rear shocks - what's the risk of bolt breakage now?

[camarors8992]

Wow, I thought I just had some really bad luck. I went to change my rear shocks and started to get the top bolts and the first one snapped. I just put my rear tire back on and left it be as I saw the headache it was going to become.

 

[BCParker]

I snapped three and spun the nut on the other.

this was after a good solid week of PB twice a day.


drilling was nearly impossible. ended up punching them out with an air chisel,

using large washers and grade 8 bolts (zinc coated) to replace.

it's a pain in the ass (and the hands) but you can get a short box end

wrench with the new nut taped to it up through the holes in the 'frame'.

I needed a helper to get the new bolts threaded and torqued down.



if I ever do it again I'll be cutting holes in the floor and going at em from the top.

-B

 

[MrShaft696]

I snapped all 4 drilled em, and used the part from the rear sway bar assembly as a bar pin eliminator. I think i duct taped a nut to the end of a wrench and tightened everything back up

 

[onebluemcm]

I soaked mine and then turned a little out, then in, then out, you get the idea. Didn't break one.

If I was home I'd give you a hand, but I'm out of the country on business. Good luck!

Really appreciate it - I might not get to it until next week - more time to continue spraying them with PB - I'll begin knocking them with a hammer after spraying the PB.

I'm thankful for all the feedback, but the stories are not encouraging - if they break off, I think I'll try to punch the welded-on nuts through (a good reason for a new, long punch or set of 'em..... and if that doesnt work, I suppose I'll rip up the carpet and try that way with cutting holes. I do have an angle grinder with a few cut-off wheels - is that appropriate for cutting through the floor pan over the shock mounts?

 

[1985xjlaredo]

OK take it to a shop and let them break stuff then argue with them after they break it and see what become free parts for you.
But do the PB about 2 weeks before and clean the bottom of the thing before you take it to em

 

[mjd99xj]

I have a theory about this... its not what state your from its how crappy the factory undercoating happens to be on your particular car... between me and a couple friends we have 5 98-00 xjs and a couple are rust ballls acd a few are perfect underneath. All upstate NY and driven through winters. soaked mine at least 2 weeks, heated, worked in and out and all 4 still disentegrated. bpe's kick ass!

 

[Gordy]

Sprayed the hell out of mine with WD40, but still had 3 of the 4 snap on me, you need a really good quality center drill bit to drill 'em out. I drilled one out then broke the center drill bit on the second. Had enough pissing around so I welded studs in and solved the problem once and for all.

 

[AlohaBra]

I broke mine so I WELDED the Rocky Road BPE's in place so I never have to worry about it again. I can change the shocks at will now. If you break em off, you can drive it to a welder with no shocks to get mounts welded on if necessary. Just don't hit the railroad tracks at 60mph...:shhh:

I use the Rocky Road BPEs front and back, but didn't weld them...butta like a previous post...this is sunny California.
The RR BPE uses one large bolt and a very strong base so welding the base in place means those screws (not bolts) will never need to be removed again. If they do break put a bolt in there and weld it.

If fact, get the BPEs before you change shocks, so if you break the screws, you can just drill them out and put the BPE in place (a 5 minute job).

 

[wacho4]

Sprayed for two weeks, almost a whole can of PB, puls a little wd-40 while at work(why not let the boss pay for it).99 with only 50 some k miles. Broke all 4. Broke a drill bit while drilling out second bolt. Broke a tap trying to tap second hole after drilling out broken drill bit. Completly dulled, sharpened on dad's drill docter, then broke another drill bit while trying to drill out broken tap. All this on a drizzly, foggy day in our dirt and gravel driveway. I Gave up. The local Jeep dealer(which also operates as an off road shop) charged me like 15 bucks to finish drilling everything out after I got off work the next day(they broke 2 bits, too ha ha). I then replaced with regular bolt and nut. Stainless. Oh yeah, go careful with it while driving without the rear shocks.

