When changing my rear shocks i broke the upper bolt in the rear on the passenger side. i tried getting a drill up there to drill it out and use an easy-out but its really tight. I can see the back of the bolt through the fender but can't reach it with vice grips. I was wandering how hard it would be to unbolt the body to lift it far enough to get at the bolt. I would use heat but then i would have to drop the gas tank. Anyone have any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

this was on what type of????????? YJ, JK, TJ, CJ????

Is the shock removed? a picture would help. seriously a little info and a photo go a long way.

Yea sorry about that its a TJ and shock is removed the bar pin broke witch made me replace the shocks. i don't a have a picture but it broke in so i can't grab it from under neath I'll try to take some shots when i get home.

I did exactly the same thing on my 97 TJ, what we ended up doing, is using an air hammer/chisel and a torch, it's tight but if you have at least a 1" body lift you can get in there(we didn't drop the gas tank either). The nuts are welded to the bracket next to the tub on the frame. There is no way to get them off without cutting/grinding/breaking the tack weld they have from the factory. Once I got them off I put some nuts with a flange on them that have the metal catching grooves on them. I would love to know who came up with this design as I would like to kick them in the nuts (literally).

HTH and I feel your pain,

Trey

ok thanks for the quick reply but i dont have a body lift installed. could i just unbolt the body mounts and lift the body up for access? or would there be more to it then just that?

I don't see why that wouldn't work, the only thing I would be concerned with is the fuel lines and vent lines from your gas tank. Just make sure you have enough slack in the lines to lift it up, also don't forget to unhook the fuel filler, as if you are installing a body lift. Otherwise you will break the neck off. It's just 8 screws. Then just jack slowly to make sure everything is ok and you haven't ripped anything off, the main thing is just take your time and be careful. Then go to town on those nuts.

Trey

ok im going at this tonight when i get off work. thanks for you help again. hopefully all goes well.

Save yourself all the bullshit just weld bolts backwards (the head of the bolt) right where the hole was to thread in the bolts. Then use nuts a washer and either locking washer or locking nut to secure the shock in place. This way if the weld ever breaks again all you have to do is weld new bolts in took me 20 minutes to do both sides and haven't had any issues since

Save yourself all the bullshit just weld bolts backwards (the head of the bolt) right where the hole was to thread in the bolts.

This is what I did, did it in the front too when I decided to use some extended rear shocks up front. No problems with any mounts.

Well if your able to get the stripped out bolt out you can try what I did. I stripped one of the captured nuts on the tub so I bought a pair of longer small in diameter bolts ran it through the top of the shock bar then through the captured nut and ran the nuts on the other side. Does that make sense?

Save yourself all the bullshit just weld bolts backwards (the head of the bolt) right where the hole was to thread in the bolts. Then use nuts a washer and either locking washer or locking nut to secure the shock in place. This way if the weld ever breaks again all you have to do is weld new bolts in took me 20 minutes to do both sides and haven't had any issues since

I do this weld trick all the time. Round a bolt head off, weld a nut to it then back it out. Sometimes when you break a bolt, you can weld a smaller one to it, then back it out, and if this doesn't work, just weld bolt backwards and call it good. :smokin: