I recently acquired a Westin Bull Bar, but it wasn't from a Dakota, so I'm making the mounting brackets to fit along the bottom of the frame just aft of the bumper. The Westin mounts that are made for the Dakota appear to use the body mount bolts and the mounts I'm making will use the same mounting points so I need to remove these two bolts. Before I take these out, I would like to know how solid the captive nut is - when I tried to turn them, they turned but not easily. Also, is these any chance that the body mount bolts would snap like those on Jeep mounts?

 

They dont have a Nut on them, The top Bushing acts as a Nut, Most people end up having them just spin, untill they Clamp the Top bushing so it doesnt spin.

I put ALOT of force, Slowly on mine and they didnt break. Mine where also rusted to hell, I had to drive a Self-Tapping screw thru the metal plate on the bushing into the mount so it wouldnt spin. I also loaded on the PB Blaster to loosen them up

Also the brackets for Bull Bars, Grille Guards and the Tow Hooks, Use that body mount bolt AND the 2 lower bumper bolts.

 

 

Ok, thanks guys, that clears up a few misconceptions. When I looked down at the top of the body mount, the round metal piece seemed to have a hex pattern to it, so a large Allen socket might fit into there to hold it steady.

If you spray penetrating oil, where do you spray it to reach the threads? If I drill a small hole in the center of that hex indent, will that allow the oil to hit the threads?

 

Ontop of the Bushing In the center of it, Thats where the threads end, so it should seep down into them. the bolt is LONG.



Thats the bolt, and upper Bushing.

 

Heres how the thread together on the truck, when they are installed. So you only see the top of that bushing

 

Heres one last picture, to show that the hole for the threads goes completely thru the bushing, so You shouldnt have to drill any holes to get the oil to it, I drilled the hole you see in the picture (The on on my truck and rusted), but it was to close to the center to stop it from spinning, so I had to make another by the edge more.

 

I broke one bolt and destroyed the top bushing on the other trying to remove mine. Expect to spend $30-$60 for the bolt/bushing depending on how much markup the dealer adds on to the price.

 

Thanks for all the pictures and explanations, that makes things a lot easier to plan. I'll post some pictures of my progress, but that probably won't happen until next week - rain is forecast from now until Monday.

 

I think chrysler had stock in non-service removable locktite and they used it on every fastener on these trucks. I have found nothing that is easy to remove.