broken swing tounge bolt

[jmoore15]

Anyone know where you can get a locking pin for the swingout tongue? My buddy has one but it came on the trailer and the dealer doesn't sell them.

I got one at Lowes

[bigdaddy_houseboater]

Im sure they have em online somewhere. We have a place here called "Budget Bolt". They have every bolt known to man. Im blessed.

[carcrz]

Fastenal should be able to get it for you if you are out of other options. They're pretty much everywhere.

[wakeatx]

I have an Extreme trailer. Checked the bolt and sure enough the threads are short enough they're taking the pressure from the trailer.

How do I get the old bolt out? I can't get the thing to budge. Wondering if it's threaded through the tongue? When I pivot the tonge the head of the bolt turns.... any ideas how to get the thing outta there?

[R&T Babich]

Our Extreme trailer has the bolt just drop straight thru the holes, no threads inside.

[wakeatx]

Ok, thanks. Probably just rusted in there then.

[talltigeguy]

Fastenal should be able to get it for you if you are out of other options. They're pretty much everywhere.

Fastenal is where I got mine. Lowe's did not have it in my town.

I have an Extreme trailer. Checked the bolt and sure enough the threads are short enough they're taking the pressure from the trailer.

How do I get the old bolt out? I can't get the thing to budge. Wondering if it's threaded through the tongue? When I pivot the tonge the head of the bolt turns.... any ideas how to get the thing outta there?

Getting that bolt out was a major PIA. I ended up having it drilled out. I worked on it for about 2 hours with sequentially larger drill bits and was breaking bits and swearing left and right. Finally took it to my friend who owns a Uhaul and hitch shop. He pulled out a big bit and a big drill and had it done in about 5 minutes. The ordinary sorry bits I was using were not enough. His bits cost $20 apiece, he told me.

[Ewok]

Use this to get the rust off, it may take a few hours or days of soaking with this stuff but it works very well:

http://www.amazon.com/Blaster-16-PB-..._sbs_indust_52

[Ewok]

You might need to use a breaker bar or a longer extension on your wrench to try to get the bolt off after soaking with PB Blaster.

[wakeatx]

Thanks for the advice! I cracked that thing pretty hard with a hammer and it didn't budge. Thinking I might have to go and invest in a $20 drill bit to get the thing out.

I'll see if I can find some of that Blaster stuff too.

I got a little carried away with the hammer and now I've got the bolt mangled up on the end to where I couldn't get the nut back on. I gotta get that thing outta there before it keeps me off the lake this weekend!

[Ewok]

Put some rags underneath it and spray to soak that bolt in as many nooks and crannies as possible, let it sit for a few minutes, try to crank on the bolt. If you get nothing, spray more and let it sit longer. I had to do this on a stuck tower bolt on my last boat. I never lowered it in 3 years and when I tried, I got corrosion from SS bolt and aluminium tower mounts. I let it soak overnight and I was able to move it the next morning. I also added a 3 foot extension to my breaker bar to give it a little more leverage, that definitly helped.

[wakeatx]

Ok, you guys weren't kidding about that bolt being a pain. I got a 4' cheater bar and put it on the end of an adjustable head wrench. The wrench is nowhere near sturdy enough to handle it. I was thinking what if I get one of those stout pipe wrenches and tried that. Suggestions?

That thing is STUCK.

[Ewok]

Try a breaker bar with a cheater bar extension, that way you shouldn't mess up the gears on a ratchet. Keep letting it soak in PB Blaster or WD-40 or whatever you can find. PB blaster got my most stuck bolts out of places where I thought I was going to have to bring out the drill.

[Timmy!]

PB Blaster usually works on every frozen bolt for me!

[R&T Babich]

Got a grade 8 bolt that is 7 inches long and is 5/8....

Make sure the shank of the bolt is all the way thru the brackets with no threads inside.
Stress on the threads is where it will break.
I had replaced our bolt a few years ago with an 8" x 5/8" grade 8.
The 8" bolt was just barely long enough as some thread was in the bottom plate.
The past couple of days I've been trying to remove the bolt, but it is rusted in.
After soaking it with various things I tried turning it back and forth with a pneumatic impact gun.
It finally started to move and I was able to remove it after another 20 minutes of back/forth twisting.
I will use a lot of anti-seize on it when it's replaced.
I don't use the swing tongue so I'm replacing the bolt and the pin with 8.5" bolts.
I get them at McMaster = http://www.mcmaster.com/#catalog/117/3122/=e5ug9h
I'll put the bolt & pin in the trailer supply box in case they disappear in the parking lot.
Never thought about it before, but the pin comes out really easy.