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[steve801]

Ya know how some of the bolts that go into the frame have nuts welded on the inside of the frame? Well as luck would have it one of those nuts inside the frame rail broke loose. I was thinking of putting a helicoil in there, but the frame is only an eighth inch thick. I was also thinking of cutting a small access on the side of the frame to put a nut in there but was worried about messing with the integrity of the frame. This set of three nut holes holds the front spring shackle and the steering gear mounting bracket in the left front frame rail. Any suggestions on how to tackle this?

 

[Petescj]

Thats a pretty common problem. You can cut an upside down U in the frame in that area and bend the metal out of the way. Make it just big enough that you can get the head of a wrench in there. Tack a new nut in place and bend the frame metal back in place. Weld it up and your good to go.

 

[IOPort51]

This will work.^^^

Personally I would use a hole saw and cut a round access directly across from the missing bolt hole, bolt the nut in place, weld the nut in place and use a blunt end diamond fish plate to cover the hole.

But anybody that knows me will tell you that I always make things harder than they may need to be.

 

[Peanut Butter]

This will work.^^^

Personally I would use a hole saw and cut a round access directly across from the missing bolt hole, bolt the nut in place, weld the nut in place ...

I would drill a hole across from the bolt hole just big enough to fit a deep well socket. with a good lock washer or nylon threaded nut, no need to weld, unless you plan on lots of abuse. Rod

 

[Hedgehog]

There are a couple of systems for this, I believe one is called a nut-cert. They work, but I wouldn't use them now that I have my MIG welder. There is a hole above the missing nut. I'd clean the metal as much as possible, then fish a nut in through that hole, hold it in place with a long bolt and carefully tack the nut in place. Then remove the bolt and weld the nut in good and solidly. The threads will take a hit from the welder, spatter if nothing else. Let it cool, grind the area flat, rethread/tap the nut to get nice clean threads and you will have a nut that is actually stronger than factory. Also if you didn't take special care, you will also have a set of melted wires running through the frame ..... You can see'em in the picture.

 

[tarry99]

Ya know how some of the bolts that go into the frame have nuts welded on the inside of the frame? Well as luck would have it one of those nuts inside the frame rail broke loose. I was thinking of putting a helicoil in there, but the frame is only an eighth inch thick. I was also thinking of cutting a small access on the side of the frame to put a nut in there but was worried about messing with the integrity of the frame. This set of three nut holes holds the front spring shackle and the steering gear mounting bracket in the left front frame rail. Any suggestions on how to tackle this?

I would enlarge the upper hole in the chassis just large enough to get a correct thread sized nut to fall into the hollow chassis.........then I would grind 3-4 V-shaped groves in the OD of the vacant hole where your nut broke off of or came loose.....get the new nut lined up using a magnet and a bolt of the correct size .....and tack weld the 3-4 notches to hold the nut in place inside the frame and then grind off any excess.......some Hardware stores will sell over sized OD nuts of the correct thread size and even some will sell a square headed nut or flange.........If you had a lathe I would just build a threaded flange but that's another story!............when done make sure you use some anti-seize on all the threads as it looks like your problem may be rust related and the force required to get the bolts loose that are rusted up..........make sure you also clean up the weld zone before welding............Good Luck!

 

[Neuner]

Just happened to me. In doing my research I came across a big write-up on the Nutsert like Hedgehog mentions. Sounded very successful for a lot of us in the same situation. Essentially, along with the Nutsert, you create a tool using a bolt of the nutsert diameter, a drilled out guide nut, a star-washer and two washers.

Some tack welded the edge the nutsert to the frame but most said it wasn't necessary.

Ordered mine from McMaster-Carr, McMaster-Carr. Suppose to arrive next week.