Stripped Hardtop Thread from Factory - Suggestions ?

[Blu6GBronco]

Hey guys, Curious what everyone's thoughts are.

I just picked up my new 22 4DR BL from the dealer. I've yet to really test her out ( barely 10 miles on her ).

That said, as most of us, I've purchased a handful of goodies in anticipation of her arrival. One of which is the Rock Workx Hard Top Quick Removal T40 Torx Thumb Screws, which are awesome btw ! However this brings me to my observation / issue... While attempting to use the Bronco supplied Torx / socket kit, (1) of the existing OEM bolts on the passenger side which secures the hard top onto the frame, was very difficult to unbolt ( unlike all the others - which were easy ). Come to find out, although the original OEM bolt and the new Rock Workx bolt are very difficult to thread. I was VERY careful not to apply too much elbow grease and tried several times to carefully align the bolt in the thread ....Given I'm the first owner and this is my first attempt to touch these bolts, combined with the fact that the bolt was VERY difficult to remove for the first time, I'm confident the thread was "buggered" from factory.

Now, to be clear, with equal amount of force which was used to remove the bolt for the first time, I am able to re-thread the OEM bolt which does secure the hardtop, but given how much force I have to apply with the wrench, there is absolutely zero chance I can use one of these awesome Rock Workx thumb thread screws in this particular thread. All the other threads are smooth as butter without any tools ( as should be ).

My question is .... Is this something Ford would address / cover given I barely have 10 miles on her ? Not sure if this is something re-threadable with a tap by the dealer ? Or..... I can see between the rear cargo side molding the welded Nut that the bolt screws into, and would imagine by removing the molding, someone could easily tac weld a new Nut underneath...

Thoughts / Recommendations ? Thanks guys !

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[Herbie]

Hey guys, Curious what everyone's thoughts are.

I just picked up my new 22 4DR BL from the dealer. I've yet to really test her out ( barely 10 miles on her ).

That said, as most of us, I've purchased a handful of goodies in anticipation of her arrival. One of which is the Rock Workx Hard Top Quick Removal T40 Torx Thumb Screws, which are awesome btw ! However this brings me to my observation / issue... While attempting to use the Bronco supplied Torx / socket kit, (1) of the existing OEM bolts on the passenger side which secures the hard top onto the frame, was very difficult to unbolt ( unlike all the others - which were easy ). Come to find out, although the original OEM bolt and the new Rock Workx bolt are very difficult to thread. I was VERY careful not to apply too much elbow grease and tried several times to carefully align the bolt in the thread ....Given I'm the first owner and this is my first attempt to touch these bolts, combined with the fact that the bolt was VERY difficult to remove for the first time, I'm confident the thread was "buggered" from factory.

Now, to be clear, with equal amount of force which was used to remove the bolt for the first time, I am able to re-thread the OEM bolt which does secure the hardtop, but given how much force I have to apply with the wrench, there is absolutely zero chance I can use one of these awesome Rock Workx thumb thread screws in this particular thread. All the other threads are smooth as butter without any tools ( as should be ).

My question is .... Is this something Ford would address / cover given I barely have 10 miles on her ? Not sure if this is something re-threadable with a tap by the dealer ? Or..... I can see between the rear cargo side molding the welded Nut that the bolt screws into, and would imagine by removing the molding, someone could easily tac weld a new Nut underneath...

Thoughts / Recommendations ? Thanks guys !

Pardon me for asking this question and please don't take offense as I am just trying to troubleshoot with you. Is there any chance you are trying to remove one of the guide pin bolts? In addition to the four torx bolts on each side that actually hold the roof on, there are two guide pins on either side that have bolts in them that aren't meant to be removed.
Just spit balling, sorry you are running in to an issue.

 

[Blu6GBronco]

Oh, no, you're good man. No offense taken. I'm just looking for help/suggestions. I don't think this is a "guide pin" . The bolt that is problematic is the guy with arrow in the pic. I would pref Ford to own this as an issue from factory and covered / addressed to some fashion via warranty.

View attachment 435074

 

[Herbie]

Oh, no, you're good man. No offense taken. I'm just looking for help/suggestions. I don't think this is a "guide pin" . The bolt that is problematic is the guy with arrow in the pic. I would pref Ford to own this as an issue from factory and covered / addressed to some fashion via warranty.

