Installation bolt seizing on new skidplate installation.

[Edslittleworld]

Years ago, I decided to install a 1/4" steel skid plate on my newish Jeep JK Rubicon. I bought the part from 4WD Parts in Arizona. When I got home and proceeded to install it, I noticed that while all the bolt holes lined up...the skid plate was warped about 1/4" above 2 of the bolt holes. I naively assumed that just tightening the bolts with the 1/4" gap would just pull the plate in (unwarp) to seat against the frame. Boy, I sure was wrong. After a few turns on the bolts above the warpage...they just froze. I could not tighten/untighten them at all after that. Even tapping them with a 2 lb sledge didn't free them up. I left it alone, but the plate would vibrate and buzz when driving. For the life of me, I never could unfree those bolts. The bolts were stock and had at least 4-5 threads to start. Plus, I don't think the bolts bottomed out on anything nor were the insert threads "dirty". Eventually, I just gave up and sold the Jeep about a year later. My question is...WHAT HAPPENED? Did the bolts form a "contact weld" from the excess tension while tightening up the gap in the warp or did they possibly cross-thread from a side load?

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[blnewt]

Years ago, I decided to install a 1/4" steel skid plate on my newish Jeep JK Rubicon. I bought the part from 4WD Parts in Arizona. When I got home and proceeded to install it, I noticed that while all the bolt holes lined up...the skid plate was warped about 1/4" above 2 of the bolt holes. I naively assumed that just tightening the bolts with the 1/4" gap would just pull the plate in (unwarp) to seat against the frame. Boy, I sure was wrong. After a few turns on the bolts above the warpage...they just froze. I could not tighten/untighten them at all after that. Even tapping them with a 2 lb sledge didn't free them up. I left it alone, but the plate would vibrate and buzz when driving. For the life of me, I never could unfree those bolts. The bolts were stock and had at least 4-5 threads to start. Plus, I don't think the bolts bottomed out on anything nor were the insert threads "dirty". Eventually, I just gave up and sold the Jeep about a year later. My question is...WHAT HAPPENED? Did the bolts form a "contact weld" from the excess tension while tightening up the gap in the warp or did they possibly cross-thread from a side load?

`Probably had that contact weld, doesn't take much of a shift in the plate(s) to put stress on one or more fasteners. You'll typically see most skidplates w/ oversized holes w/ very large washers to safely fasten them up and allow for a good amount of shift (or slop in the measurements when designing the plates).

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