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Tailgate hinge bolts.

Tailgate hinge bolts.
Germy

Germy

Full Time Jeeper
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Location
Cincinnati, Ohio
Vehicle(s)
1985 jeep cj7 360 20 rear and 30 front w/warn lockers 5 speed tranny,

1971 dodge dart built 318
The heads are completely stripped. I went after them with a drill and had Limited success. How do I do this properly? Do I drill a small hole through the bolt and progressively get bigger? Aren't these bolts hardened? Do I buy a bit to back them out? I have no clue?
 
what kind of bolts are they? counter sunk torx?
 
Yes those are hardened bolts, assuming that they are the flat head type with the torx head on them. It is possible to gradually open up the center of the bolt head and eventually to as large as the clearance hole on the hinge. It would really help if your hole is on center also. As the hole you drill gets larger you might be able to pry it off. When you go above 1/4" be careful as not to go too deep and damage the female thread. I'm sure you have a rusted on bolt, PB Blaster could help here. If you are going to use an easy out here, drill as large as you can since that can help weaken the male part of the thread and help it to unscrew.
 
quite often once you get the pressure off the threads by removing the head, a 3/8" drill works pretty well for this, you can grab what is still there with vice grips and it will thread right out. a little PB Blaster or acetone and ATF over night wont hurt, for sure.:cool:
 
Nice, thanks! Torx it is. I think the heads are just stuck I'm trying the back it with a pliers first then I'll drill it through if needed
 
Drilling bolts was the worst part of my restoration. I had to drill seat and roll bar bolts and 1 seat belt anchor bolt that was particularly memorable. Grade 8's. Not fun

I did learn that if I didn't use a new drill bit for each bolt, it would take twice as long. Hardened bolts just destroy the edge on drill bits.

I hired a welder to so some rust repair and he welded a hex head bolt onto a couple stripped bolts and then backed it out using an impact wrench. Worked on a few of them.
 
bullseye said:
Drilling bolts was the worst part of my restoration. I had to drill seat and roll bar bolts and 1 seat belt anchor bolt that was particularly memorable. Grade 8's. Not fun

I did learn that if I didn't use a new drill bit for each bolt, it would take twice as long. Hardened bolts just destroy the edge on drill bits.

I hired a welder to so some rust repair and he welded a hex head bolt onto a couple stripped bolts and then backed it out using an impact wrench. Worked on a few of them.
Click to expand...

Grade 8 would suck! I went too fast on a few bits and dulled them rapidly. Going slower and using oil this time.
 
I made a mess out of my tailgate and lower body. There is no resolution now. It's terrible.
 
Don't panic!:cool:

short of burning it down to the ground there is no way it is unrecoverable.

things are just not as easy as first thought.

relax and don't think about it for a while, whatever it was that you don't know you learned with this experience will come to you and you will go back and make it right.

If somebody told you this was going to be easy, they lied to you.:D

the truth is that it was a problem when you started, now it is just a slightly more obvious problem, but it is the same problem.:cool:
 
OK so show us some pictures of carnage. :(
 
Ok. It involved a pickle fork and a five pound hammer. I'll go get a pic
 
You need to get a impact. Not the air type but the type you hit with a hammer. That is what I used when I removed mine and my tub is rusted a lot more than yours and I got all of them out and reused them.
 
Germy said:
View attachment 11552View attachment 11553

There is nothing to tap. What was threaded broke into the frame. How can I make something to thread. I'm thinking weld the tailgate shut and rattle can it
Click to expand...

yea that sucks , but I like the tail gate to work so I would not weld it shut , couple ideas would be to weld studs at the body an tail gate areas but needs to be clean smooth welds and on the inside of the hinge you could use a counter sink bit to help the hinge fit over the weld around the stud or drill the hole big enough to fit over the weld and use a washer an nut to cover on the outside of the hinge , this will work , or drill completely thru and use nuts on both sides or weld the holes smooth on the hinge and use self tapping bolts to attach the hinge , or just weld the hinge on completely but again good smooth welds to make it neat looking and paint , this is just my two cents but you would be able to use it as its suppose to be .
 
Germy said:
View attachment 11552View attachment 11553

There is nothing to tap. What was threaded broke into the frame. How can I make something to thread. I'm thinking weld the tailgate shut and rattle can it
Click to expand...

OK, so not sure if I am seeing this right, but I believe that there is a plate there behind the frame that is meant to be loose as it allows you to move the hinge around for proper fitting with the bolts loosely in place. Then you tighten it down and the hinge and the plate behind the sheet metal sandwich it in place. So I don't think you broke anything into the frame.

You can see the plate with the thread in the bottom hinge location. So you just need to take a nail or screwdriver and lift the plate then screw in the new bolts and hinge 1 at a time.

11553d1349137593-tailgate-hinge-bolts-imageuploadedbytapatalk1349138158.119414.jpg


Is that a single hole located between the top and bottom hinge locations almost directly in the center of the pic?
 
bullseye said:
OK, so not sure if I am seeing this right, but I believe that there is a plate there behind the frame that is meant to be loose as it allows you to move the hinge around for proper fitting with the bolts loosely in place. Then you tighten it down and the hinge and the plate behind the sheet metal sandwich it in place. So I don't think you broke anything into the frame.

You can see the plate with the thread in the bottom hinge location. So you just need to take a nail or screwdriver and lift the plate then screw in the new bolts and hinge 1 at a time.

11553d1349137593-tailgate-hinge-bolts-imageuploadedbytapatalk1349138158.119414.jpg


Is that a single hole located between the top and bottom hinge locations almost directly in the center of the pic?
Click to expand...

Yeah, but the bolt is drilled off at the surface of that floating piece. So I can't hold it still to drill and tap. I just want to drill all the way through and bolt the :dung: on. A little bondo and rustoleum. I will show better pics of what I am talking about
 
Cut a flap in the inside of the tailgate and peel it up to access the bolt plate. When it's repaired just have it welded shut.
 
Having a buddy weld the bottom and then I'm going to bolt through tailgate.
 
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