Thread chaser or tap?

Or get creative with some duct tape and a stick to get the real thread chaser started. Then yank the stick & tape out and use a deep well socket plus extension

 

What’s the status OP? Any progress?

 

I'm also wondering what happened & if he got it fixed.

But just wanted to thank the OP, I just got the M14 chasers from Matco online, never knew they had this size, will go nicely with my set. The other size I needed that my Craftsman branded set didn't come with I actually got from my Matco dealer 15 yrs ago.

 

Damnit- now I have to buy one of these kits, as I didn't know they existed.

 

Update:

It turns out the hole on the other side of the frame (the actual front side of the frame cross-member, opposite of where the passenger side u-bracket attached the rack to the frame) was not lined up with the backside of the threads I needed to get to. I could get the chaser to start, but it would have been at an angle too and mangled the threads.

So, I went Amazon and bought a 14x1.5x100 bolt to sacrifice to create my own chaser. I went to a buddies house and we sliced the bolt to make a chaser. I’m certain that the longer length of the threads on my home made chaser (vs. the real one from Matco) are what made the difference.

I went heavy on the cutting fluid and verrrry slow, forward and backwards, until the threads in the frame were cleaned up. It was equally stressful as I was bolting the bracket back to the frame; if the threads gave on the frame, I was going to spring for the Time Sert kit to re-do the threads.

It took me several tries of bolting and unbolting my rag joint to get my steering wheel straight, but it’s literally only two 12mm bolts to accomplish this.

I’ve driven for a week now and I’m happy with the steering effort. I was surprised at how much easier the new rack feels.