I decided that it was time to replace the shocks on the cherokee and in the first two minutes, the bolts in the top shock mount broke off.. I looked on cf to find the best solution and pounding the weldded nuts threw with an air hammer looked to be the best solution. I have no compressor and I didnt want to go threw finding one and all that so I did it another way.

First I tryed to drill the bolts out and gave up after an hour and a broke off bit in the hole, so I went to my dads garage and grabbed a few tools and a framing spike. An angle grinder, a small sledge hammer, a better car jack and a few other tools that were not needed at this time, and were not intended for this job, was what I snagged. then I cut the spike into a smaller spike because it was just too long. I sharpend the tip so it looked like a pencil, worked pretty good. I started hammering the bolts out and I could tell pretty quick that they were comin out. The first three came out pretty easy but the last one took about an hour, I was pretty tired from the first three and had to wait for my arm to stop burnning a few times but it worked. Then when the holes were clear, I used a peace of strap from a cardboard box to fish the bolts with washers threw the access hole and into place. Fishing line would work but I had none. I stripped off most of the strap to make it thinner so that it would be strong but still flexable to tie to the end of the bolt and fit threw the hole. once the bolts were in their new home, I put the nuts on just to the point where the nylocks hit the threads, then I put the shock on the bottom mount and released the wire holding them compressed and let it expand into place. getting the bolts to go in the slots of the bar pin was pretty easy. I just had to hold them crooked like a v and the bar pin went into place with a little pushing, pulling and twisting. Then I just tightend the nuts with an open end wrench and a deep socketed ratchet. I found that a 13mm head was the perfect size so that the wrench would hold its self in place when it hit the edge of the access hole. 10mm was too small for sure. An air hammer would have shaved some time but cost was a factor and who dosent like a little angle grinding. total cost of the job, before mail in rebate, was 150 for the shocks, new nuts, bolts and washers. total time was two days of drinking and working. I could have done it faster if I didnt want to take my sweet time working on it and get away from everyone for a short vacation. I think that drilling the bolts out would work for someone with a better drill and drill bits, but I didnt want to get hot shavings coverd in oil all over me.

 

One more reason I like living in a desert......things don't rust. Upper shock bolts on our '98 came out with zero issues. To be on the safe side, we sprayed the welded nuts with Chain Wax and went back in with stainless bolts.

 

My jeep came from mass and then was in san francisco. Both places are terrible for rust. You should see my rear bump stops, there all rust now and I doubt there gona come off easy.

 

I am looking for replacement rear shock bolts. Mine were rusted and all snapped so i spent a day drilling and re tapping the holes. Now i just need bolts for them but my local dealer said Chrysler no longer supplied that part??? did not make much sense but does anyone know a place that does carry them?

 

I ended up just getting a grade 8 bolt, I do believe, with a 13mm head on it...I too had no access to an air hammer, or anything of any use, so I just drilled a new hole beside the busted bolt, and ran a course thread bolt up in there, added a couple of washers for stability...it looks ugly, but has worked great...added a little antiseize...which will always be your best friend if you have to remove a bolt again..

 

yeah i ended up finding a good fit and length at the lowes hardware near me. if anyone needs the part number i can find it. i added washers to them as the bolt heads were not flared so they would not give the best long lasting hold on the upper mounting bar. all told 4 bolts and 4 washers was about $1.30 ... can't really beat that. I sprayed the area with some rustoleum to avoid more rust issues. a week of road driving and no issues.