Broken, rusted bolts near fuel tank

Question

Working on a 93 ford ranger. While removing the bed of the truck to access the fuel tank, two bolts that keep the bed attached to the frame broke off. The bolts go down through the frame and then through a clip. I can not just pull out the broken portions.

On the passenger side, I am a few feet away from the fuel tank so I could grind out the bolt and clip to remove from the frame and replace with a new one. But on the driver side, the bolt is right next to the tank and filler pipe. Any sparks created from the grinder would be very close to the fuel tank.

Does anyone have advice on how to solve this problem?

Answer 1

(1) you could remove the fuel tank.

(2) If you can grab the broken part of the bolt with some vise grips, you can use an induction heater to heat the frozen part until it is red hot, at which point it should unscrew. You can buy induction heater tools at many auto parts stores; NAPA sells them i know. I am not sure if you can rent or borrow one from a parts store or tool rental place, but that would be a little cheaper.

Comments

Good idea on removing fuel tank. I tried with vice grips but no luck. The bolt had broken off. I was able to remove the top half of the bolt from the bed but still had that other broken in the frame.

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Bolt extractor socket to grab the stump. Or if it snaps flush (or you can grind it flat), drill the stuck bit out and clean the thread with a relevant tap. That last solution works every time so keep in mind it's still salvagable.

Answer 2

Bolt extractor sockets, vice grips are only good if something is already spinning.

Comments

Thanks. No luck with vice grips. The bolt had broken in half at the middle so i was able to remove the top half, still had bottom half stuck.