a bum with money Posted April 1 Share Posted April 1 I'm replacing all ball joints on my 88 MJ, 2wd 4.0l, auto, big ton. I've tried a series of ideas trying to remove a stripped caliper bolt head, no luck. it's the LH upper 6 point bolt head. one question is I was going to replace all 4 caliper bolts with a flange hex head bolts unless someone can suggest a different solution. from my understanding these bolt types were changed in 1990? right now I'm unable to remove the rotor hub assembly. was going to disconnect the brake line at the caliper and tie rod and remove the entire assembly as a whole and take it to a machine shop to have the bolt removed. another idea was once I've removed the knuckle assembly, could one grind off the caliper bolt head and then remove the caliper from the knuckle? I'm sure this has happened before and would like some direction as to a solution. appreciate your opinions thanks Bryce Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89 MJ Posted April 1 Share Posted April 1 You can try welding a nut to the bolt head. Also try pounding a smaller size socket onto the bolt head. Is there room to drill the bolt out or cut the head of the bolt off? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Comanche SS Posted April 1 Share Posted April 1 They are tough ones for sure, weld a nut to it. I have Spares if you want to replace with OEM style instead of Hex head. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a bum with money Posted April 1 Author Share Posted April 1 On 4/1/2025 at 7:37 PM, 89 MJ said: You can try welding a nut to the bolt head. Also try pounding a smaller size socket onto the bolt head. Is there room to drill the bolt out or cut the head of the bolt off? Expand I like that. I do have a welder, but in order to do this I still have to remove the knuckle assembly of the front axle. which I'm to do w/o a gas torch set-up. but I do have an 8# sledge and a good size pickle fork. thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a bum with money Posted April 1 Author Share Posted April 1 On 4/1/2025 at 8:09 PM, Comanche SS said: They are tough ones for sure, weld a nut to it. I have Spares if you want to replace with OEM style instead of Hex head. Expand or well is there any disadvantage using the hex head bolts over the OEM? they are 10.9 grade just for the hell of it shoot me a price with approx shipping I'm @ 97211 area code Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a bum with money Posted April 1 Author Share Posted April 1 On 4/1/2025 at 7:37 PM, 89 MJ said: You can try welding a nut to the bolt head. Also try pounding a smaller size socket onto the bolt head. Is there room to drill the bolt out or cut the head of the bolt off? Expand yes I did and broke two sockets trying. but I like the welding idea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pizzaman09 Posted April 2 Share Posted April 2 I've been successful with the welding technique on similar bolts. It might take a couple welding applications and a few nuts to pull off. The heat from welding helps the nut break free. I recommend getting as much heat into the bolt head as possible if you are trying this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a bum with money Posted April 2 Author Share Posted April 2 On 4/2/2025 at 2:05 AM, pizzaman09 said: I've been successful with the welding technique on similar bolts. It might take a couple welding applications and a few nuts to pull off. The heat from welding helps the nut break free. I recommend getting as much heat into the bolt head as possible if you are trying this. Expand I agree Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a bum with money Posted Friday at 05:27 PM Author Share Posted Friday at 05:27 PM success! I was able to weld a 5/8" thread nut on the caliper nut and it was a cinch to get it out and proceed with the ball joint replacement. thanks again to the members for their input. greatly appreciated! Bryce Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89 MJ Posted Friday at 06:59 PM Share Posted Friday at 06:59 PM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pizzaman09 Posted Friday at 10:48 PM Share Posted Friday at 10:48 PM Woohoo! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnotherOldJeepGuy Posted Saturday at 05:22 PM Share Posted Saturday at 05:22 PM Congrats on the successful extraction! Just FYI, I recently purchased new ones from rock auto that fit perfectly and did not cost much. https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=1133353&cc=1181720&pt=10281&jsn=6 Lubricating the ones you put in should help this from happening in the future. https://youtu.be/Yj6f8crrwZ4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a bum with money Posted Sunday at 08:36 PM Author Share Posted Sunday at 08:36 PM On 4/5/2025 at 5:22 PM, AnotherOldJeepGuy said: Congrats on the successful extraction! Just FYI, I recently purchased new ones from rock auto that fit perfectly and did not cost much. https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=1133353&cc=1181720&pt=10281&jsn=6 Lubricating the ones you put in should help this from happening in the future. https://youtu.be/Yj6f8crrwZ4 Expand I saw those. but mine are the caliper bolts with the 6 point star head that held the caliper to the knuckle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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