Has anybody else sheared off the nuts that are welded under the truck that the seat bolts thread into?

I'm trying to pull all the seats to dry out the carpets and give them a deep clean, and while trying to get the rear seat out I think I managed to break the captive nuts loose.

I'm now reading that there might be loctite on them that I need to heat up to break loose. Which I will try on the next one. But I'm assuming at this point that the only way to get the bolt free is to have someone hold the nut under the truck while I try to unscrew it.

After I broke the first one free I tried loosening then tightening the next one in stages. It still broke free as well! Argh.

Anybody else dealt with this and have an easier solution? I definitely don't want to tackle the front seats until I know how to get them out cleanly.

How hot do I need to heat the nut to break the loctite? I'll google that now.

Thanks!
Ian


99 Disco 2 rehab project.

 

check the nuts before you try to remove them, the welds are not that big, you could always reweld it in place then get inside and remove the nut, place adamp cloth over it to reduce the amount of heat going up the bolt

 

Good tip. My welding skills are rusty, but I have one. Might be a good excuse to bust it out.

I will definitely check below before pulling the next one, to see if the nut and bolt are rusted underneath.

I'm also going go to check the RAVE file.

 

If you damaged the bolt you can always remove it a put in a new bolt as long as it has the same spec, many year ago seat belts we not fitted and so if you wanted them you drilled a hole a just bolted them in using large washers to spread a load

 

These are for the seats themselves, so I need to get them fixed or the seats going to be rattling around, and it really should be bolted down properly. But you're right, worse case I could cut the head off and just replace it with a new bolt, washer and nut. Hopefully I can seperate them and weld the nut back on.

I opted not to remove the seatbelts until I figure this out!

 

Sorry must have miss read it but I have had my front seat out a few times and there are 3 torx head bolt and one normap bolt it position is rear right, so yes reweld thr captive nut or cut in off with a cuttinh disc and replace it

 

For anybody else who runs into this issue... I was able to remove the bolts and nuts that broke free by grabbing the nuts with a pair of vice grips. I could then continue to unscrew the bolt and get it free.

For the rest of them I hit the bolt with a wire brush to knock off any loose corrosion and dirt, and I even ran a die up the bolt from underneath to knock down the rust.

To remove the rest of the bolts I cracked them loose, then shot a little PB Blaster both underneath and down from the top. I think tightened the bolt again, and then worked the bolt back and forth turning it about 1/8 turn, then back 1/16 turn, then another 1/8, back 1/16, etc. By doing this to break up the rust I got the last 4 rear seat bolts out without breaking free any more nuts.

I'm cleaned up the seats and I'm letting them thoroughly dry out before I reinstall. I also chased all the threads on the bolts so they should go back in easier.

The bolts are 50mm Torx I believe.

To clean the seats I used a 1/1 ratio of white vinegar and water to wipe down and kill any mold or mildew. Then I used Lexol leather cleaner to hit the really dirty spots, and gave the whole seat a quick wipe with the cleaner. I also used a toothbrush to knock crap out of the leather ventilation holes. They came out pretty good, but honestly weren't in horrible condition.


Seat before cleaning

After cleaning.