldnt remove those bolts one at a time and put antisieze on them..
he reccomended against it on the basis that since this is for a hitch.. and the manufacturers bolts came with loctite on them. that putting antisieze may lead to the hitch loosening itself..

though he ended the call saying that i could do what i want..


opinions?

 

[tjkj2002]

so i call the guy that fixed my bolts.. and asked him if there were any specific reason why i shouldnt remove those bolts one at a time and put antisieze on them..
he reccomended against it on the basis that since this is for a hitch.. and the manufacturers bolts came with loctite on them. that putting antisieze may lead to the hitch loosening itself..

though he ended the call saying that i could do what i want..


opinions?

Yes brand new OEM bolts will have the treadloc on them already(well mine did at least) so do not use anti-seize.


You should not use anti-seize on a structural item like a hitch anyways,there torque values for the bolts are for dry threads and wet threads will cause a over-torqued condition that is bad for the bolts and weld nuts.

 

[LibertyFever]

Yes brand new OEM bolts will have the treadloc on them already(well mine did at least) so do not use anti-seize.


You should not use anti-seize on a structural item like a hitch anyways,there torque values for the bolts are for dry threads and wet threads will cause a over-torqued condition that is bad for the bolts and weld nuts.

Good Points tjkj2002, I didn't realized there was a difference between the torque setting of a dry bolt/nut to one with an anti-seize compound. I suppose it would apply to loctite too wouldn't?

To the best of my knowledge there are no lock washers used with the bolts that hold the trailer hitch or gas tank skids in place so I'd have to assume that there was loctite on the bolts you were trying to remove. That explains why they're so hard to remove.

When I installed my gas tank skid I don't remember any loctite however the bolts may have had treadloc on them. Now could you use an antisieze compound with a lock washer? It's probably not recommended by the OEM.

The last thing you want is your whole hitch assembly & trailer breaking away rolling down a hill

All this discussion about trailer hitches has me wondering if the bolts on mine are still tight. I'll have to check them this weekend.

 

[tjkj2002]

Good Points tjkj2002, I didn't realized there was a difference between the torque setting of a dry bolt/nut to one with an anti-seize compound. I suppose it would apply to loctite too wouldn't?

To the best of my knowledge there are no lock washers used with the bolts that hold the trailer hitch or gas tank skids in place so I'd have to assume that there was loctite on the bolts you were trying to remove. That explains why they're so hard to remove.

When I installed my gas tank skid I don't remember any loctite however the bolts may have had treadloc on them. Now could you use an antisieze compound with a lock washer? It's probably not recommended by the OEM.

The last thing you want is your whole hitch assembly & trailer breaking away rolling down a hill

All this discussion about trailer hitches has me wondering if the bolts on mine are still tight. I'll have to check them this weekend.

The OEM locktite is a dry locktite,does not effect the torque set like the liquid stuff does.