I couldnt find a good solution to this problem so I wanted to post my story. I was able to remove one of the big torx bolts holding the bumper on but wasnt so lucky with the other side. The head snapped right off leaving the bolt.
You have a couple of options. You can attempt to drill from the bottom. I tried this first. Problem is you have a long way to go to get to the threads. The short starter drill bits arent long enough. I snapped one off inside making the drilling all that more difficult. Once I had a large enough hole i tried an easy out. It snapped right away.
From here your options are limited. I first removed the side markers then the front plastic black strips. They come off by prying from the back side. Be very careful as the plastic is brittle. Mine broke several of the mounts so I will be replacing them. Currently they are $35 each. Once you get those off the bumper cover can be removed. It is held on by 8 or so plastic push rivets. Most of mine will be able to be reused. Once the rivits are removed the painted cover slips off showing the inner bumper support.
Luckily the inner cover has holes cut out on the top to access the bumper bolt from above. Using a right angle drill (normal cant really be used as the slope of the grill interferes with a straight angle to the bolt) i started with the smallest bit in my box and eventually ended up finishing the job with a 3/8. You must use good quailty metal bits and go slowly oiling the hole between each change. Go one bit at a time increasing the size in as small incraments as your drill bit kit allows. Once I got to the 3/8 bit i was able to insert a punch and hammer the bolt out through the bottom. You only need to drill about 1/2 in down to clear the threads. Remember when drilling metal use a slow speed.
If you are still unable to remove the bolt the other option would be to drill out the 3 torx bolts that fix the shock mount to the bumper cover. Drilling will be necessary as they are nuts in the back and would most likely just spin if you tried to remove them. Once you get these drilled out pull the bumper off and you can remove the whole shock unit and work on things on a bench with heat.
If I had to do this again i would attack from the top first. It was a waste of time going from the bottom and if you were to drill through you could damage your bumper cover by going too far or trying to punch the bolt out and hitting it.
I hope this helps someone. It was a bitch but it can be done with minimal colleteral damage. Once i sized it all up and went after it from the top it was a 1.5 hr job.
Good luck, Brad
You have a couple of options. You can attempt to drill from the bottom. I tried this first. Problem is you have a long way to go to get to the threads. The short starter drill bits arent long enough. I snapped one off inside making the drilling all that more difficult. Once I had a large enough hole i tried an easy out. It snapped right away.
From here your options are limited. I first removed the side markers then the front plastic black strips. They come off by prying from the back side. Be very careful as the plastic is brittle. Mine broke several of the mounts so I will be replacing them. Currently they are $35 each. Once you get those off the bumper cover can be removed. It is held on by 8 or so plastic push rivets. Most of mine will be able to be reused. Once the rivits are removed the painted cover slips off showing the inner bumper support.
Luckily the inner cover has holes cut out on the top to access the bumper bolt from above. Using a right angle drill (normal cant really be used as the slope of the grill interferes with a straight angle to the bolt) i started with the smallest bit in my box and eventually ended up finishing the job with a 3/8. You must use good quailty metal bits and go slowly oiling the hole between each change. Go one bit at a time increasing the size in as small incraments as your drill bit kit allows. Once I got to the 3/8 bit i was able to insert a punch and hammer the bolt out through the bottom. You only need to drill about 1/2 in down to clear the threads. Remember when drilling metal use a slow speed.
If you are still unable to remove the bolt the other option would be to drill out the 3 torx bolts that fix the shock mount to the bumper cover. Drilling will be necessary as they are nuts in the back and would most likely just spin if you tried to remove them. Once you get these drilled out pull the bumper off and you can remove the whole shock unit and work on things on a bench with heat.
If I had to do this again i would attack from the top first. It was a waste of time going from the bottom and if you were to drill through you could damage your bumper cover by going too far or trying to punch the bolt out and hitting it.
I hope this helps someone. It was a bitch but it can be done with minimal colleteral damage. Once i sized it all up and went after it from the top it was a 1.5 hr job.
Good luck, Brad