Body Mount Bolt - Need Help Please!!!

[millerguy76]

Help please!!!

I was removing my body mount bolts from the cab tonight.The last one, was coming unbolted rough but I was still making progress. THEN it just started spining.

The nut inside the unibody rail must have broke loose. I attempted to keep pressure on the bolt and try to unscrew it but that didn't work. I worked at it for a hour and got nowhere.

This truck is a true survivor. I really really really do not want to cut into the floor. Just look at these original floors!!! There has to be another way...

Any suggestions please...

[sierrablue]

Is the body mount not under that plug? Oh, maybe not, as I think about it more. But I thought it should be...

You may be able to get a pair of pliers in there, not sure. Otherwise you're gonna have to cut something.

[millerguy76]

The plug is back further. The nut is actually not accessible through that drain hole.
I'd be fine cutting the bolt and then lowering the frame. When I do that, how would I get the nut to say put after the fact?

[Stuka]

I assume its the front mount that is spinning? You could cut it through the side of the channel that the body mount bolt goes into. Slot just large enough to grab the top side and keep it from spinning.

You will need to patch it back up to keep the strength in place after you mount the body back up. And weld in a nut if you can. I have not seen inside that channel before, so I am not sure what the inside looks like.

Here is a photo from the TSM showing that mount from the side.

Screenshot 2023-03-09 at 8.31.17 PM.png

[millerguy76]

Thanks. I"m going to double check it with an endoscopic camera before I piss myself off even more.
I kinda want to cry when I think of cutting anything other than the bolt.

[SJTD]

If it's like the Wags they changed the number of body mounts to one less at some point so the original access holes wouldn't have come out on top of the bolts so they didn't put them in. The recesses are still there in mine.

I used a hole saw above the stuck bolt and drilled down through the bolt to just under the tap drill size for the bolt. I got lucky and it unscrewed so the nut plate was reuseable. Could probably even have hammered the cage back into place to hold it but I took it out.

I'm pretty sure those were only intended to hold the nut in place on the assembly line. I doubt they cared about disassembly forty years later.

[letank]

the captive nut cage is loose... may be an electrical impact driver with something to trip to stop the cage from rotating!