Sometimes, things don't quite go as planned… I had a spare bolt, and as a quick last check, I ran it in a hole to check that I'd gotten the body clearance right for mounting the flares I was picking up in a couple of days. Well, it turns out there was a little piece of body sheet metal interfering with hole. When I went to back the bolt out, it dragged that into the hole and started extruding it into the threads! Well, now I was stuck! I couldn't tighten or loosen it. The force required was too much for the relatively small Allen Wrench headed screw (I hate those things by the way…). So I had no choice but to go after it with a pair of vice grips. Even that didn't work. I was putting enough force on it to chip the head of the stainless steel bolt! So I treated it like I was tapping a hole in reverse. Add cutting fluid, 1/4 turn out, 1/8th turn back in and repeat. EVENTUALLY, I got it free. I managed to clean up the bolt and the hole threads, and smooth off the head enough to be able to use it. I also, found a replacement online. Anyhow, be careful, you can get yourself stuck in ways that have NOTHING to do with off-roading, 4x4, hills or mud. Hahahaha.
The good news is, I've improved my skill with broken bolts in the process of my work on the Jeep. I've been able to recover several rusted or stuck parts by drilling them out and re-tapping them.
It sure was maddening at the end of the evening after I thought I was all finished!
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