okay so i snapped a bolt off in the fram

[KillaCam]

for the front sub frame.
i tried easy-out'ing it but didnt work.....btw i snapped it putting it in not pulling it out.....dont ask.

should i just say fuck it?.....or
should i totally drill it out and weld a reverse bolt in it and use a nut to hold the sub up?
there is a little piece of the bolt still sticking out, should i try welding a bolt to that?
im going to be busting out my air chisel later today when i find it and try that.
or
should i drill and tap?
or worst come to worst should i just weld the front sub onto the frame?

[GDA]

If there is some of the bolt sticking out then definitely try to weld something to it so you can try wrenching it out first. Going progressively and finally getting to drill out the bolt that big and deep is not fun. I had a similar experience helping a friend on his E34 but it broke trying to remove it. We spent the next hour getting that 6 inch bolt out.

Take your time to do it right as you will be very happy to be able to just install the new bolt and be done with it.

[Syncro325is]

That happened to my car as well a long time ago... unfortunately the bolt broke off too far in the hole and we were unable to get it out. We spent an entire day and multiple drillbits drilling the bolt out and replacing it with a long nut and bolt... never took the subframe out again... seems to be holding just fine.

[Inkar]

I agree with GDA weld another nut onto the broken head and wrench it out

[jlevie]

This is a tough one to fix. But the way to go about it is to put the subframe in place and use a piloted bit to drill fairly large hole in the bolt stud. Since there is no good way to weld in a nut it is critical that the drill follow the center of the bolt, hence the need for a pilot bushing. With most of the bolt drilled out, and easy out may get the rest out, or you can drill out the rest and install a helicoil.

[Justin B]

He said he tried an ez out.
nevermind. Did I miss if there was anything sticking out of the rail down? Is the subframe thickness in the way?
(wtf did you do?)

[Simon S]

When installing one of the control arm bushing lolipops, I over-torqued a bolt and snapped its head off. Started by trying an easy-out bit. But like every other time - the easy-out snapped off inside the snapped off bolt.











Hours and hours later..





Good times.

[rbartongrimley]

I had this happen to me. I ended up having to drill up through the bolt, and after a very long time I was able to wind it back out. During the process I was very frustrated and drilled down from the top into the bolt too, which had no helping effect. Once I got it out, I was able to see that I saved a few of the threads and I just picked up a new bolt from a specialty bolt store. I went with a 10.9 hardness because I was able to snap a grade 8 from the factory with almost NO torque.

[e46s54dr]

I deal with these situations regularly at work. Best bet is to buy yourself a nice cobalt drill set and a good extractor/easy out. When drilling, be patient and start from a small diameter bit and move up. Also, drill with good pressure at a moderate speed. People tend to spin the drill at full power and just burn out the bit. Once a hole is drilled, try using the extractor. Be careful not to break the extractor in the hole or youll be in some deep do do. The extractor material is almost impossible to drill thru! If it doesnt come out with the easy out, continue drilling out the bolt until you can just simply retap the hole.

[jlevie]

I deal with these situations regularly at work. Best bet is to buy yourself a nice cobalt drill set and a good extractor/easy out. When drilling, be patient and start from a small diameter bit and move up. Also, drill with good pressure at a moderate speed. People tend to spin the drill at full power and just burn out the bit. Once a hole is drilled, try using the extractor. Be careful not to break the extractor in the hole or youll be in some deep do do. The extractor material is almost impossible to drill thru! If it doesnt come out with the easy out, continue drilling out the bolt until you can just simply retap the hole.

Cobalt drill are a help, but even more help is a left hand twist cobalt bit. When using a left hand twist drill sometimes the stud will back out on it's own while being drilled.

[e46s54dr]

Cobalt drill are a help, but even more help is a left hand twist cobalt bit. When using a left hand twist drill sometimes the stud will back out on it's own while being drilled.

This is true, My snapon drill and extractor set comes with left hand cobalt drills and extractors. Things a life saver!