Stuck cab bolts NEEEEED HELP!

[JD4020]

Im putting a body lift in my truck, and need to remove three bolts on both sides of the cab. I got the driver side bolts and the front one on the pasenger side loose, but the middle and back one on the pass. side got stuck and I ground off the head, and pulled out the pads between the cab and frame. I got a vise grips on the middle one and got it off. The back one wont move, the vise grips just spins. Ive sprayed it with PB Blaster and heated it but it wont budge. Im kinda in a real pickle here.
The truck is a 1996 Chevy Cheyenne 2wd 2500.

 

[humboldt deere]

Maybe weld something to it like another long bolt to spin it out, or drill it and use easy out.

 

[JD4020]

I could drill it and put in a screw with a reverse thread, so when it is tight, the bolt has to come loose.

 

[humboldt deere]

Yeah that's what an easy out is.

 

[knucklehead98]

IF you can get to it,weld a nut on it. As soon as it goes from red to that nice gray color, take a air chisel and beat the daylights out of it for about a minute. That should release it and allow it to come out. good luck

 

[JD4020]

I heated it up with the propane soldering torch, and got it out with some good old muscle. I still have 6 bolts in the bed to remove, and I think Ill heat them up with the propane torch first to make sure they want to spin, if these were to strip, there is NO way to get them off the way I got these out. Any other ideas on how to persuade them out before the head strips out?

 

[humboldt deere]

Propane does'nt burn very hot, if you want to use your torch set get a bottle of mapp gas, or use oxy-acetylene if it's available.

 

[OCR]

Stuck cab bolts NEEEEED HELP!

I still have 6 bolts in the bed to remove, and I think Ill heat them up with the propane torch first to make sure they want to spin, if these were to strip, there is NO way to get them off the way I got these out.

Hello JD4020,

Heating the bolts will actually cause them to get tighter in the threaded hole,
because they will expand. This can work to your advantage though.

Heat them, and they expand against the hole... usually expanding it a fraction
too, also, and probably the most important... it helps break the rust and crud loose.


I would not attempt to turn them if they were hot because the threads
will seize or gall... and the heat weakens the bolt so you might even twist the head off.

Try letting them cool first... and then a good twist.

If that doesn't work, heat them again and gently try just rocking them back and forth... just a little... while hot, with a wrench....
Sometimes turning them the wrong way... just a bit... even helps... then back to cold before a bunch of power.

Of course, it's best if you can heat the bolt hole, so it expands... but that might not be possible in your case... just be carefull... or you'll have to use a hard-out on all of them.


OCR

 

[dumptrucker]

what works well with frozen bolts is to heat them to expand in the hole then use a spray bottle and spray water immediatly on them, this causes them to shrink fast and breaks the bond of the rust.

 

[hi-ball]

Hi JD4020 if those box bolts are a nut & bolt setup you can usually cut off
the bolts with a small grinder & a cutting wheel from the underside.
Hope you got them Hi-ball

 

[OCR]

Stuck cab bolts NEEEEED HELP!

I'm going to add just a bit to my post.

I'm going on the assumption that your bolts are threaded into a hole... not a nut. (cap screw is the term, I think.)

If it's a nut... heat the nut as hot as you can, and crank away... it still might
gall the threads but probably come off.

Here's a method I've used on those pesky allen screws... that you know you're going to round off the wrench... with just a little more muscle... you all
know what I mean...

I use a socket drive allen wrench and an impact wrench... and... an air pressure regulator... with PB Blaster.

I start rattling at a low pressure and slowly increase the air pressure to my impact . It works surprisingly well... I've yet to break the allen or round out the screw.

If you can get an impact on them... might work... even with a swivel.
Use a six point impact socket and make sure it's the right size.


OCR


P.S. The two posts between my first and this are good advice too.

 

[JD4020]

Im going to pull out the bed liner and see if the bolts come through the bed, Ive been told they do? I dont think they do, Ive got a few of them to turn, so I think they shouldnt be a real big problem. I cant get an impact into 6 of the eight (there are two more than I thought) so Ill be using the good old breaker bar again. Just have to be forcefull, yet gentle I guess.

 

[Freightrain]

Bed bolts all come thru the top. They are carriage type bolts(with square under the head) that holds it from turning while turning the nut. Unfortunately with an old truck, likely the holes are a bit rusty, then hit the nut with impact and it will strip the square hole out of bed, thus rendering you stuck.

Weld a nut to the top of bolt(in bed) so you can hold it with another wrench. There is usually TWO bolts that are underneath the very rear of bed, that can only be got to from underneath.

Just thinking..........the newer stuff might actually have Torx headed bolts holding the bed on? Have to look and see.

 

[JD4020]

More problems. I backed the truck up into grandmas garage tonight so Id have some light and a dry surface to work on. I got the front bolt on the pass. side no problem, then went onto the same bolt on the drivers side. I had loosened this bolt about 1-2 turns holding an electric impact on it for about 5 minnutes. I put the breaker on it, and SNAP! Now I can move it up and down a little bit (about as much as it was loosened) and I can turn it all I want but it wont come any looser. Its threaded into some C channel on the bed bottom that Im sure has a nut welded into it, and I think I broke the weld. Ill have to cut about a 2"x2" hole in the bed to get down into the c channel, and I can weld in a new bolt, or use a regular bolt.


Mine dont come through the bed floor. I wish they did.

 

[Dom]

More problems. I backed the truck up into grandmas garage tonight so Id have some light and a dry surface to work on. I got the front bolt on the pass. side no problem, then went onto the same bolt on the drivers side. I had loosened this bolt about 1-2 turns holding an electric impact on it for about 5 minnutes. I put the breaker on it, and SNAP! Now I can move it up and down a little bit (about as much as it was loosened) and I can turn it all I want but it wont come any looser. Its threaded into some C channel on the bed bottom that Im sure has a nut welded into it, and I think I broke the weld. Ill have to cut about a 2"x2" hole in the bed to get down into the c channel, and I can weld in a new bolt, or use a regular bolt.


Mine dont come through the bed floor. I wish they did.

Not on a truck, but on my subaru I broke the welds on a nut inside the frame. Luckly subaru had cut a slot wide enough to place the nut and wrench in to re-attach. I hope for your sake that GM did the same.

 

[JD4020]

Not on a truck, but on my subaru I broke the welds on a nut inside the frame. Luckly subaru had cut a slot wide enough to place the nut and wrench in to re-attach. I hope for your sake that GM did the same.

The nut is in a c channel, small enough so I cant my hand in there, but a wrench would fit, but its in such a craptastic location, that it would probably be a real crapshoot to get it in just the right spot, it would probably be easier to cut a hole in the bed and seal it with a bed liner.