Help! Nut inside the frame broke loose!

[salong53]

I was installing my front FJ TRD suspension kit yesterday, and when I was removing the sway bar bracket from frame on the drivers side, one of the nuts that is welded inside the frame broke its weld. I was able to saw off the head of the bolt, but now the other half of the bolt and the nut it's still attached to are loose inside the frame.
1) Is there any way to get the nut out of the frame? It looks like the plastic cap above the sway bar might pop out, but I didn't crank on it too hard for fear of breaking it.
2) How can I reattach my sway bar bracket with the second bolt? I'd really rather not have the dealer charge me an arm and a leg for this.

 

[STX4Runner]

Pop that plastic cap off and fish it out with a magnet. Then put a rivnut in the hole. Some will say you have to weld in a new nut, but a rivnut should be fine. If you do want a welded nut, don't go to the dealer, just go to a welding or fabrication shop.

 

[ProfessorOcelot]

I did the same exact thing while removing my sway bar! I kind of panicked, my garage wanted $100 to even look at it, so my neighbor suggested a rivnut. I bought one on amazon RZX 13" riveta nut tool Nut/thread Hand Riveter Kit M5 M6 M8 SAE 10-24, 1/4-20, & 5/16-18 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00RCPVLKE/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_Rl-gBb44JZAAZ
I used the M8 rivnut and put it on where the nut welded to the frame and put it on. Went to Ace and bout the heftiest looking M8 boot I could find and put her on. Been solid since it’s been on there!


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[wfo9]

Pretty much what he said. Nutcert/rivnut... may work. They are generally not that strong though... may or may not fail for a sway bar mount. I would personally weld in a new nut. Access may not be possible though.. so it could require that a little creative fabrication.

My approach is to usually weld a nut to a small plate. Drill a few holes around the original hole. Fish the small plate in until i can get the bolt in with the flat part of the plate down against the original metal and spot weld the holes up.

I think [MENTION=118321]Jetboy[/MENTION] did a write up with pictures with the same approach a while back.

I really wish Toyota would do a better job with the bolts and welding... It's pretty disappointing quality.

 

[salong53]

Thanks for the help everyone.

Update: I was able to break off the plastic cap in the picture above to expose a 7/8” opening in the frame. I fished out the nut with a magnet. I then used a piece of 3/4” wide stock steel cut to a 2” length. Drilled a hole in the steel 1/2” from one end and welded a flanged M10 nut onto it. I chose not to center the nut so that the apparatus wouldn’t spin inside the frame when I was tightening the bolt. I fished the nut/steel into the frame and threaded the new M10 bolt through and BOOM, problem solved. I used a process similar to [MENTION=118321]Jetboy[/MENTION]’s thread from a while back, except I didn’t drill into the frame and weld the stock steel to the inside of the frame. I figure that if it ever has to come apart again, I can just do the same process.