super dumb question
 

Changed some fluids, etc on the Armada this weekend. There's a skid plate that needs to be removed to get to the oil filter and I ran into a problem. There are four bolts that hold the skid plate in place, 2 at the front that go into what is basically the metal portion of the bumper (also might serve as the lower radiator support) and 2 at the rear that go into a crossmember. I couldn't get the front ones to come out. They spin and feel normal, they just don't back out at all. Going the other way, they don't torque up either. It's like there were nuts on the ends and you're not keeping them in place...except (as far as I know) there aren't supposed to be any nuts and if there were, there'd be no way to access them. The attached photo shows the front of a Titan with the bumper removed. The red ovals show the appoximate location where the bolts would extend through if they went all the way through the bumper, but they terminate within the bumper.

Searching the Armada and Titan boards, a lot of people have problems with stripping and/or snapping the heads on these bolts, but I haven't found anyone with the same issue as me.

Any ideas?

:confused:

Maybe it's time to call on Nick's expertise with the torch. :p

:eeps:

Can you take a pliers or Vise Grips to the head of the screw and pull outwards/downwards as you turn? Sometimes that works.

Go by a Jiffy Lube and ask what's wrong :dunno:

You're sure they're threaded bolts and not one-time-use breakaway clips of some kind?

That's probably the kind of place that stripped the screws in the first place.

That's probably the next option, but I'm not sure if I can get to them with what I have. Because of where they're located, I need a 4" extension to get a socket on them.

Pretty much. I'm not exactly sure what they thread into; if it's the bumper itself or there's something inside the bumper. The latter would be pretty stupid, but it wouldn't be the first time that a manufacturer had done something dumb like that.

I've had similar situations where a blind nut was captured or spot welded but got free and it was a major PITA to solve. I hope that's not the case, but it may be.

The only real fix for those issues it complete disassembly and then reattaching or capturing the blind nut.