BAJA bull guard - one difficult bolt

[CR_IN_UT]

I would skip the whole CJ Pony thing. They probably just drop shipped it anyway. Going to them is just adding a middle man. Kudos to Turn for their response and willingness to help in any way.

Instead of making Turn ship you a shorter bolt that was missing, maybe just stop into Ace, HD, or Lowe's and get a shorter bolt. Ace carries different grades if needed. That way you can have it fixed in an hour.

Good Luck.

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[colbert]

Lots here would not have a problem getting that bolted up.

 

[Exec_B6spd]

Turn makes good stuff. I have a number of their products on my bronco, the modular grill guard is my favorite. Glad you’re getting it straight, but the hardware they send should be right.

 

[Wolford678]

thanks. I have all the included bolts. A slightly shorter bolt might do the trick. I don’t need shipped a new guard with the same issue. I saw photos that someone had just as tight a circumstance and got it on there somehow. Tomorrow I will try to do what the shop told me was impossible.

 

[HighVelocity]

Stop pissing around with fasteners, weld that sucker to the bumper and get on with life!

 

[SkyKing]

What about just drilling the hole in the bull bar a tiny bit bigger so the bolt can fit through? (with a bit of touch up paint to keep from rusting)

 

[WarthogJr]

Vaseline.

 

[manes_finale]

I'm emotionally invested after reading this thread. Did you get it to work?

 

[Wolford678]

Current Status: scared to remove any bolts because I have to remove them all in order to drop the troublesome one in first. I’m still not sure if I can even slide it in to start when detached from the bumper. Then secondly I’ll place the guard upon the bumper. Then I’ll work on the outside bolts to the inside bolts. That is the plan.
However I may not be able to get all of them back in and I’ll be worse off. Honestly I’d rather have the bull guard on there minus 1 bolt, then not on at all.
Also I officially canceled my email request to CJ pony parts for a replacement as I now believe all the Baja guards are all going to be similarly welded with tight parameters for bolts.

My work schedule hours just got slammed beyond belief. So there is going to be a week or two delay. Then I will test if I can even turn all of the bolts easily and risk them not going back in and on. Then I will attempt to get the problem bolt in there, this time armed with all the tips acquired from this forum.
The concern is mostly because I had to pay a shop to get some “extra stuck” bolts off and don’t want to have wasted all that “installation money” I paid if I can’t get it back on there.

(It might be easier to see if I can cut a bolt head off and glue the head on there for looks, But then I will have to live with that defeat the rest of my life.)

“shoulda been a 20 min project!”

 

[Lifeliberty]

1. All bolts should be unstuck now. If they are stuck, then you can decide how you want to proceed
2. Take a bronco bolt to the hardware store and buy a shorter bolt. I "think" they are M8 bolts(1.25 threads) , but the store can confirm. That would be better than gluing a bolt head on. Maybe get a bolt at half length and see if that will be long enough to grab threads. Buy a couple different lengths and use the shortest one you can get away with
3. I bet it won't take a long as you think, I think it's only 10 bolts
4. You don't have a light bar or lights to contend with, like I did, so it's really unbolt then bolt
5. You will feel really good about fixing it yourself

 

[Canyon Coolers]

thanks. I have all the included bolts. A slightly shorter bolt might do the trick. I don’t need shipped a new guard with the same issue. I saw photos that someone had just as tight a circumstance and got it on there somehow. Tomorrow I will try to do what the shop told me was impossible.

I've been drilling out holes on aftermarket parts for decades. Remove it from the bumper, grab your stepped drill bit and widen it a bit from the bottom. These types of things can get frustrating but it's part of the aftermarket experience.

 

[Brian_B]

“shoulda been a 20 min project!”

Gotta get over that fear of bolts you have, man. Just get'er done.

What's the worst thing that could happen here?

You get them off but can't get them back on, so you just don't have a bull bar for a bit? You get all the bolts off but one and have to drive around with it flapping like a chicken wing? You pinch your finger with the wrench and get a blood blister that requires you to go to urgent care to get a band aid?

Someone's gotta take it off if you are gonna swap it out with TOR anyway, so you really got nothing to lose here, except maybe your finger, if you can't get to urgent care in time.

 

[CR_IN_UT]

Im not trying to rub it in but this is why you dont pay an ORW or 4WP (assumptions) to do simple stuff like put 10 bolts into a bumper that already has the nut plates. It's mostly just a bunch of pimply kids or 25 year olds making 14 bucks an hour with a couple of senior people doing the harder work like gears. The issue shouldn't be with CJ or Turn honestly, it should be the shop you paid to do something that they couldn't do! TBH, this is such a minor job that they should be embarrassed to even ask you for money when they couldn't do the simplest of tasks. Someone else said it right, they should have put that bolt in first and then walked it over to the bronco and started tightening it up or even just take the step bit and do what you need to do. It's not structural so you could leave it out too but if I was giving a car back to someone with only 9/10 of the job done, how would I ask for install fees or call myself a shop?

Not trying to make you feel bad. A lot of these corporate shops (or even Ford dealers)are weak because of inexperienced mechanics. It's hard to find an experienced mechanic nowadays to even hire so I see both sides! Always try to do it yourself before paying a 19 year old to tighten bolts. Think of it this way, you could have bought a whole tool set and had the tools leftover for future projects for the same money or less.

Sorry you're dealing with this. This forum has a lot of good people that can help next time and there are some good ideas in responses above.

Good Luck on whatever you decide.

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