when i went to get the bolts off of the passenger side of the diff hanger i got them loose and now they just spin.both of them.is it possible for both of them to have broken the welds on the nuts?am i just missing something?i got frustrated and stopped before i went to breaking stuff. any help would be appreciated..thanks,brian

Well this isn't good news, but it might be that either the bolt or the nut welded into the frame is stripped and the bolt is just spinning and not coming out anymore. This happened on the front of my ru with the nut on the end of the strut rod. I just cut the nut in half with a cutoff wheel, but your situation is a little different.

 

If that happened your gonna have to get creative to fix it. In this case I'de rather give no advice than bad advice, so hopefully someone else has a solution for you...good luck. I feel your pain, up here in the north east I find myself using a drill way more than a wrench under my car!

Betting the captive nut broke loose.

 

You may be able to drill a hole in the top of the bed to get to the frame rails so you can grab the top of the nut.

thats what i was thinking ,but was not sure if the frame rail was open on top or if i was in for some hefty drilling.thanks again zap......once again ,we think alike.i'll give that a try tomorrow with some measurements and such.

mine did EXACTLY the same thing when I lifted my 86. both captive nuts broke loose.

 

I used a dremel cut-off wheel to cut the bolts, then I used a long drill bit, and using the bolt hole as a guide drilled up through the bed.

 

then I got a 3/4" bit and drilled out both holes in the bed. 3/4" made 'em big enough to drop in the bolt from above, then I got nuts to put on the bottom end.

 

there was enough of the old weld material still there to hold the head of the bolt for tightening too.

 

then I just went to my local hardware store and got some 3/4" plastic hole caps and snapped them in.

 

that's been 4 years ago now I think...

was the frame rail very thick right there?or is it just sheet metal?inquiring minds want to know.that way i am all charged up and stuff,seeing as that is the only drill i have.

 

at least i am not alone in the pain i endure. son of a :::::::::

was the frame rail very thick right there?or is it just sheet metal?inquiring minds want to know.that way i am all charged up and stuff,seeing as that is the only drill i have.

 

at least i am not alone in the pain i endure. son of a :::::::::

 

you don't have to drill through the frame rail the way I did it. just the bed floor. (but do it from below so it's lined up. the frame rail is "U" shaped, and welded to the bed floor.... it was really easy to do, though the only 3/4" bit I could find needed a half inch drill, so I had to buy one of those too. oh darn....

cut holes in the bed,got her done.drilled out the top shock mount bolt just enough to save the threads so that i could utilize the bolts that came with my lift.man was that arduous.but ,like i said ,got her done.the back is now OZified.....schweeeeeet......

 

 

oh yeah,i am going to cut a hole just big enough so that i could utilize a take away panel like is on the side of the bed.you know ,the access panels.

I'd get a second person to help you with the front.

 

 

You'll need someone to pry with a bar of some sort to get the tranny crossmember lined up. If you force the bolts in, they'll cross thread. Make sure you can get them in a few threads by hand first before going at it with the rachet.

The rest of the front is cake except the steering extension. I've had to pry the new one good and open to get it to fit onto the knuckle.

To attach it: Leave the front 6 bolts to the crossmember good and loose, so there's room to attach the extension/knuckle. Fit it on, then tighten up the crossmember bolts.

Don't worry about getting the extension on so your steering wheel is straight. It's super simple to pull off the steering wheel and realign it when you're all done.

thanks zap,i will take those tips into consideration.i will also not be drinking barley soda that early so it should go smooth even if i have a couple of probs. anywho,i will take some pics of the rearend before i start the front.it looks like a jacked up nova or something.i know most of you guys have seen it.i just hope i was not the first to thinkof driving around the block like that