Yet another broken bolt question

I took out the running boards that came with my ‘18 DCSB and broke one of the heads of the bolts attached to the body. The bolts were all rusted through. I sprayed with some penetrating oil (working against gravity though), drilled through the bolt and tried to use a screw extractor with no avail. The extractor bites for a while, but can’t turn the rusted bolt body. At this point I think my options are: A. Drill the crap out of the bolt until it disintegrates and re-tap the hole or B. Weld a nut to the bit that’s exposed, except I don’t have a welder. Anyone use epoxy or solder in lieu of welding?

 

I suppose you can try some jbweld
Or a stick weld using battery and jumper cable.

 

Have you tried taking a torch to it? That, and maybe try to get some oil in from above now that you've drilled through it. If you want it bad enough, you'll get it out

 

Too close to the paint and body (rocker panel) for a torch

 

Umm...you're talking about welding the damn thing

The most generic bernzomatic $15 propane torch puts out a flame like the tip 2" of a pencil.

 

Ok

 

I wouldn’t use epoxy or solder. I don’t think that will be strong enough for the torsion load required here.

Perhaps you could left hand tap your thru hole and thread a left hand capscrew in there. Bonus you get to buy some lefthand taps if you like collecting tools.

If it were me I would just drill it out and repair or upsize the threaded hole afterwards. It’ll take some time but it’ll get the job done.

 

Drill it out and retap it.



or buy sliders and leave the bolt in there.

 

Make sure u have a quality bolt extractor and its new over time the heads will wear out and not grip properly . drill the hole enough to get the extractor in there use a ratchet or something the u can pulsate the extractor so it breaks free the rust u don't want to go full speed or it will just strip it . best of luck getting it out .

 

Plus, the whole point of Welding is to thermal shock it to break the rust free. OP drilling is probably the only way.

 

I jave had success drilling the bolt out by piloting a small hole to get the larger bit started straight....then drill with a bit thats 1/8th smaller than the bolt. Chuck up a stiff round wire brush into the drill...and jam it in and hit reverse. On more than one occasion the leftover rusty metal came right out. Then i oiled the hole and chased the threads with a tap to get everything ready for a replacement bolt.
Ymmv

 

Heat would be your best friend if it wasn’t so close to the body. A braising tip on an oxy acetylene torch Set will allow you to really put the heat just on the bolt.
If you drilled it out almost perfectly centered you can run the same size tap through the hole a displace the metal from the old bolt. I had success with both options

 

Plus welding to hardened steel is generally a losing proposition without getting cracking in the HAZ, screws are typically hardened.

 

This is the way.

 

Thanks for all the feedback - great ideas. I will make another go at it and worst case, may leave it in there since I’ll put in a new side bar. 5 out of 6 bolts should be strong enough to keep it in there.

 

If you’ve got time and don’t have access to a torch, liberally spray both sides of it with WD40 once a day for a few days in a row. If you let it soak, that stuff can be like magic for situations like this......

 

If enough of the bolt is exposed, you could try to use a grinder to create flat spots that would allow you to grip it with some channel locks or something.

I have also found success in using a oversized socket with a whole drilled as a drill guide that allows you to put a pin through.

 

First make sure you're using a good penetrating oil (PB Blaster or equivalent). Next get a quality set of left hand (twist) drill bits. Usually the bolt will back out before you drill all the way through with these. You use your drill in reverse.

Also, don't use a cheap extractor. If it breaks you will never be able to drill through it making your problem worse.

 

Looks like plenty of helpful posts addressing the original question... I have to ask, how is a fastener rusted this bad on a 2-3 year old rig?

 

have a pic of the bolt? a few tricks I like to use if you did use a screw extractor put a square bit on an impact driver in reverse and jam that in the hole made from the screw extractor. if that doesn't work and enough of the thread is showing you can get a Dremel and cut a slice in it to fit a flat head screw driver that might work too.