 

[wacho4]

Oh yeah I'm in Maryland, But my XJ originally came from New York state as well.

 

[Rocketman]

After reading this post and many others it seems people have the mis-impression that Stainless Steel bolts are good. Their strength is LESS than grade 5 and closer to a 3. They just don't rust. Zinc plated 5's or 8's perform much better with a little anti-seeze and cost about 1/4 the price of SS.

I wouldn't use SS anywhere on my junk.

 

[guzzirider]

i broke both on one side?? What the heck is PB?

 

[Sparkman]

PB Blaster, one of the best penetrating oils. Available around here at most places, Walmart, Tractor Supply, most auto parts stores. Aero Kroil is really good too.

 

[wacho4]

After reading this post and many others it seems people have the mis-impression that Stainless Steel bolts are good. Their strength is LESS than grade 5 and closer to a 3. They just don't rust. Zinc plated 5's or 8's perform much better with a little anti-seeze and cost about 1/4 the price of SS.

I wouldn't use SS anywhere on my junk.

I was only worried about thier rust. Mine say they are grade 5. Anything on my XJ is only temporary anyway, It can always be a little better.
I wouldn't think these bolts need to be all that strong. As long as you have the bumpstop correct and long enough shock travel. And what they go into isn't much more than sheetmetal anyway. Is my train of thought that wrong?

 

[glub]

I cut holes in the floor.. it doesn't take long to get the carpet out actually.... I had OME shocks and my grade 8 bolts were longer than needed, so I installed the bolt from the outside in, with the nut on the inside of mount to avoid excess bolt length hitting the shock. Other shocks (esp. stem up) might not have this problem.

I'm gonna seal it up with seam sealer and a rivet or two, so that it will relatively easy to get off if there's a next time.

I didn't do this, but was thinking you could set it up to be easier next time by installing the bolt from the inside out and tighten them down with a washer and nut before the barpins goes on... i.e:

bolt head -> washer -> FLOOR -> washer -> nut -> barpin -> washer -> nut

This would hold the barpin off the underside of the floor mount by the depth of the washer + nut, but should prevent the bolt from free spinning. Maybe even locktite the first nut, and then anti-seize the final one...

Or weld the bolts to a plate at the right spacing and insert it from the inside...


If time is tight and there's any danger of breaking bolts, the only way to make the job deterministic is to cut the floor! You'll save time in the long run, plus you can get a good idea what kind of rust holes you have in the cargo floor!

 

[wacho4]

the rust, not thier rust , sorry

 

[dynorockcg]

I just took all 4 out without any breaks. I sprayed with PB every 1-2 days for about a week. The 01 has been in VA and NC since I got it in 03 or 04 (was previously an Enterprise rent-a-car so who knows where it has been). Just make sure you are square (use the shock as a guide) and use plenty of pressure pushing upwards and turn slowly. You should be able to tell if they are turning or twisting.

 

[mlanicca]

I got all 4 out without breaking any. Sprayed them with PB everyday for a week, and used an impact wrench on the lowest settint to get them out. Went back and forth from loosening to tightening. One of them took almost 15 minutes to get out.

 

[orangegilly]

I swapped out the shocks on mine about 3 weeks ago. Broke 2/4 bolts, one on each side (after soaking with PB for about a week and a half). My Jeep-mechanic friend told me to just turn the shock slightly, and use a 1/4" self-tapping hex-head screw for the other side. Not a permanent solution, but it's just a daily driver at the moment and I can't see it coming out of there with one good bolt and a screw on each shock. Once I get a lift, I'll probably do something a bit more permanent, but it's fine for now.

 

[tgoff]

The bolts shouldn’t break. I have an 86 XJ just recently changed the shocks without realizing all of these people are breaking them. I had no trouble at all came off piece of cake. I used PB as well but only the night before and morning of. The Jeep has spent its lift on the coast of Humboldt County CA and has its fair share of rust as well.