Busted screw in Bakflip MX4 clamp

Anyone ever have to replace a clamp from an MX4? Was taking off my cover to install some bar bars and when reinstalling the rail, a screw broke off in one of the clamps. Super annoying. I'll call em on Monday for replacement parts but figured I'd try yawl first. Fortunately it didn't break off in the screw hole, just the clamp.

 

Multiple ways to deal with it. For example, you can remove the clamp from the truck, then spin out the screw stub with a drill bit. You can also heat the bracket in an oven (aluminum expands more than steel) or dissolve the screw with alum, but it isn't worth the effort to do anything more, as the clamps are pretty cheap and common across multiple tonneau/topper brands (all of which are owned by one company...)

Spray some Fluid Film on the screw threads when you install the new clamp.

 

Fluid film looks great, just ordered a six pack.

Gonna try and drill out the stub ... its really small, shouldn't be a problem. Tomorrow, not today, hah. Seems to be plenty of solid after market clamps out there too, but this MX4 one looks proprietary, can't find any that resemble it on Amazon (with the accessory rail attached).

 

I had that happen to one of mine …. I just left it. The long bed has one more bracket on each rail than the short bed setup so it was still pretty secure with one less screw.

 

BAK should take care of you. They've taken care of me on my Revolver when the latch mechanism broke.

 

Bummer, but glad to hear it wasn't just me ... Were you using a normal drill or impact driver when it broke?

I'm leaving it for now, even on the short bed it seems secure. It'll hold up just fine, but before installing the hi rise bed bars, I'll need to replace it.

 

Hey man, really appreciate that ... I'm prob gonna ask BAK for 2 tbh, even if I have to pay, don't want this happening again ..

 

Is there any of the bolt showing through from the backside of that bracket?

 

If so you could just grab it with a pair of vise grips and spin it out.

 

Nope, none at all - it snapped cleanly within the clamp!

 

Add a little bit of silicone grease or anti seize when threading stuff into aluminum it will save you a lot of headaches down the road with corrosion of dissimilar metals

 

Oh ok gotcha well then you are stuck with extracting it...if you are lucky you might be able to spin it out with a center-punch. Good luck

 

Owned by one company? Funny I read it to mean they are a retailer selling products from the listed manufacturers. Could be wrong. English is one of the more ambiguous languages.

 

Cordless drill on slow setting with clutch. It was the one at the very front of the bed which really never gets used anyways since the folded up tonneau cover goes there.

 

Indeed all those brands are owned by one large company. Go to https://extang.com/ and scroll to the bottom of the page:



Go to https://bakindustries.com/ and scroll to the bottom of the page:



Go to https://www.4are.com/ and scroll to the bottom of the page:



Go to https://www.amp-research.com/ and scroll to the bottom of the page:

 

If you aren't going to simply replace the bracket I would drill the broken bolt and use an easy-out----with a little heat. Even a handle held propane torch.

 

Spoke to them today ... they can't/won't sell me individual clamps, and told me to buy the $60 hardware kit .. Bummer

 

I have had success with them.

 

Anyone have a link to the clamps Valdark was looking for. I need them as well. Thank you.