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HELP Please! Broken bolt in hardtop liftgate hinge

MassWrangler

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Hi everyone. I ordered the Topsy Products hinge hoist brackets for my week old 2018 Sahara, which attach to the liftgate hinge connecting the liftgate to the hardtop - these brackets are used to lift the hardtop off the Jeep. You loosen the liftgate hinge screws, then slide the bracket over the hinge and tighten it back down. While tightening these to their recommended 90 in/lbs., the bolt broke and I cannot extract it. I used an extractor, but the drill bit actually broke off in the bolt, so I cannot drill it out. There is no way to grip it it or get at it. At this point I'm at a loss. I can see that the bolts go into a plate of some sort inside the hardtop. Is there any way to get at this plate from inside? I'm assuming (praying) that this is a replaceable part, due to that fact that this can happen. I convinced my wife to buy this Jeep which was very expensive and I am really hoping I don't have to surprise her with an obscene bill from the dealership to fix this. Any recommendations are much appreciated. Thanks!!!

Hinge.jpg
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Greg H

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Hi everyone. I ordered the Topsy Products hinge hoist brackets for my week old 2018 Sahara, which attach to the liftgate hinge connecting the liftgate to the hardtop - these brackets are used to lift the hardtop off the Jeep. You loosen the liftgate hinge screws, then slide the bracket over the hinge and tighten it back down. While tightening these to their recommended 90 in/lbs., the bolt broke and I cannot extract it. I used an extractor, but the drill bit actually broke off in the bolt, so I cannot drill it out. There is no way to grip it it or get at it. At this point I'm at a loss. I can see that the bolts go into a plate of some sort inside the hardtop. Is there any way to get at this plate from inside? I'm assuming (praying) that this is a replaceable part, due to that fact that this can happen. I convinced my wife to buy this Jeep which was very expensive and I am really hoping I don't have to surprise her with an obscene bill from the dealership to fix this. Any recommendations are much appreciated. Thanks!!!

Hinge.jpg
Not sure how to get it out. But I've got the Topsy lit ordered for mine. Are you sure you had your torque wrench set to 90 inch pounds and not foot pounds? If you did break them off with inch pounds I'll probably go with a lower setting.
 
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MassWrangler

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The torque wrench was definitely set at 90 inch pounds. I am going to chalk it up to the wrench being off and me being stupid, as I was tightening and was thinking that this is pretty tight right before the bolt snapped. Common sense would have prevented that from happening. Aside from that, the topsy brackets looks like a great product and I'm sure we will enjoy it. As far as the issue with the broken bolt, its at the dealers now....fingers crossed the bill is not too high.
 

tesla

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I think it's an insert epoxied into the hole in the hard top. I would get a quality bolt extractor kit or go pay a pro. You don't want to mess up the top.

And I second the question on whether the torque wrench was set on in/lbs or ft/lbs. 90 in/lbs shouldn't break a bolt.
 
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Hi Tesla, thanks for the reply. I'm going to assume it was my fault by tightening it too much and not stopping when it felt like I should have. The dealer has it now to extract the bolt. I'm hoping that someone there has see a bolt broken off there before.
 

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So here's how the story ends....
Dealership just called and said they are hitting the drill bit when trying to drill it out. They may be able to get it out, but they may cause more damage and put a hold in the fiberglass which would require a new roof. Option 1 is to leave the liftgate with the missing bolt (he said it looks OK with 3 instead of 4 and structurally it looks fine) or option 2 (try to drill it out and risk having to purchase a new painted roof for my brand new Wrangler). Not having Tom Brady money I went with 1. I just wont use the Topsy brackets because I don't want to put too much stress on the hinge with 1 bolt.
 

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So here's how the story ends....
Dealership just called and said they are hitting the drill bit when trying to drill it out. They may be able to get it out, but they may cause more damage and put a hold in the fiberglass which would require a new roof. Option 1 is to leave the liftgate with the missing bolt (he said it looks OK with 3 instead of 4 and structurally it looks fine) or option 2 (try to drill it out and risk having to purchase a new painted roof for my brand new Wrangler). Not having Tom Brady money I went with 1. I just wont use the Topsy brackets because I don't want to put too much stress on the hinge with 1 bolt.
I'll give you 5 bucks for your used brackets!! HA HA HA. Sorry couldn't resist. And sorry for your misfortune.
 

