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I love my cherokees, but does every bolt break?

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Old Jun 20, 2010 | 11:49 PM
  #1  
R Cannon's Avatar
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From: PA
Year: 1996
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0 HO
Default I love my cherokees, but does every bolt break?

Im swapping a lot of parts from my 96 to my new 95. im in the process of switching ouy my trunk door. Has anyone founda trick or easier way? They havent snapped, YET.
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Old Jun 20, 2010 | 11:51 PM
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From: Indianola IOWA
Year: 1992
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
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50% acetone %50 ATF (tranny fluid). proven better than PB blaster. soak everything for a few days. Still guna break stuff but it helps.

after awhile every bolt on your cherokee will be new.
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Old Jun 20, 2010 | 11:57 PM
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From: Visalia, Kalifornia, ussa
Year: 1996
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
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Sorry, bolt breaking is more common to you people that live in rust prone areas. A little shot of PB Blaster always works for me. But I have near zero rust to deal with.
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Old Jun 21, 2010 | 12:00 AM
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From: Ukiah, ca
Year: 1992
Model: Cherokee
Engine: I6 4.0 HO
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i haven had one bold break or had to use pb blaster on any bolt on my 92
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Old Jun 21, 2010 | 12:40 AM
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R Cannon's Avatar
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From: PA
Year: 1996
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Default Wappozi. you live in CA. lol

Consider yourself lucky about no bolts breaking. I have lots of luck. All bad. Does anyone know what threads are in my 95 liftgate hinges? I have a feeling Im going to be drilling and tapping.
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Old Jun 21, 2010 | 12:44 AM
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From: Mechanicsburg, PA
Year: 1996
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0 L H.O. I6
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its gotten to the point where I cant expect a single bolt to come off clean. if it does then its a big surprise! Just broke every bolt on my front clip, had to drill them all out.

use some PB blaster though, it does help sometimes.
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Old Jun 21, 2010 | 12:48 AM
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From: Daytona Beach, Fl
Year: 1988
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
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mine has S.B.S. also... Snapped Bolt Syndrome.. i live in fl and even had the ziebart rust proof treatment done and it looks worse than other older cherokees in the jy.. lol i just dont get it.
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Old Jun 21, 2010 | 01:03 AM
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Year: 1996
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Default what crazy metric bolt threads are in there?

If I have to snap them off like every thing ive worked on, should I drill and tap for another, standard bolt? what size? What thread is the original?
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Old Jun 21, 2010 | 01:30 AM
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From: Mechanicsburg, PA
Year: 1996
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0 L H.O. I6
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Originally Posted by R Cannon
If I have to snap them off like every thing ive worked on, should I drill and tap for another, standard bolt? what size? What thread is the original?
i mean, does it really matter?

if youre drilling it out and retapping a thread, then just make it whatever you want it to be.

its going to be bigger than the original bolt threads.
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Old Jun 21, 2010 | 08:15 AM
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From: Flint/Asheville
Year: 1995
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0 HO
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Yea if i look at a bolt wrong on my MI heap, a chunk of rust falls and 4 other bolts brake lol
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Old Jun 21, 2010 | 08:55 AM
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From: Ohio
Year: 1998
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busting bolts is a fact of life if you work on older vehicles. Soaking the bolt in penetrating oil helps. Also whacking the head of the bolt a few times help. Loosening and tightening while taking your time prevents the bolt from breaking while extracting.

Sometimes there is nothing you can do. It snaps, it snaps. Have a good drill, tap and die set handy along with a hardware collection.
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Old Jun 21, 2010 | 09:41 AM
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From: Houston Tx.
Year: 1995
Model: Cherokee
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It's my experience that EVERYTHING breaks on a Cherokee, not just the bolts.
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Old Jun 21, 2010 | 12:12 PM
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From: Oroville, CA
Year: 1995
Model: Grand Cherokee
Engine: 4.0 with all of the noise and clatter
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I feel for anybody that lives in the rust belt, you guys have it rough.
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Old Jun 21, 2010 | 01:47 PM
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From: Grand Rapids, Michigan
Year: 2000
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
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YES!
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Old Jun 21, 2010 | 02:10 PM
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Here's where bolts don't break on a cherokee. Just leave it alone. They never break that way. But since we can't. They are going to break.
If you don't want to worry about them rusting out on ya. You could use titanium bolts? Insanely expensive and the bolts will be worth more then the jeep itself. But problem solved.
People say older cars. But even if you have a early model 90's cherokee. That's really not old of a car. I'd expect someone to say old car if it were 70's or something. Relative I suppose.
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