Rear bed tie down hooks busted

[Dauntless76]

Alright so the sort version is I broke all 4 of the bolts on the rear two bed tie downs (outside of the bed). 3 of them are broken with the bolts still rusted in place just inside where they mount to the plate inside and their nuts are still spot welded to said plate. One of the bolts I accidentally broke the welded nut off of that plate.

My question is what do I do now? I have extra bolts and the plastic tie downs I just need the rusted bolts out. If I took it to Ford how much would they charge? Any suggestions are great.

I'll post pics when I can but the topper I have on now blocks the view. Thanks again.

Daniel

 

[swshawaii]

Not the first time. Using heat isn't an option because of the ST's composite bed.
Drill the center of broken studs and use an EZ-Out bolt extractor, or go oversized.
When re-installing use M8x1.25 stainless bolts and anti seize. Not fun, good luck.

http://www.mysporttrac.com/shared/m...IEW=1250958&REPLYCOUNT=6&sitename=mysporttrac

 

[MidnightRebel07]

I had this problem two years ago with mine too. I ended up cutting the tie downs completely off so I could get the tie downs off to remove my Tal & Hadas rear Sport Bar, the mounting brackets are held on by the tie downs.

To access the rear plate you can remove the taillights and to get a good angle to remove the plate I removed the inner wheelwells. SteveM had a set of tiedowns and mounting plates and all for me from his parts truck. The best solution since the bolt is broke off in the nut is to remove the backing plate that the nuts are welded to. I used a long screwdriver and hammer to break the head of the flat rivet that holds the backing plate on. it's alot easier to try to remove thebroken bolt from the nut with it off of the truck (you run the risk of cracking/ breaking the composite bed with it on). If needed you can simply use different nuts and bolts with washers to reinstall the tiedowns. I put a ton of antiseize on the bolts when I installed the new set since I live in the rustbelt.

 

[Dauntless76]

Thanks for the help fellas. Got a few bites on my topper yesterday and hoping to ditch it in the next couple weeks (its been hell to sell it on month 9 or so of tryin) then I can "sit down" and work on the tie downs. As stupid as it sounds I didn't even think of removing the taillights. That oughta help a ton. I'll post pictures as I fix/need more help on it lol.

MR, my trac lived the first 10 years of its life in Ohio, before I got it. So its been livin in the same hell rusty death trap. I think it will like being out in the high desert where we dont lay salt and it rains twice a summer total. Btw, how do you like your Duratracs vs your bfgs? Its not at all the thread topic but hell its my thread Livin out here I would like to be able to get into deep snow if necessary but dont know how bfgs would hold up in anythin deeper than 6 or 7 inches. However, I'm a bit nervous droppin out of the intensely strong sidewalls that bfgs are runnin since its rock heaven out here especially in the summer, and since bfgs are rated for nasty winter conditions they should theoretically do well, just wanted input from someone who owned them on the same vehicle. Thanks again guys.

 

[interscope8]

Yay! Im not the only one who has a busted hook!

 

[MidnightRebel07]

I love the DuraTrac's, best offroad tire I've ran so far. The BFG's were have decent when thye were brand new but once they starting wearing they wore bad and there was no saving them even with rotoating, etc... plus the BFG's don't clean out very good in deep mud or snow. The DuraTrac's clean out really quick and are really quiet on the road.