Need Help / Suggestions: Transmission support / crossmember bolts broke off.

[bcolins]

I was unbolting the transmission support/crossmember yesterday to drop my exhaust and 3 of the 4 bolts facing upward,.....that screw into the frame....broke off.

Anyone encountered this, and if so,......any suggestions on how to get the broken remaining bolt shafts out?

When each bolt head broke off, there was a lot of rust that fell down from the area around each bolt shaft.

I suspect that I will have to drill and tap them,.....possibly to a larger size bolt, but I'm open to any suggestions.

Brian in Austin

 

[coletrain777]

Brian,
You can either drill and tap them, or if you have a welder you can cut the head off of a bolt and weld it to the frame rails where the old bolts snapped off. I only recommend this if you are a decent welder, but there is no reason that it wouldn't be structurally sound and a heck off a lot easier I am going out to the shop right now to do the exact same repair!

 

[coletrain777]

Just got done welding the studs to the frame rails for the crossmember to attach to...

Here you can see the circle of discoloration, this is actually the broken bolt in the frame rail, i have just ground it flush.

Here's the studs welded in on the drivers side... passenger side looks the same

It goes without saying that you want to be sure that you get good penetration... I had my Hobart 210 on a 6 setting and wire speed around 55 which would blow a hole in the frame rail if I hit it too long in one spot.

 

[Drewmcg]

Great alternative solution demonstrated here (no welding):