Hey i'm replacing my worn out trunk liftgate supports and one of the upper welded nuts broke off so I just have a hole and nothing to screw into. has anybody used jb weld or something similar to hold the lift gate bolt in place? do you think it'll work?

Hm what model/year is this? A sedan? I had this occur on my '00obw. The genuine lift gate stay has a new ball end and mounting stud including (but no nut). I'm not sure if that's why you're referring to.

its a 2000 obs. I bought new lift supports, they are being shipped. The problem is that when I took the old one off, the nut that the lift support screws into broke off so there is nothing to screw into. I'm looking for a cheap way to fix this. I was wondering if jb weld is strong enough to hold the lift support in place sorta as a makeshift nut if you get what i'm saying

There might be access to the other side after removing the trim. Another option could be to install a rivet-nut.

Hm I think that might have happend to mine too I haven't had a chance to look at it yet. Mine broke off at the stud right at the ball end. I would say we try to get actual nut that fits on there if the backside is accessible.

 

Jbweld might hold but what I have found is that if one of those struts break - well the tailgate, she is coming down, and pretty hard. It's dangerous actually.

 

Mine broke while camping so then I had to use a long stick to hold the tailgate up. The other strut was still helping but if the stick got knocked out it would crash down. I had to keep telling my young niece to stay out from underneath it. I'm pretty sure it would kill a child if the gate crashed down while they were under it.

haha yeah I have been using a broom stick for a while. The bolt hole is not accessible at the hatch unless I drill a larger hole on the other side. That might even be a better idea. I could just drill a bigger hole, get a nut on the trunk strut and bondo it back up. ding ding ding I think that's the winner.

 

but for real, you don't realize how heavy the hatch is until the hatch struts give out

http://www.ebay.com/itm/M6X1-0-m-m-LFK-Steel-Rivet-Nut-Rivnut-Insert-Nutsert-/370309716699?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item56382ddadb