broken crossmember bolt drill and tap gone wrong help (1 Viewer)

[dannyp]

My truck started making a strange click backing out of the driveway. Checked all the usual suspects ( shock mounts,u joints) not the problem. Turns out my redneck skid/crossmember mounts had a loose bolt and was allowing a small amount of movement when the frame twisted slightly when i backed out. So i tightened them and one broke and it happened to be one with a captive nut in the frame. I dont have a tap set so i took it to a friend who is the only mechanic i will let work on my baby. We welded a nut to the small portion still sticking out of the frame that ended up breaking off flush with the frame. Im not really sure where the drilling out went wrong but he ended up walking the bit out the side of the nut so what im left with is a C shaped captive nut that wont allow the bolt to be tightened. My first question is am i risking the whole skid shearing the 7 other bolts by driving and light wheeling with one bolt missing while i figure out how to fix this? My second question is how do i fix this? Do i A: use a hole saw to drill out a small access hole adjacent to the captive nut through the side of the frame to remove then reweld a new nut then weld the access hole shut.
Or B: holesaw from the bottom removing the captive nut along with a washer size frame bit that the nut is welded to and re weld a new nut/ washer where it was removed from?
Or C: use a very long drill bit to go in through the exsisting bolt hole out the top of the frame and usea very long bolt to go through the frame and put a bolt and washer on top?
Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

 

[devildogcruiser25]

Good question! I broke a bolt while taking my OEM crossmember off yesterday, but I figured the other 7 were perfectly capable of holding it on. I'm interested to hear what others think.

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[Pin_Head]

Drill it out to the next larger size and tap a new hole.

 

[95ToyCruiser]

I broke mine on my stocker... Left it for 2 years... Wheeled the hell outta it, never had a problem.

Would still be like that if I didn't do my flat belly... Now I have 4 5/8" bolts holding the entire skid/flat belly on

 

[darmaduke]

why not just put a small weld there?

welding the cross member to the frame? its not like the cross member get removed, and if and when you have to remove for what ever reason, 2 seconds with a grinder and off she comes.

its only one bolt out of seven so i doubt it will be the end of the world, quick spot weld and away you go.

my .02

 

[TYM4FUN]

Drill it out to the next larger size and tap a new hole.

He doesn't have a hole to tap...I think 1/3 of the entire nut is missing.

 

[dannyp]

He doesn't have a hole to tap...I think 1/3 of the entire nut is missing.

That is correct. It looks like a C. The threads are there but when you tighten it the C opens enough to slip so i cant tighten the bolt.

 

[blkprj80]

Got a picture of it Danny?

I wouldn't do C unless you can put a pipe inside the frame to keep it from crushing.

B sounds good if you can find a donor frame to cut the same piece out of.

 

[86tuning]

You could remove the old captive nut and fish a new fastener in there. But that's a lot of work.

Meh. Run 7 bolts and call it a day. Or weld the xmember in place with an easily accessible weld that can be quickly ground off.

 

[devildogcruiser25]

why not just put a small weld there?

welding the cross member to the frame? its not like the cross member get removed, and if and when you have to remove for what ever reason, 2 seconds with a grinder and off she comes.

its only one bolt out of seven so i doubt it will be the end of the world, quick spot weld and away you go.

my .02

My kind of thinking!

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