Broken front skid plate bolts

[kengalbraith]

Hi y’all, doing the first oil change on my new to me GX470. Broke the first bolt trying to drop the skid plate. Went to pull the second and it was already broken with half the bolt still in the frame rail. Anyone had the same experience and how did you get the broken bolts out of there? Tried dropping a rachet in through the top of the rail but can’t get anything bigger than a 9mm to drop in (which isn’t big enough for the bolt head). Anyone know how to get these out?

 

[RedBeardCT]

following. Same issue. Did you ever get it figured out?

 

[kengalbraith]

Did not, sadly i totaled the gx. Now i have a 4Runner that i like less.

 

[RedBeardCT]

damn! hope you're okay.

 

[Rednexus]

They break all of the time and aren't too bad to fix. You'll need to drill out the bolt and re-tap, either for the OEM M6x1.00 size or a larger M8x1.25 bolt.

To drill it out, get a good quality 1/8" drill bit (which is smaller than the bolt), oil it up, and drill all of the way through it (slowly with lots of pressure). Then drill it out to the larger 5mm (or 7/32" size). If the threads/hole aren't too damaged, run a M6x1.00 tap through them and replace the bolts with a new M6x1.00 bolt. If the hole is not in good enough shape to re-tap, drill it out for a M8x1.25 bolt (which requires a 1/4" hole), tap it, and install the bigger bolts. Tapping will also require oil to work well.

It's not a fun process but you should be able to knock it out in 30-45 minutes for both sides. Again, get good drill bits (name brand) and make sure to use lots of oil and a slow speed.

 

[GX Kai]

This happened on my 4th gen 4R and 470. Harbor freight sells left hand drill bits for pretty cheap. Those and some EZ outs worked for me.