HiDefXJ

I'm putting a lift on this weekend and thought I would be the one guy who wouldn't need to remove his hitch to take out the rear leaf spring bolt. WRONG, I had to remove the hitch. And broke two of the four bolts on one side that hold it on! Anybody wonder why jeep installed the nut on the outside of the spring pack instead of inside!? I would have made all of our lives easier! Anyway, I digress, Is two out of four ok to roll with? I don't know if I feel comfortable with it, but I also don't know if I want to try and drill out the two broken studs. I also don't know if I want to go so far as to weld it on. Has anyone had this happen to them? What did you do and how big of a pain was it?
Thanks.

troy fritz

What year do you have? Mine is a 96 and dont have studs,it has grade 8 bolts you can replace .

93gc40

You mean the hitch is mising a couble bolts, right? As long as you don't tow anything with it, should be OK. If it has at least 2 bolts per side.

HiDefXJ

I have a 2000 xj. I bought a hidden hitch about 5 yeas ago. Since then, the bolt have become rusted. When I removed it today, two broke. The heads snapped off. Now I'm left with "studs". I would like to use the hitch for towing.

troy fritz

Just get new grade 8 bolts for it and you will be good to go.

HiDefXJ

Maybe I'm not making myself clear, I took off the trailer hitch. It has 4 bolts on either side holding it to the frame. 2 of the heads on 2 of the bolts on the right side snapped off and I'm left with the rest of the bolt rusted into the frame. Do I really have to drill them out or is there another solution? Ideas?
The count is now 4 bolts on one side, 2 on the other.

troy fritz

Now its clear. Take a hammer and punch and knock them out.

HiDefXJ

Wow! THAT sound like tons of fun! I guess I should prepare for a dirt/rust dust shower. I may drill em out before I go through that.
Any other ideas?

Sc00ter

Are you going to reinstall the hitch? If not, don't worry about it. If yes, the bolts that hold the hitch on go into a nut strip that sits inside the unibody tube. From what I understand, there is one on each side and the rear bumper has to be removed to gain access. The strips can be fabricated or can be bought for $15 each. I just bought two to install a new hitch on my 00xj. There is already one on the passenger side but am going to replace it anyway due to rust and the possibility/probability that I will twist off some bolts as well.

troy fritz

If you have a better idea then do it !Why are you asking if you are all knowing?

HiDefXJ

Really Mr. Fritz? Was the sarcasm necessary? I'm not all knowing, but I do know a pain in the butt job when I see one. You being a "CF veteran" should know that there is ALWAYS more than one way to do something. Sometimes even multiple ways to do things. This very reason is why I continue accepting responses for my post. So that people like Scooter can offer up their opinion and I can see a solution I've never seen before.
Two things,
Where can I obtain one of these "nut strips"
AND
Can somebody provide the answer without following Mr. Fritzs' example of a sarcasm laced post?
Thanks guys!
And thanks Scooter!

bfisher42

if i were you i would step drill the broken bolts. punch the center and start with a small drill bit and keep going up a bit each time until its almost gone and then take a pair of vise grips and pull the shell out. make sure you drill very straight.

superj

and, i imagine, the leaf bolts are put in with nuts on the outside so if the nuts come loose and drop off the bolts cannot back out and drop out. the hitch framing is a backer to the bolts?

coming from an aviation background, that is how it works for us

Sc00ter

Ok HiDef,

Just got the new sill reinforcements from fedex- for $15 each, trust me, it is not worth fishing bolts or trying to refab the old rusty ones that are already in your rig. Will let you know how well they go in. Would attach a pic, but I have not mastered that yet.

newageoutlaw

Ok I have a question did you install the hitch yourself because I installed mine myself and the bolts that hold the trailer hitch on are bolts not studs and I had to feed them down through the frame. So they should just pop out with a hammer. Well it may take a couple swings with a good BFH (big f*&king hammer) but it should work.