stuck bolts/sheared bolts

Hey all,

I am currently trying to remove my skid plate to get at the sway bar. When I tried to remove two of the bolts, one sheared off the head and the other rounded off the head.

I need your help/suggestions to remove the broken bolt and loosen the rounded head!

Help!

 

Have you removed these bolts before this?
Might try a broken bolt extractor.
For the rounded one you can try to shape up the bolt head with a grinder if you can get it in close enough.
A dremel tool might work better with some kind of grinding wheel, whatever you use you might scratch up the plate, can always repaint that.

I have a 2014 and I am thinking of removing the plates about every year just to clean out any dirt on top of them and also inspect the bolts and get a bit of oil on them and clean them up.

Good luck

 

Yes, I've removed them before, but it has probably been three years or so since the last time.

 

If its bad drill and tap for the broken, grind the round to get a wrench on it. If it doesn't go cut the head off and drill and tap.

 

Never drilled and tapped anything before. Watched a few videos on youtube...doesn't look too difficult. I will gather up the tools and give it a try in the morning.

 

reverse drill bits and easy outs do wonders. Also try and spray some break free on threads. If you have to drill them out. grind the bolt flat and drill dead center starting with a very small bit. Slowly work your way up to a larger bit and STAY CENTERED.

 

Just wanted to update....

I ended up grinding off the head of the stripped bolt to be able to remove the skid completely. With the skid removed, I was able to get access to the remaining threads of both problem bolts which protruded out of the welded nut on the top side of the bracket that supports the skid. With the help of some freeze off penetrating oil and some vice grips, I was able to remove the remainder of the bolt by screwing it out the top. Picked up some Class 10.9 bolts (metric equivalent of grade 8) from my local Cal Ranch (farm supply) store and just finished reinstalling my front skid. Now if I need to remove the skid in the future, the hardware will be strong enough to break free of any rust or corrosion that might develop.

 

That's great, after reading your first post guess what I did?
I took off the skid plates on my 6 month old truck, just wanted to take them off and inspect everything they protect.
I also cleaned them off and put a little oil on the bolts when I reinstalled.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EfLTszAr7w

 

Had the same issue broke the head off the first bolt i tried, grabbed a torch heated it glowing red put vise grips on and came out like butter. Used the torch on the remaining few and had no issues, got some SS bolts and lock washers re tapped threads put anti seize on the new bolts worked fine for me but YMMV.

 

Every time I pull the plate I put a drop or two of oil on them before reinstalling. So far so good.

 

Anti-seize works wonders for removing later on.

 

I would try this method first. good advice.

 

whoops... read post directly after where OP figured it out. doh.