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I literally broke my screw head off today doing the same thing- putting the topsy hooks on. Got a screw extractor just before the hardware store closed- did you try and drill a pilot hole before using the extractor bit? (It sounds like you did from your description, double checking before I start).

For the record, I wasn't using a torque wrench- sadly, I was mindlessly tightening and distracted by my kids. Complete stupidity on my part.
 
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Wow! I'm real sorry to hear that. I know the feeling of staring at the broken bolt wondering what the *&$!*& just happened. I guess the moral of the story is do not mess with those bolts unless absolutely necessary, and if you need to.....be ultra careful. The topsy brackets do look like a nice product if you can get them installed. Also, I did drill a pilot hole first before using the extractor. I was going in again to make the pilot hole bigger after the extractor failed. I ended up using the cheap drill bit that came with the extractor. If I had stuck with my regular bit I doubt it would have broken off.
 

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Hey Folks - reviving this thread as I recently did something similar installing the Topsy products - i broke a bolt. Where i'm at in solving the dilemma (and hopefully this will help the guy who just left the broken bolt in) is that I discovered that you can pull out a cover behind where the bolts go in. From there you can touch the backs of the nuts. I drilled out the grommet holding in the plate, and was able to pull it out through that hole. So far so good -- except I still wasn't able to get the bolt out because the stuck easy-out was holding it in. Therefore, I think the solution is to buy a new plate to bolt into -- but I can't seem to find the part on any Mopar part page!

Anyone have any idea of where this plate with the attached nuts can be procured?
 

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Isn't there a big grommet or plug underneath this area? Pull out the plate with the nutz. Probably cannot buy it from fiat. Any descent mechanic can put you a new nut on it with a cutoff wheel and a welder, right?
 

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Hi all,

I had the same issue, and it was a nightmare. I tried to extract the bolt, but after two days I could not. I went to the dealership today, and they fixed it for $75. Finally, I could finish my hoist tonight, and even though I do not have a lot of space, it is working perfect to lift the top a little bit.
Jeep Wrangler JL HELP Please!  Broken bolt in hardtop liftgate hinge IMG_0926.JPG
Jeep Wrangler JL HELP Please!  Broken bolt in hardtop liftgate hinge IMG_0921.JPG
 

El-Jefes-Red-Rubi

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Broken liftgate (glass) hinge bolt. I too broke a bolt while trying to remove the top left hinge for a roof bracket installation. My bolts "nut" broke loose from the inside and just spun in place. I had to use a small dremel and cut the bolt head off so I could complete the installation. *yes the back nut fell into the hardtop void apace and might rattle around :(

All that said...has anyone ever tried to fix this? My first thought is to use a JACK NUT to anchor a new bolt in place. These are well used in blind repairs/installation on fiberglass boats. Thoughts?

Also, has anyone tried to create an access panel? I was able to measure the depth behind the hinge (approx 1.5") My thought was to take the liftgate glass off. Use a drill and from the outside (hinge side) drill through to the INSIDE of the hardtop void to mark where the bolts are. Then using a 3/4" bit drill an access hole behind each nut. I can close/cover the 4 holes with a rubber grommet and in my head I visualize the rear inside along the top having 4 equally spaced grommets and it would look fairly factory.

Anyone try this or something like it?
 

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Yes, i ultimately fixed mine. There's a plate with the nuts that you can get to from a rear access panel. You need to pull the other bolt and remove the plate through the rear panel. from there, cut off the nut from the plate to get the bolt out. Then you just need to get a new nut welded on and you can find a replacement bolt on quadratec. Put the plate back in, attach bolts and topsy brackets, and you are set.
 

El-Jefes-Red-Rubi

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Yes, i ultimately fixed mine. There's a plate with the nuts that you can get to from a rear access panel. from there, cut off the nut to get the bolt out. From there, you just need to get a new nut welded on and you can find a replacement bolt on quadratec.
What access panel? My hardtop is sealed. My broken bolt is on the top, glass hinge area
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