spare tire bolts

[Liberty Titan]

I removed my spare tire last week for a little off-roading but I put my lugnuts back onto the bolts that hold the tire on the tailgate ](*,) Now when I tried to put the spare back...having to remove the lugnuts first...the lugnuts just spin the tailgate bolts out of whatever housing they are in behind the gate #-o So I will more than likely have to remove the interior paneling to fix the problem. This happen to anyone else? And also, if so...anything I should be aware of before I start taking things apart?

 

[Liberty Titan]

What a pain in the a$$! If this happens to anyone else don't bother taking apart your tailgate as it won't help...and odds are good you will break a clip or two on the inner-ferring of the gate...like me #-o

Just take the lugs off with the bolts that run into your gate. They will come out as one peice. Then hammer the heck out of the lugs to loosen them up cause they have probably siezed on to the bolts. Then mount the tip of the bolt in a vice and use an impact tool if u have one to get them loose. Or a wratchet if not. It took some work to get it done and the tips of the bolts were destroyed. I don't know the proper terminology but the tips of the bolts are smaller so it didn't affect anything when threading them back in. Also, you will need a fancy little torque socket to put the bolts back in the gate. I can't remember what size cause I had to go to my brothers shop to find one that fit. Anyway, moral of the story is don't place your lugs back on the bolts if you remove your spare [-X