Broken Bed Bolt

The front left bed mount on my truck was starting to make some noise. The bolt was very rusted on the chassis side, so I cleaned it up and soaked it in PB Blaster to see if I could tighten it a bit. Of course it started to turn, but then snapped the bolt in the middle after less than a 1/4 turn. Damn!!

It's my understanding the nut on the frame is welded in place. Has anyone have to deal with the removal of the nut and and broken bolt? What's my best option?

 

So you are saying that you have broken the weld on the nut in a blind spot with little access? In that case, one can grab a short piece of flat bar, drill a hole toward one end slightly larger than the bolt, weld a nut above the hole. Then weld a stiff piece of wire like a coat hanger to the bar. Now you have a nut with a long handle (wire end) that you can stick up in there and start the bolt in. As you crank the bolt tight, the longer end of the bar stock will hit the side of the frame and prevent the nut from spinning as you tighten up the bolt. No welder? Drill and tap the bar stock. Epoxy on the wire.

 

Yes. The nut welded to the frame isn’t hard to remove, but might be easier to pay a few dollars and have a shop remove it depending on your skill level, tools, etc..

 

The bolt broke, not the nut. It snapped about 3" below the top of the bed. The nut is still welded to the frame. So I still have the welded nut on the frame and the remainder of the bolt shaft through it. These are both very rusted, so much so that all the threads on the bolt shaft that are sticking below the nut are simply gone.

I talked to my neighbour who has a set of oxy acetylene torches and he thinks he can torch the old nut off. When he looked at it he thought it looked like it might be challenging as the nut looked really welded on there well, but it was hard to tell with the rust. Is it normally just a tack weld we can break or is it welded all around the nut? I called Toyota and ordered a new bolt, and will have to get a new nut from the hardware store to match it.

The body on my truck is rust free, but the chassis rust is getting worse, even with rust proofing. I wish Toyota used better steel in there chassis hardware for those of us in salt country.

 

Heat is your friend when removing these. And presoaking. I’d remove the bed (super easy) if that will get you access to the bolt that’s left. Weld on a nut and you should be able to loosen and tighten and heat and pb blast till it works loose.

 

Can you not simply drill it out and just put a new mut below what is there? If in a blind no access area, uae the procedure I mentioned above. Might need a little longer bolt is all.

 

Due to the amount of rust, have you tried to break the nut off the frame with a breaker bar, or hit it with an impact?

 

Depending on if you have any substantial stub protruding and clearance to work, you could possibly gas torch weld a nut of any size onto the stub and soak it with penetrating oil from the top. Then simply wrench it downward and out. Might even get away with vise grips, heat, and oil as it is. Maybe get us a picture or 3?

 

Presoak overnight and heat. Let it go through a few heat cycles. The expansion and cooling can loosen corrosion. If you still have some of the bolt sticking through above the nut, which sounds like you do, weld a new nut to it and hit it with an impact. Should come out.

 

Maybe if the op is trying to save the existing nut, but good chance the nut is ruined/useless also due to bed bolts being one-time use and rust. The nut and bolt stub are easily accessible.

 

Well in that case, a cold chisel, hammer, and a little bit of work should get it done.

 

Here are some pics of the mount on the chassis and the broken bolt.

I am hoping I don't have to remove the bed. I'd rather just fix this one bolt and call it day.

 

OP - there was no way you are going to wrench that rusted bolt out. Try going out the bottom or just drill and tap new threads

 

Clamp a vise grips on it, break it off, then hit the nut with a cold chisel or small grinder.

 

I got the bolt replaced. My neighbor gave me a hand. We were going to use the Oxy Acetylene torch but it was too close to the gas tank. So using an air powered die grinder, the old nut was ground away and then we drilled the hole out for the new bolt. While I was under there I cleaned up the surface rust on the chassis and repainted and rust proofed it. The end result is below:

 

Bob's yer uncle! Good job, looks stout.