Broken Welded Nut Assistance

99Classic

Active Member
Joined
Aug 2, 2011
Location
Raleigh/Charlotte
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Hey guys I’m in a bit of a pickle and I’m hoping y’all have some advice. One of the welded nuts for the front sway bar on my XJ has broken free and is spinning. It’s the middle one in the picture. The picture is taken looking inside the oval hole on the passenger side of the front crossmember.

Because of the narrow oval hole (shown on the left on the second picture, small vertical) I’m having trouble getting a hold on the round nut to get the bolt out. I’ve tried shoving a screwdriver in the gap but it’s too wide. My pry bar is too big to fit in the gap. For what it’s worth I don’t have a welder.

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Any ingenious solutions?


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Might can beat a piece of wood in there beside the loose nut to hold it if the bolt isn't rusted too bad.
 
Thanks for the replies guys. I did try my heavy duty impact unsuccessfully. I thought about cutting the head off the bolt but was curious if there was another way. Looks like that’s what I’ll do. Only issue is that the nut/stud is about 10-12 inches back so it might be a little hard to get the wrench nut combo inside and positioned. I reckon I can just get a sacrificial wrench from harbor freight and if I can’t get it out it can just stay lol.


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No sacrificial wrench. Just a wrench on a stick.
Cut bolt. Those xj bolts are notorious for this mess.
When ready use electrical tape to make extensions with what ever fits....screw driver, bent flatbar....what ever works.

If I can tig weld on the end of a 24 inch pry bar holding a fastener is no problem.

To hold said nut. Use tape to lock it to the wrench, or we used some windshield sealant stuff. Tacky enough to get it to an awkward spot then release when done.
 
Quick update, got the head cut off and the broken bolt knocked out of the way. I was able to find some extra long wrenches at harbor freight that are going to work to hold the nut.

I’m running the ironman4x4 steering brace and i took the other two bolts to give myself clearance and so I wouldn’t accidentally mess up the heads on the other bolts. When it released the brace sprung out and now won’t line up. I figured I would loosen the corresponding bolts on the other side to free up some wiggle room, only to realize the front bolt is now spinning. Unlike the passenger side, you can’t see through to the welded nuts, I suspect this is bracing for the steering box. So now while I fixed the problem on the passenger side, it’s now worse on the driver side.

Any XJ experts with advice here?

All this trouble to put a sway bar back on the front...


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