12mm factory bolts stuck - Engine under cover subassembly

[Boiseflyfisher]

Ok, so I’ve read threads on installing a TRD skid plate for my ‘17 ORP.
Maybe I missed it but can’t find anyone having issues removing the 4 12mm factory bolts. I can’t get mine to budge but did a great job rounding off the heads on the front 2 with ratchet/ 6 pt socket while tapping with rubber mallet. Moved onto an impact driver/6 pt socket but still no movement. I can’t get a box wrench on them since they’re recessed...see pic. These will get replaced with the skid plate bolts provided.
I’m guessing it’s excessive factory loctite/threadlocker used?
My next step is some heat but can only get to the head of the bolt.
Any help is appreciated from those who have been there...thanks much.

 

[flyrv9]

Did you get any of them out to verify thread locker was used? Since the skid plate is an often removed item - I wouldn't think it would be used - but who knows. You could try to get a little penetrating oil under there like Kroil or PB Blaster - but heat is probably your best bet. Sometimes a hammer drill will work too. Not as powerful as an impact but the vibrations help loosen a stuck fastener.

 

[Boiseflyfisher]

Thanks...I haven’t removed any of them yet so was just my guess on the threadlocker. After looking closer at the front ones with a light I can see the bolt end coming up through the welded nut on the factory skid but don’t see anything on the bolt or nut. I sprayed PB blaster as best I could but not enough room to reach in to the bolt end & nut. I’m letting it sit for now.
I tried the hammer drill initially but didn’t work.
The bolt heads are so rounded and sides so messed up that the socket won’t really grab any longer.

 

[RCFJ]

Thanks...I haven’t removed any of them yet so was just my guess on the threadlocker. After looking closer at the front ones with a light I can see the bolt end coming up through the welded nut on the factory skid but don’t see anything on the bolt or nut. I sprayed PB blaster as best I could but not enough room to reach in to the bolt end & nut. I’m letting it sit for now.
I tried the hammer drill initially but didn’t work.
The bolt heads are so rounded and sides so messed up that the socket won’t really grab any longer.

Had any oil changes done on it? Take it back to them and tell them “look what you did”. It could be over torquing from an oil change

 

[Boiseflyfisher]

Yeah, I wish it was that. Only had the dealer do the 5K checkup, no oil change yet so doubt they would have touched them.
Guessing were overtorqued from factory.

 

[zxpwr350]

This saved me:

https://www.harborfreight.com/9-pc-38-in-drive-metric-bolt-extractor-socket-set-67894.html

 

[Antman]

Ok, so I’ve read threads on installing a TRD skid plate for my ‘17 ORP.
Maybe I missed it but can’t find anyone having issues removing the 4 12mm factory bolts. I can’t get mine to budge but did a great job rounding off the heads on the front 2 with ratchet/ 6 pt socket while tapping with rubber mallet. Moved onto an impact driver/6 pt socket but still no movement. I can’t get a box wrench on them since they’re recessed...see pic. These will get replaced with the skid plate bolts provided.
I’m guessing it’s excessive factory loctite/threadlocker used?
My next step is some heat but can only get to the head of the bolt.
Any help is appreciated from those who have been there...thanks much.

So, first of all you need a decent impact driver because that bolt will either come out or break in the process- point is it will move with enough torque.

Keep spraying the PB Blaster. You need to find a 12 point socket that is just barely too small, maybe an SAE size (not metric). Heat that bolt head with a torch until it's glowing. Immediately hammer that socket onto the bolt. Let it cool down a few minutes and hit it with the impact wrench.

Done this probably 50 times over the course of my wrenching time!

 

[<<<<]

WOW, it's hard to believe that 6 pt 12mm socket round that off. Sounds like it is time for better side gripping six point sockets for you.

 

[cdiset]

Yeah the skid plate bolts are a *****. And coming from someone with full RCI skids that have been removed and installed a couple times, its very easy to mess up the threads on the bolts or the threads on the receiving nut. DO NOT OVER TORQUE. I actually broke a nut inside a cross member and had to replace with a riv nut. That was a PITA. Now I run a tap with some lube through the nuts before reinstalling skids just to make sure its all cleaned out. I do not take my truck in for any service before I take off the plates myself. I don't want the shop hitting those with an impact wrench.
(Obsessive Compulsive Disorder)