Broke a bolt in the rear end, Tried easy out

[capriceutah]

72 C10 5 lug with Coils

I was installing a spectre rear end cover. The bottom bolt (The bolts that come with them are a quarter inch too long.) snapped clean off. Tried an easy out and it caught the metal from the rear end and broke into the crappy bolt. Tried a torch, cobalt bits and titanium bits, etc. Should I start trying to find another rear end? If I do go hunting what should I look for ? My buddy said 11 bolts should be sufficient until I locate a replacement.

A shorter axle width would be fine because I'm going with 15 x 10's in the rear.

Any other Ideas to get the bolt out??

Thanks in Advance,
Chris

[HoupPhotography]

The only other way to get that bolt out is with a carbide bit and patience. I wouldn't replace the entire rear end because of a broken bolt, the cost of a rear end and the time.... Another thing I wouldn't do is run it with 11 bolts, it's gonna leak unlees you goop it up, then you have a mess to clean up once you fix the bolt.

It will be better in the long run if you fix it the correct way now, look at it as preventative maintenance.

[Bus Ted Knuckle]

Drill and tap, don't waste another second of your life on an easy out

[joemacho]

what realy worked for me is using a welder and a nut weld the middle till the bead is flush with the nut and remove slowly let the weld cool first

[sandking]

Originally Posted by joemacho

what realy worked for me is using a welder and a nut weld the middle till the bead is flush with the nut and remove slowly let the weld cool first

X2!! It works great. I even used this with method with a stripped phillip head screw and a junk screw driver.

[El Jay]

I've done this a couple of times.
Get a "reverse" twist drill. They can be hard to find and you might have to grab the Snap On, of Mac tool guy. And yeah, it'll be a bit pricey, but cheaper than a new rear end.
The ends of the bolts are usually harder the the rest of the bolt. When the drill reaches the hardened part, sometime you get lucky and the drill will "bind" enough to back the bolt out of the hole.

I was lucky though, I didn't have to buy the drill. I had a friend that had his own automotive machine shop & he'd just lend me a twist drill.

[jamesi20]

you can get a set of 4 or 5 left hand drills at harbor freight for five or six bucks...I use them at work and they do fine for removing broken bolts...I usuallt try to center drill them first to get the bit as close to center as possible

[El Jay]

Originally Posted by jamesi20

you can get a set of 4 or 5 left hand drills at harbor freight for five or six bucks...I use them at work and they do fine for removing broken bolts...I usuallt try to center drill them first to get the bit as close to center as possible

I'll put that little tidbit in ye olde memory banks.
Thanks.

[corn]

Ive had good luck with the welded nut trick too...

[VetteVet]

If you can get to the part that is on the inside of the carrier housing you might be able to lock some small vise grips on that and thread it out. If nothing else works how about
drilling a new hole about 1/4 inch or more to the left or right of it and tapping a new set of threads? Then you just have to drill the cover to match.

[capriceutah]

Tried reverse cobalt bits no luck. the easy out material is to strong.
Next I'm trying carbide bits. I'm getting this thing out if its takes all week

[steelhorse]

Easy outs are very hard so just have patience.even if you waller(southern word) the hole out you can put a helicoil in it.If you need to seal it and run it a while ask your parts guy about a sealer called "the right stuff"once it sets it wont leak.Its the best sealer I have found yet,we use it at work all the time.

[El Jay]

If you have to, drill it out completely; refill the hole with J-B Weld.
Then drill and tap that.
Works good for low torque applications.
Permatex and, I think, Loc-Tite also make thread repair kits for low torque applications.
Your problem is far from catastrophic. Just a PITA.

[Premium72]

yeah dont freak out this is a easy fix. just takes a lil thinkn an patience. youll get it. no sweat!

[71stub]

I had the same problem with the spectre cover on my 71 with the bolts being too long. I noticed it before i broke the bolt off and called their tech line. They shipped me some shorter stainless steel bolts free of charge. Just thought id let ya know.

[cooter914]

Sounds like you are almost to the pin punch and hammer accompanied by much cursing and sweat in the eyes point.

I have also gotten lucky using a dremel and small cut off wheel to make a slot for a big screwdriver before too.

good luck