Topic: What should I do?

[95yjman]

I just put a Warn winch on the front of my jeep.  However my jeep does have some rust and both bolts broke off in the frame.  So I drilled a hole threw the mounting bracket and the round thing in the frame and ran a grade 8 bolt threw that with a nut on the end. and then the other side has two grade 8 bolts in the factory spots.  My question is what should I do for more strength?  I have thought about drilling through the broken bolts and then running a longer bolt with a nut on the end of that, but the back one would come out in the leaf hanger and the front one would just be a pain.  Could I just throw some weld on that side and call it good instead? Thanks for any help!

[Nicks92jeeper]

You could always weld some metal plates around the frame to whatever to add a bit more strength.

[neale_rs]

You should be able to extract the broken bolts.  They are in a good spot to work on them. Put penetrating oil on them.  Drill into them, maybe with a reverse drill. Cut a slot into them with a dremel, have a nut welded to them if they stick out a bit.  I'm pretty sure you could get them out with some effort.

[jfrabat]

You should be able to extract the broken bolts.  They are in a good spot to work on them. Put penetrating oil on them.  Drill into them, maybe with a reverse drill. Cut a slot into them with a dremel, have a nut welded to them if they stick out a bit.  I'm pretty sure you could get them out with some effort.

Dont forget to heat them as well...  That helps a lot.

[Jeffy]

You should be able to extract the broken bolts.  They are in a good spot to work on them. Put penetrating oil on them.  Drill into them, maybe with a reverse drill. Cut a slot into them with a dremel, have a nut welded to them if they stick out a bit.  I'm pretty sure you could get them out with some effort.

Sounds like he drilled through them already.  Most winch hardware is grade 5 not grade 8.  The reason being grade 5 will stretch some before breaking, giving you some indication of what's happening.

[aka-justin]

Sounds like he drilled through them already.  Most winch hardware is grade 5 not grade 8.  The reason being grade 5 will stretch some before breaking, giving you some indication of what's happening.

Never heard grade 5 vs grade 8 in that perspective before; interesting.

[jfrabat]

Never heard grade 5 vs grade 8 in that perspective before; interesting.

Jeffy is right.  Grade 8 IS stronger, but stronger also means more brittle. 

[95yjman]

Sounds like he drilled through them already.  Most winch hardware is grade 5 not grade 8.  The reason being grade 5 will stretch some before breaking, giving you some indication of what's happening.

Yeah I haven't heard anybody say that before either, something to think about though..

[Bikerjr1]

A lot of your hitch bolts will be grade 5 for just that reason.
JR

[neale_rs]

Sounds like he drilled through them already.  Most winch hardware is grade 5 not grade 8.  The reason being grade 5 will stretch some before breaking, giving you some indication of what's happening.

If the factory welded in nuts are ruined then the best bet would be to try to put a nut under the front one, than you would have two on that side.  You should be able to do it from the front of the frame rail.  If it doesn't have enough vertical space, you might need to use a chisel to pound out the original nut and then use a new one which you would not even need to weld in.

If you want the rear one also, you might consider cutting a window into the frame and then having it welded shut again later.  Another option would be to extend the winch plate by welding an extension to it so that you could bolt into one of the factory holes in the side of the frame.

[aw12345]

Why not simply tap it to 9/16 instead of the 1/2 bolt that was in there? Wouldn't that be the simplest solution?

[sharpxmen]

Why not simply tap it to 9/16 instead of the 1/2 bolt that was in there? Wouldn't that be the simplest solution?

that's the best suggestion so far imo, i think 5/8s should work to be on the safe side, i did something similar in the rear cross member as i stripped the threads when installing the rear hitch mount, i can't remember what was the initial size but i went to the next 1/8 step from stock, 1/16 might not be enough for coarse threads and also depends on how much off center was the drill bit when removing the broken bolt.

[aw12345]

5/8 would not leave much of the original nut, 9/16 should be alright the hole should be 1/2" if it's stripped or when it's drilled out you could helicoil it

[neale_rs]

Sure sounds like the best solution, much simpler than most of what I mentioned with the possible exception of putting a nut under the forwardmost existing one (if it fits, the round crossmember might be in the way), although you might need to remove the bumper to do it.