JeepINgeek
Silver Supporter
ill let a professional do this one.. ill keep you all updated..
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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
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...
Yes brand new OEM bolts will have the treadloc on them already(well mine did at least) so do not use anti-seize.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.
The OEM locktite is a dry locktite,does not effect the torque set like the liquid stuff does.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.