View attachment 435074

No sir, that is not one of the guide pins, you are correct as you already know. That's a bummer, I would think that would be warrantied. Good luck, I love my Rockworx bolts.

 

[Pseudoko]

I don’t have a hard top but this is more just a general note. A lot (not all) of the bolts are actually torx plus bolts and not regular torx. So just be careful in that regard. Also when you removed the bolt, did it have blue loctite on it? That could be on possible the reason why. Or the other reason is that a lot of the bolts are coarse thread so sometimes it’s different from bolt to bolt which is a pain at times in general.

 

[Tricky Dick]

You can only ask. They'll probably try to blame you. If it were me I'd probably chase the threads with a tap and move on.

One of my skid plate bolts was kind of buggered and snapped the nut retainer trying to remove it. I suppose I could ask the dealer to fix it, maybe they will, maybe they won't, but it's not worth my time to deal with them for an easy fix.

 

[Blu6GBronco]

Yeah, I hear ya. I can see them attempting to blame me and take no ownership, which is frustrating.

I just fear that although i can manage to thread/unthread the bolt with wrench with a little force, I am a bit worried that after a few times of removing/adding the top that eventually the threads will not allow me to unthread it again and now I'm worse off.

True, I suppose its worth asking them ( hopefully covered via warranty ). Else, I can attempt it myself I suppose ( also hopefully not making it worse )...

Thanks guys.

 

[shoelessjoe]

Removed my hard top torx bolts and installed RockWorkx tie downs with no issues. You have to be careful with the torx bolts on the Bronco because they are not all the same size and some are torx and others are torx plus.

 

[Theherofails]

Buy the correct tap and chase the threads. I’ve had to do this to countless bolts on the Bronco - my beauty ring bolts were 80% cross threaded from the factory. They all work fine after.

 

[Lifeliberty]

You can only ask. They'll probably try to blame you. If it were me I'd probably chase the threads with a tap and move on.

Buy the correct tap and chase the threads. I’ve had to do this to countless bolts on the Bronco - my beauty ring bolts were 80% cross threaded from the factory. They all work fine after.

I 3rd these thoughts. Ford probably wont warranty it, and if they did, the fix would probably just be to chase the threads anyway. Easy to just do it yourself

 

[Theherofails]

I 3rd these thoughts. Ford probably wont warranty it, and if they did, the fix would probably just be to chase the threads anyway. Easy to just do it yourself

DeWalt M10 and M12 taps are less than $10 each at Home Depot and the fix takes 90 seconds. Both are must haves for any Bronco owner as you’ll find plenty of cross threaded Bronco bolts on most Broncos.

Gonna be much faster and easier than trying to get Ford to do anything is my guess.

 

[Ksjrb03]

DeWalt M10 and M12 taps are less than $10 each at Home Depot and the fix takes 90 seconds. Both are must haves for any Bronco owner as you’ll find plenty of cross threaded Bronco bolts on most Broncos.

Gonna be much faster and easier than trying to get Ford to do anything is my guess.

Absolutely this.

 

[KABQ]

As others have said, I would try to chase the threads. In a worst case scenario involving it being completely stripped, there are options like helicoils to repair threads that are buggered beyond repair.

 

[Blu6GBronco]

I appreciate all of your feedback guys. Albeit it's been 20 years since I've had to tap a thread, I'll give it a shot. And thanks for the tap tool recommendation as I'll need to pick one up. It's sort of disheartening how common stripped threads are with the Bronco. Don't get me wrong I love my Bronco and wouldn't trade of for the world, but after being on 6G reading many posts, it's unfortunate how common it seems folks encounter misc QC issues. Regardless, thanks again guys!

 

[Ground_zero298]

I appreciate all of your feedback guys. Albeit it's been 20 years since I've had to tap a thread, I'll give it a shot. And thanks for the tap tool recommendation as I'll need to pick one up. It's sort of disheartening how common stripped threads are with the Bronco. Don't get me wrong I love my Bronco and wouldn't trade of for the world, but after being on 6G reading many posts, it's unfortunate how common it seems folks encounter misc QC issues. Regardless, thanks again guys!

Just wait til you try and take the bash rings off. Like Russian roulette with those.

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