That's progress. If I interpret your other photo correctly, you did manage to drill a good depth pilot hole in the bolt, right? Why not continue drilling through it with ever larger bits? I would stick with right handed bits, not left handed, because that will tend to force the bolt into the knuckle, instead of out, thus avoiding dealing with the rust collected on the back side.

I'm with Charlie, I think that when you get the bolt drilled out enough, you'll be able to drive it out. And if the bolt threads are so rusted to the knuckle that this won't work, then no welding of nuts to the bolt will help anyway, you'll be in the same boat as I was above with the O2 sensor picture, you'll just have to drill it all out and retap either for the same bolt or a heli coil.

BTW, I don't see all that much rust on other components, so I don't think you'll have that much trouble, but I could be wrong.

I'm in Evergreen, but I'm about to head out of town. If you are still having trouble when I get back next week, once I have time I'd be happy to come help you out.

I have a MIG welder, so might not be as easy to weld as somebody that has TIG, but we could give it a go.

Keep at it and use a lot of heat!

My $.02 on the welding of nut, not just any ol'weld will work in this case.
You already broke a bolt that's torqued past 90 ft/lb's You need a high tensile strength weld 70k+ PSI.
Mig, Tig won't do that with the wire most welders use, Stick will.
70/18, 100/18, 120/18 1st # is tensile strength in K psi, 2nd # filler rod dia I would use 12018.
No need to tell welder these numbers or about wire, make it clear what he will be dealing with during call.
He'll have a torch set on truck also could be needed.
Your also going to pay more welder coming to you.
Lol, sorry $.04 worth.

GOOD LUCK !

Just finished this upgrade myself on my 98. Several posts said the factory 16 inch wheels will fit. WRONG. I had to buy hubcentric wheel spacers in order to keep my factory wheels. I actually like the stance better with the wheels set out just a little farther, only issue is when I put brand new tires on the wheels there is a touch in the front fender corners when backing up and turning sharp at the same time. I don't think this will be an issue for long as I intend to add a small lift when the weather warms. Keep us posted on your progress and any additional issues.

I may have missed it but didn't see it specifically called out in the thread, just to be clear have you absolutely drenched and soaked what's left of that bolt in PB blaster/Kroil/etc? Hard to tell from pics if the light sheen is from spray residue or just working on/around it. Those sprays, if left overnight, and especially right after heating up the bolt can really penetrate into the threads and work some miracles. If you end up with time waiting for someone to weld the nut on, I'd second going the heat/soak/punch route like the others mentioned.

Heating up both slightly expands both objects, I've heard (but almost no one has had the patience for it in the industrial field) that if it was a big enough bolt they'd heat up the surrounding area and the stuck bolt together. Then right after that spray cool water or literally the upside down cans of keyboard dusting cleaner right onto the bolt to immediately shrink it every so slightly to help break any rust adhesion within the threads. Also had a coworker who used to work for Boeing way back in the day and said they'd do something similar with main wing (dowel/clevis?) pins during assembly to the fuselage and were so close of a tolerance they'd stick the rod in a super cold freezer for several days and heat the thru-hole up. Team of guys would have less than 5 minutes to to seat the rod with a sledgehammer and if they didn't get it started within that time they'd have to start all over.

Thanks for all the continued suggestions, gang. Given the feedback, I'm going to hold off on the welding approach for now.

I had stopped drilling before as it seemed I wasn't making any further progress. I decided to make a mad dash to Home Depot in the snow and picked up another set of cobalt bits. They started cutting immediately, so I definitely must have spun the last set of bits too fast and dulled them out (I read cobalt bits can be sharpened but I'll save that for another time).

I've now got a 3/16" hole going all the way through the bolt and drenched it in PB Blaster last night. I plan to reapply a couple more times throughout the day. I'll also draw in some more candle wax after heat.

I may also take a dremel with a cutting disc to the seized end of the bolt and even it out with the knuckle. I figure it can't hurt and may even help when I go in with the final 5/16" bit to try and turn it out. The photo makes it look like the bolt is not seized on but it definitely is; it could be the lighting. I'm also thinking it may have been cross-threaded the way the end is angled. I'll let you guys know how it turns out tonight.

You could also try freezing it with liquid nitrogen, some of that wart remover spray, might shrink the bolt a bit and heat(MAP) on the spindle.
Good work on the drilling...slow and steady. If you try a punch be sure to put an anvil on the backside of the spindle.

Canned air (for keyboard cleaning, etc.) turned upside down will work as a freeze spray too.

-Charlie

Speaking from my O2 sensor experience I mentioned above, I'd minimize the time spent screwing around with all these techniques. If you tried heat and penetrant with no luck, just get out the drill set, try to drill it as large as you can to see if the remaining threads come out, and if not, have a heli-coil set on hand and just drill, tap, and heli-coil that sucker.

It's a very accessible bolt/hole, so you can have it done in an hour.

I spent several weekends screwing around with the O2 sensor, as I said earlier, all time down the drain. Once I committed to drilling and tapping, I had it heli-coiled in an hour, and that's including the time to remove the steering rack to get access, and doing the whole thing on my back. That was for an M18 thread - your job will be much easier and faster.

I had the same thing happen with an LBJ bolt. I ended up replacing the whole spindle. Hopefully you have better luck than I getting that out.

"I spent several weekends screwing around", we've all learned the hard way at sometime.

Setup in a mill 10-15 min, drill it, chase threads with bottom tap 15 min, done. $100.00, my hourly rate on this.

Just to clarify, my estimate for a shop doing this work was $900.

Agree - and with the bolt being so accessible, he can easily drill it out, tap and drill for the heli-coil, install the heli-coil, and be done in an hour. No need to pull the knuckle or take it to a shop. Heli coil kits in that size are not outrageously expensive like my $180 M18 heli-coil kit was.

@4Runner4Leon " Once I committed to drilling and tapping, I had it heli-coiled in an hour"

Wasn't knocking you and the job, was good example of time for different tactic.
OP has gone the route, my post just another tactic.
To me this is no place for a heli-coil, could get different spindle tricky work with bearings.
Pick your poison.

Alright gang, after what seemed like an endless amount of time, I was able to finally drill most of the bolt out with a 5/16" bit. Unfortunately, the combination of PB Blaster, heat, wax, etc. just didn't let me get it out - it's totally seized to the spindle. I did find a video of a guy who ended up heating a caliper for 25+ minutes and going at it with a nut and breaker bar repetitively until it gave way - his reaction is priceless (I was longing to get the same outcome but alas, no luck).

So how do I determine which particular heli-coil set is needed to finish the job? The bolt head requires a 17mm socket although I don't know if 17mm is the head size or the bolt diameter. I don't think I can go up in size at all since the bolt barely fits through the caliper hole as is. Here's a link to the various Heli-Coil kits/sets, appreciate any help: https://www.mutualscrew.com/media/re...il%20chart.pdf

17MM is the bolt head size. You'll need to figure out the thread pitch and pattern and then order the corresponding helicoil kit. You'll need the helicoil, helicoil install tool, drill bit, and tap. I'm not sure what thread pitch and pattern that bolt is, but hopefully a more intelligent member than I can chime in.