Stuck Door Hinge Bolt Issue

[Arterius2]

Because 3 people were wrong?

Thanks for clearing up the confusion so to speak..

I will bow out of this conversation. Hopefully someone else with more knowledge here can make things clearer.

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[sdynak]

I have a T55 and out of curiosity from this thread went to go see what it looked like at both hinges. There is no way the door hinge is a T55 and not possible to even hammer it in (not that I would even try based on what I saw) but the rear fit fine.

1st pic is the door and 2nd is rear

 

[kurt rustle]

My bolts are pretty much stuck, too. Tried by hand and using an impact driver and no dice so far; the damn things won't budge.

Looks like a heat gun might do the trick? For those of you that did manage to get some (or all) of these bolts off, did you use a heat gun at all?

 

[Arterius2]

My bolts are pretty much stuck, too. Tried by hand and using an impact driver and no dice so far; the damn things won't budge.

Looks like a heat gun might do the trick? For those of you that did manage to get some (or all) of these bolts off, did you use a heat gun at all?

did you hammer in the T50 bit first?

 

[Maverick909]

guys you need to get the right tool for the Job. i posted this on the door hinge post a few months back. do your self a flavor and pick up this tool from mc master carr. its 30 bucks. it will break that paint bolt loose with little to no effort without any striping of the bolt head see my below link... we use these in my shop all the time for tough bolts. and get your self a good set of craftsman torque bits from lowes. better quality control on the tool makes for tighter tolerance's.

https://www.mcmaster.com/5610a1

 

[kurt rustle]

did you hammer in the T50 bit first?

Yup!

 

[Dengar]

I installed my atlas steps yesterday. Save yourself time, headache and stripped bolts and do the following:

- go buy a 3/8” breaker bar and a 3/8” T50 torx bit.
- Hammer the bit into the bolt (don’t worry, you’re not using them anymore). You’ll see it go in with each little tap.
- attach the breaker bar.
- one hand on the head of the socket... the other puts pressure on the handle end of the breaker bar.
- with very little effort... you’ll hear the bolt free up. Do this for each one.

Note: The new bolts are a smaller torx head. Use the supplied mopar ratchet and torx bit and tighten them up.

Be sure you have your doors taped and some cardboard shins in place to keep the door in place.

Hope this helps.

 

[Tadek6]

Sadly this has not worked for me. I'm starting to think the EU models have fake bolts for show and someone @ Jeep is having a laugh at me.
I have tried heating the bolt, heating the T50 bit and still nothing but stripped bolts to show for it.

Has anyone else had to drill out the bolts?

 

[Vfserik]

I just installed mine today and they were very tight! They are without any doubt a T50. I was successful with taking a T50 socket and hammering it in, put on a long breaker bar or use a piece of pipe as a cheater. Every one broke loose with some effort. Make sure to keep pressure on the socket so it doesn't slip.
Note: I have a hammer impact driver but that didn't seem to work. I suspect there is too much flex in the door panel so the axial impact isn't effectively translated into rotation of the bolt... or my tool is old and worn out....

 

[JLUR_Pete]

Everything Dengar (above) said but do not hammer the Torx T-50 into the door hinge bolts to seat them.

Instead, wiggle the T-50 around 360 degrees while pushing in to seat the T-50. Otherwise, you run the risk of bending the dual bolt bar that receives the door hing bolts, which is what happened to me. This is inside the door and when bent, I was unable to get the new T-40 bolts for the step (need T-40 Torx for SmittyBuilt Atlas step) to seat and thread in the bolt bar because they are shorter with the inserts that came with the step.

I had to re-install the OEM door hinge bolts with a T-50 and tighten very tight to bend the bolt bar back to reasonably straight, and then remove the OEM door hinge bolts and then install the step with the T-40 door hinge bolts that came with the step.

I had to use a 3/8" drive x 18" breaker bar with a 3/8" drive T-50 Torx to break the OEM T-50 door hinge bolts free. Impact gun and ratchet would not work. I think it is the paint that locks them and you have to break the paint seal. I did not have to use a heat gun.

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