bolt in frame....how the heck do I tighten it?

tjric

New member
Dispite the fact that I am the master of all things mechanical my new rear bumper and tire swing install has now consumed almost 10 hours and I AM STILL NOT DONE YET.This installation requires sliding a bolt through the hole in the frame BUT you cannot get to the head to tighten it! I thought of taping the wrench to the head of the bolt but I cannot get a wrench or a socket in there. Does anyone have an Idea on how to access the head of a bolt with a wrench through a hole on the frame that is too small in order to get it tight? The head of the bolt is in the frame, the access hole is small and just below and to the right of it, and there is a nut and lockwasher on the outside of the frame holding the bolt in.

No matter what I try to do with my TJ it seems to whip my a*s everytime I put a wrench on it!

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE FOR YOUR HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:cry:
 
can you just waller the whole out a little bit with a dremel or something? Just enough to fit a wrench in there? Or maybe use a nut driver instead of a wrench. Can't really make a good recomendation without seeing the bolt you are trying to get at.
 
Can you point it out on the diagrams where this bolt goes to?
 

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There really is not a good pic of it on the diagram....basically what I have is a box frame, I slid the bolt into the frame with my fingers, the threading of the bolt is sticking out of the frame with the bumper bracket,washer,&nut on it. In order to tighten the nut I have to hold the head of the bolt from spinning but I cannot get a wrench inside the frame to hold the head of the bolt.
Does that help?
 
If a thin wall socket won't fit through the hole, then you might need to ream the hole large enough to slip a socket through it. I was going to suggest to weld a tab on the head of the bolt ONLY IF you can find a hole big enough to slip it in the frame so that when you tighten it from the outside ,the tab will prevent the head from spinning.
 
Welding a tab on the bolt...BRILLIANT!!! I knew there was going to be a simple trick to makling this happen.

Thank you to everyone that helped out...I will let you know what happened!
 

Had a Kilby steering box skid that came with a bolt that had about an 8" piece of thick wire, (something like a heavy wire clothes hangar), tacked to it. I stuck the bolt through a hole then clamped a pair of vice grips to the wire. It tighten up with no problems.
 
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