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Stripped bolt holes in front diff.


2FFords

Member
Joined
Sep 17, 2008
Messages
9
City
Fresno CA
Vehicle Year
1989
Transmission
Manual
Howdy Guys,

I was doing a shake down inspection after replacing the ball joints on my BroncoII and found the bottom 3 bolts wouldn't take torque on my D35. These 3 bolts hold on my skid plate I made for the diff, which is also supported by an arm that connects up on the top of the radious arm.

What is my appropriate fix here?

Do I have enough meat in the aluminum case to drill out and tap a 7/16 course thread bolt?

Should I attempt to heli-coil to the origonal bolt size?

does the skid have to go? It is supported in the back and the top not just the bottom bolts...

Thanks for all the help.........
 
how thick is your skid plate? Did you get longer bolts to compensate for that? If not you may have stripped the top of the threads and not the bottom, and may be able to salvage them by running a tap and using the longer bolts.
 
I've got 1/2" bolts in my d35 holding it to the beam. Feel free to drill, and tap to 7/16 if you want.
 
Thanks Gents.

I did get longer bolts. So I took the washers off and got some more thread and they did torque. Im pleased. I will pick up some longer bolts tomarrow and ensure that I am useing all the thread I can find.

Its also good to know I can drill and tap too. Another great option beings as I have a suspision I will have this problem in the future.

Thanks again....:icon_thumby:
 
Helicoil (I'd drill out every bolt hole and put one in, even if the threads aren't stripped yet)

Having that steel insert in there adds a lot to the durability of the threads.
 

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