maddawg308 : Going nuts about my bolts...

Going nuts about my bolts...
Post by maddawg308 on Jul 5, 2006, 10:37am

Okay, more teardown this past weekend and I've come across some problems with fasteners on my -725.

#1: the screws holding the side compartment door on are frozen solid. No screwdriver I put to the screws can budge them, including a 3/8" breaker bar with a phillips head socket. Lubed the heck outta them and broke a phillips head off in the process. Should I just drill them out? Any assistance from others with previous frozen screw problems, I'd love to hear your tales.

#2: Smart ass that previously ran this truck (the National Zoological Park) chiseled off the side and rear reflectors and left the screw portion of the reflector bolts in their places. How to get those out?!? This may be a job for a larger drill bit...

HELP!

Re: Going nuts about my bolts...
Post by binfordm715 on Jul 5, 2006, 11:09am

I've heard good things about both PB Blaster and Kroil as good penetrating oils. But if they're broken, you could try an extraction tool or yes, drill them out and retap the holes.

Re: Going nuts about my bolts...
Post by elwenil on Jul 5, 2006, 11:19am

Get some Rust Penetrant/Heat Control Valve solvent from either your GM dealer or Mopar Parts Dept. Mopar part number is 4318039AB. This stuff really eats rust. If the screw is rusted badly, it won't even look like a screw anymore after this stuff gets done with it. It can (and has) completely eat the heads off of screws in some cases. I think the reflector holes in the bed have threaded inserts in the holes.

Re: Going nuts about my bolts...
Post by boghog on Jul 5, 2006, 12:01pm

Two of my favorite tricks are (1). Using an appropriate tip on a torch, heat the broken bolt to the color red, let cool, heat to red again, weld nut to broken bolt (even if its flush with surface) let cool, remove broken bolt with nut as an assembly. (2) For Screws and bolts that are just frozen, Heat and cool twice like in #1 above, then try to move screw or bolt head in both directions, YES, BOTH, while applying generous amounts of Kroil. Once even a small amount of movement is noticed, the item will come out. The major key here is PATIENCE! Very slowly work the item back and forth the total movement you have established while a helper sprays the bejiggles out of it with the spray can of Kroil. The spraying will flush out the threads while its worked in and out,.Most of the time this has allowed me to remove the item by hand after this.
Good Luck.

Re: Going nuts about my bolts...
Post by gimpyrobb on Jul 5, 2006, 12:01pm

I have used a product by the name of "yeild" it helps tremendously(sp?).

Re: Going nuts about my bolts...
Post by jeepistdougiowa on Jul 5, 2006, 12:39pm

Sometimes a light smack with a hammer will loosen a screw. Use the correct size phillips bit for a punch when doing this so as not to screw up the screw head. Turning both ways does help too as do heat and penetrating oil (although interesting when use at the same time

Re: Going nuts about my bolts...
Post by bmac6026 on Jul 5, 2006, 12:57pm

Here is some info on a product call "Freeze off" I have not tried yet. I had the mfg.rep in my office couple of weeks ago peddling this product.It is a new product ,so it might be hard to find.
here is the web site .
http://www.crcindustries.com/auto/co...x?PN=05222&S=Y

Re: Going nuts about my bolts...
Post by maddawg308 on Jul 5, 2006, 1:27pm

All these suggestions are great, however, I forget to put that the phillips heads on all the screws are stripper now from trying with screwdrivers, a screwgun, ratchet, etc. There is no "X" anymore, it's now an "O".

Re: Going nuts about my bolts...
Post by davea on Jul 5, 2006, 2:07pm

How about one of the old impact drivers that they use to get screws out of motorcycle cases. Looks like a screwdriver, but it is flat on top. You hit it with a hammer and the internal gearing causes the driver bit to turn at the same time. The combination of hammer impact breaking the rust loose and the bit being driven deeper into the screw head from the impact will usually loosen the screw.

Re: Going nuts about my bolts...
Post by jeepistdougiowa on Jul 5, 2006, 2:10pm

Stripped..weld a nut to them as mentioned above. Works everytime (unless it just twist the head off )

Re: Going nuts about my bolts...
Post by fredrader on Jul 5, 2006, 2:11pm

Take a cutoff wheel and cut a slot in the head of the screw so you can use a large regular screwdriver and heat ..It will come out..An impact driver is a life/screw saver when working with old rusty bolts and phillips screws.It keeps you from stripping out the X because you insert the bit in the screw and smack the driver with a hammer turning the screw .PB Blaster is an excellent penetrant and will help a lot..

Re: Going nuts about my bolts...
Post by grantshire on Jul 5, 2006, 3:15pm

In a word (two actually) "screw knocker". Its an impact hammer attachment made by Brown Aircraft tools for loosening stuck rivits on airplanes. It fits in the hammer like a socket wrench attachment and has a 5/8" box end wrench attached to ots six sided shaft. The other end is setup for a 3/8" drive socket. It is the best tool in my tool box and will loosen screws, rivits, bolts, nuts, etc. when nothing else will. You loosen stuff by vibrating the screw/nut/bolt while putting pressure on the 5/8' wrench.

http://www.browntool.com/productsele...?productid=195

Re: Going nuts about my bolts...
Post by binfordm715 on Jul 5, 2006, 3:47pm

Bob Villa recommends a Craftsman extractor tool for situations like maddawg's.

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.d....UseBVCookie=Yes

Anyone ever try one? Not sure if it would work in a situation where there's so much rust and corrosion that the bolt got ruined in the first place. Worth asking about though.

Re: Going nuts about my bolts...
Post by oilcan on Jul 6, 2006, 5:56am

I have a set of those, Tim. Sometimes they work great, and sometimes they just drill a hole through the screw head.