Body bolts welded to tub.

[7D2N]

Just wondering how you guys went about removing them? I have two that are broke off at the nut underneath and I want to fix them, and if its not major PIA new body mounts, I've read some other threads and not really sure how to go about any of it. sure could use some help.

Thanks
7D2N

 

[Peteasauras]

Mine were a pain to remove. I ended up drilling out (off) the head on a few and punching them through. The metal sleave inside the rubber bushing gets rusty and turns into a solid mass seised to the bolt. Mine also had the bolt head welded to the body, only way to remove this is to grind off the weld (once the nut is off the bottom). 35 year old rubber isn't the greatest, I would try to replace the body mounts while you are at it, IMHO

 

[Big Blzn]

Yes. mine were tack welded on about everyone because they/someone used carriage bolts and tacked them so they wouldn't spin while tightening the nuts. I'd bet you will have to rplace the mounts too as mentioned above. I mainly used an air chisel on the welded spots to get them off. It took a bit of time but worked well and I think I went deaf for awhile since i didn't use any hearing protection. Try the air chisel from different angles til they pop loose. On some of them I had to take a hammer to the sheetmetal to get it back into original position after the chisel work.

 

[bp71k5]

you mean they're not supposed to have used carriage bolts? Uh-oh... where do you get better ones?

 

[Big Blzn]

you mean they're not supposed to have used carriage bolts? Uh-oh... where do you get better ones?

I'm assuming the carriage bolts were stock from the factory as my rubber mounts were totally destroyed like they were actually 36 years old. I used grade 8 bolts but probably overkill as I would think the sheetmetal would rip far sooner than the bolts would shear off. Might be able to use a grade 5 or better yet stainless if they are strong enough.

 

[7D2N]

Well I guess I'll plan to change out the mounts. There is lot of great info in Makovai thread (thanks for taking the pictures Makovai).Once the spot welds are cut loose how high do I need to lift the body for the for new mounts? and do you torque the bolts or just tighten down good.

Thanks for the help
7D2N

 

[bp71k5]

If you just do one body mount at a time, you just need a floor jack to lift it up an inch or so for the rubber puck to come out. Watch your fingers!

 

[7D2N]

One at a time? sounds good but does that twist body. I'm trying to do this gently, working with finished paint with pinstrips on the truck.

7D2N

 

[bp71k5]

It'll be easier if you undo all the nuts on one side of the truck but leave the bolts in the holes. Then just use a jack to lift under the body as close to the body mount as possible. You only need to lift a little bit to get the weight off of the mount. Then take that bolt out and replace the mount and new bolt. Then move onto the next one. The body won't get hurt.

 

[Big Blzn]

I did mine similar to Brian's (bp71k5) I took off all the nuts on one side and left the bolts in and loosened all the nuts on the opposite side but left them on the bolts. I took a long piece of 2x4 and or 2x6, what ever fit under the body, and use my floor jack to lift the body up near the mounts. I had to use some blocking between the jack cup and the 2x material because of the distance. When I jacked up the body just in front of the the rear axle near the rear spring front hanger I was able to get 3 of the body mounts with one jacking. Then I jacked up the body under where the drivers seat is and got 2 of the others and, well, I forgot where I jacked the body to get the radiator core support mounts installed.

 

[makovai]

you mean they're not supposed to have used carriage bolts? Uh-oh... where do you get better ones?

i had my suspicions about the carriage bolts as well, but if you look in the LMC catalog they do call out - 8 carriage bolts for the rear and 4 hex head bolts for the firewall and core mounts.

by the time i got all my shims in with the 3" body lift i used a 1/2-13 x 10" long bolt through the firewall. It was an ez bolt to come by.