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Body bolt help

triracer67

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Sr. Member
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Nov 29, 2010
Messages
606
I’m replacing body mount bushings and of course one is stuck. I broke the head off the passenger side behind the seat(I have about 1”). I’ve been trying to pound down and flex the retainer. No such luck! There is almost no way to sawzall since exhaust is close. I don’t have torch.

Help? I covered it in wd-40 and called it a night...
 

DirtDonk

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Nov 3, 2003
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47,355
Good call. Hit it again with fresh eyes and a night soaking in lube!

Well, the more recent go-to method for separating the two stuck halves is not going to be as easy with the bolt still in there, but if the drill bit is sharp enough, maybe the bolt won't impede things too much.
And that's to literally drill straight upward through the bottom. Ahh, but being the one behind the seat, that means it's straight on top of the frame, giving you zero room for any big tools. I see why you ruled out the Sawzall quickly.

But maybe the drill isn't such a bad idea here. Just go at it from the top instead.
Yes, it would probably take a week (or an hour, whichever comes first) or seem like it, to drill down through the bolt.
You're not trying to save threads or anything, so getting it perfectly centered is strictly to make it easier to drill. Nothing of the old stuff to save!

Anyway, that's my late-night take on it. Hopefully fresher minds will think of something.
In the meantime, keep banging away. Just harder and with a bigger hammer!

Paul
 

gmduncan

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Apr 30, 2019
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I had a few stuck bushings and bolts. Sprayed them with penetrating oil, kept hitting them with a hammer and punch. Eventually they broke free.
 
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triracer67

triracer67

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Nov 29, 2010
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Update

Woke up early hoping for advice, and this great Bronco community delivered. I drilled and pounded the remaining bolt/bushing into submission and won. With all new bushings in place, I have one last question. My Duffys urethane bushing kit has 3/8 OD bolts, and 5/8 sleeves in the mount. They are very sloppy, is this by design? I’m running to farm supply for larger OD bolts, am I making a mistake?
 

DirtDonk

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I don't think it's "right" but it's how many of them are. And have been for as long as I remember. The ones I put in my '71 were even more sloppy, because I used fulls-size Bronco bushings to get a 3/4" body lift (before we had our 1" version) and those were sloppy too.

You're right to question it though, because the factory bushings were nothing like that. So I don't know why some still are.
Going to have to check now that you bring the subject up, to see if ours still work that way or not. We went to some trouble to have custom sleeves made years ago. Which I thought was to remedy this issue.
In theory the sleeves are thicker to allow the smaller bolts to sit tight in them.

I'll check and get back to the discussion, but what you're experiencing is not a new thing.

Paul
 

Rustytruck

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Feb 24, 2002
Messages
10,875
If you busted the had off and all the other bolts are out jack the body up and then cut the rest of the bolt off.
 
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triracer67

triracer67

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Nov 29, 2010
Messages
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I was only replacing bushings, no intentions of lifting the body off the frame. I’m not sure how I would even get a sawzal on the bolt behind passenger seat, the exhaust and rear drive shaft make it extremely difficult. Honestly, impact and long cold chisel/hammer made this doable in only a few hours. Thanks for all the helpful advice!
 

DirtDonk

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I think Rustytruck's point was that since the head had already broken off the bolt, and all the others were removed, you could in fact lift the body up to gain access to the busted (but not cooperative) bolt and cut it off mid-way through the bushings and remove them that way.
Since you were able to finally pound it out, there was no need. But raising the body would have possibly given you full access to do the other things. Like cut if off.

Paul
 
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