If you are always working on your rig then sooner or later you will run into a nut in the frame that gets stripped or the tack weld gives way and the nut falls into the frame.


I have pulled off my front bumper more times than I can remember. Swapping winches, making alterations to the front bumper and then adding more to it. With each off/on cycle the bolts and nuts that hold your front bumper on take a beating.


Finally one of the nuts inside the frame that I could not get at fell off. It was the second nut in, on the right side of the frame.

Writeup/pics: http://www.savagesun4x4.com/enter/how_to_stuff/stripped_threadmissing_nut_.html

Situations like that, in which component fasteners are repeatedly removed and reinstalled, can often be avoided by: (1) If threads are rusty, then chasing them with a tap or die to clean them up; (2 Using AntiSeize compound on the threads when re-assemblying the component; and (3) Torquing the fastener to the proper specification. Granted, that's more time and a little more work each time, but it usually saves a hellova lot of time and work at a later date. And, in somne cases, it means that trail repairs can be more easily affected.

You can sometimes avoid the cutting by drilling the hole a little bigger (the new nut will never be perfectly centered and you need a bit of space away from the threads for the tack weld), cleaning the inside area of the frame with a small, bent file, then fishing a new nut through to the hole with a wire. Then tack weld around the edge.

I gave a lot of thought and considered several approaches. I settled on this approach for its simplicity, time to effort and strength.

If you have a welder and a cut off wheel this may be your best overall route to take...