Steering Rack Mount Shot...what can I do?

Hi all,

I knew that the previous owner of my 2000 had been in a wreck, but I've found a new, annoying issue from it...

On the passenger side of the steering rack, there's a U-shaped bracket that holds it to the frame.

The bottom bolt on this bracket screws into a welded captive nut inside the frame tubing.

However, on my truck, this nut isn't attached -- it just spins around and is damn near impossible to secure. Before, I was able to jam a screwdriver in there to jam it and tighten the bolt, but at this point, it's all rounded over...

My question -- what do you think is the best way to fix this? I can't get a socket or anything back into that area to hold the nut.

I was thinking of using a grinder to cut away the indicated area in order to install a new nut and get a wrench around it. Thoughts?

Pics:

 

Looks to me like you did a pretty good job on it !

 

Holy crap, nice work!

I definitely did not decide to go down such a route.

I grabbed the angle grinder with a cutoff wheel and cut out just enough metal to get a flare wrench up there and hold the nut as I tightened it.

I really don't think it will affect the structural integrity of the rack mount -- it was about an inch square of material. Might weld it back into place, might not.

 

Could not hurt to weld some stock on it just to reinforce. Just sayin.......