Broke a bolt, any suggestions?

[standup303]

Broke the pin/bolt holding in the “main”pin. No room to drill it out. Thinking of drilling the main pin to break the bolt then I can pull the whole diff out and drill/tap a new bolt.

Any other suggestions?

 

[jas0162]

Pull the carrier out, should have plenty of room to drill then

 

[RustyRatRod]

Get a STRONG magnet and stick it in there and pull it out.

 

[standup303]

Pull the carrier out, should have plenty of room to drill then

I can’t, there are still threads in there.

 

[Professor Fate]

Chances are (and the approximate length of the pin/bolt seems to confirm this) that it snapped at the carrier/main pin interface.
Spin the carrier around, use a large drift and a BFH, and I'll bet you can drive that puppy out (the main pin, that is) bringing the remains of the snapped pin with it.

 

[Swingin Chrome]

I can’t, there are still threads in there.

The threaded portion is at the head of the bolt. As Rusty said stick a magnet down there and tap on the case BESIDE the big pin and the broken tip might jar loose. RJ

 

[niceolddart]

I just had a similar problem with broken bolts in my V10 truck engine. I was able to mig weld a nut on the broken stud, let it cool a minute, then used a wrench/socket to fit the nut & remove the broken studs that way. It worked like a charm, & the broken studs were in the aluminum thermostat housing that was seized in place from galvanic corrosion. May work for you if you have the room.

 

[1WildRT]

If you try to drive the pin out be careful, I've see a couple guys set the pin on center then drive the pin straight into the pinion gear... A minor problem just got allot worse....

So, the best approach I've seen, drill a series of small holes in line with the bolt, next go back and open those holes to 5/16.... Then drive the cross pin in but make sure it'll clear pinion, You don't have room to drive the pin in very far so dig out the broken bolt then pull the pin...

 

[1WildRT]

Pull the carrier out, should have plenty of room to drill then

You can't pull the carrier until the cross pin has been removed, remove the pin. push the axles inward, remove the C clips then pull the axles....

 

[Biff]

I would carefully grind out the end of the Center pin push it out then remove broken bolt , slot the Center pin so not to damage the broken bolt .

 

[standup303]

Hammered it out! Need to pick up a bolt extractor tomorrow but I think it’ll work out alright. Thanks all!