O.K. My bumper is rusted out beyond repair. I have a parts car with a rust free bumper on it. I tried to get the nuts off the bolts but they came loose and backed off a little then the whole bolt turns. I think the bolts used by the factory are carriage bolts. I've tried everything to stop them from turning so I can get them off!!!

My question is has anyone ran into this problem? Does anyone have any ideas that I could try? Any help is welcomed.

 

break out the cutoff wheel and cut the bolts

 

Thought of that but there is no room to get one in there. Also can't get to the bolt heads. Sorry, I should have put that in my first post. Don't really wanna break out the tourch but maybe thats the only way. I hope not! Thanks for your input.

 

just took mine off today. U need to use an air rachet to spin the bolts faster. Use a prybar to hold the back of the bolt if it still spins.

 

Yeah, you really only have two options there, break the bolts, or press something against the carriage bolts to keep them from moving. I'm guessing that your bolts are spinning because the surrounding metal is rusted out? If that's the case, see if you can use a punch and a hammer and just bust the bolt right through bumper from the nut side.

You're just gonna scrap it anyways, right?

Mathius

 

The surrounding metal is ok. I think the square part just below the bolt head is not staying in the slot in the bumper. Holding it should help. Sounds like a plan. I'll give it a try and hope it works.

Thanks, Guys

 

Yes. just did mine also. Use a flat prybar to hold the square part of the carrige into the square slots. Then take a air rachet and spin away. When i took mine off, there are little pieces of thin steel with a hole and bent "threads" that hold the bolt to the crash bar.

 

These are a PITA to remove. I was able to cut mine off and breakoff the top bolts where you cant get a wheel into

 

Are the bolts tight, or do they wiggle? The other thing you could do is take one of those $15 angle grinders from Harbor Freight and grind the head off the carriage bolt and then push them through.

I had to do that on my '89 Ranger when replacing the transmission crossmember. It had big round factory rivets, and I just ground them down and used a punch to push them through.

Mathius