Headlight Leveling Replacement -> Sheared Bolts

Is it not possible to replace the rusted hardware? How about providing a photo so that we can understand the issue you face.

 

did you hose the bolts with penetrating oil before you tried to remove them?

 

If there is enough tread left in the studs just put the new nuts on them. Use penetrating oil as lubricant and carefully put the nuts to correct tread.

If there isn’t maybe you could just drill small hole into axle beam and use something like pop-rivet to hold the bracket in place. Although in theory drilling a hole into axle bean will weaken it…

Why did you remove the bracket from the axle? Sensor linkage can be removed from the bracket.

 

My usual approach to an unfamiliar small rusty bolt/nut is:

1. hose with penetrating oil
2. using a good snug socket, try to just budge it
3. if it budges, stop, spray more penetrant, and immediately turn it back the other way
4. continue back-and-forthing it, by very small amounts to start with, eventually getting wider, until it's out.

I still break a few.

A good picture might indicate how the studs were attached to the axle beam. If they were pressed in, you might be able to drive them out and press new ones in. (They don't seem to be separately available from Toyota, but any machinist ought to be able to find you two reasonably matching studs.) Or, next more annoying, drill them out, then replace with small bolts if you have access from below to stick bolts through.

-Chap

 

I managed to bust the heads off a couple of 10mm (socket size) bolts on the underside. They were inconsequential, holding a seam between two plastic panels, at front corners. The bolts were TOTALLY rusted; Toyota must be spec'ing junk.

 

That’s what I do with rusty fasteners as well. Many times I also wire brush the thread that is visible. I haven’t broken one where I can see the thread and could get it to budge in years (like this one).

If the studs are welded to axle bean it’s probably best just to use pop rivet or similar since drilling those out would weaken the structure more is more work and isn’t really giving you any better results than just pop rivet.

 

I don't think Liquid Wrench would have budged this:

 

I'm not at all sure about that, or at least there may be differences between fasteners in different areas of the car. I've lived and driven in road salt areas all my life, and my Prius (which is also the only Toyota) is the first 14 year old car I've ever owned where most of the bolts I take out look as good as they do. I remember commenting on it when I did my LF wheel bearing:

But yeah, small body-panel fasteners and such don't seem to get the same love.

-Chap

 

Yeah, these are almost like pop rivets. They do use a permanent fastener for some of the plastic-to-plastic splices, using a pop rivet style plastic fastener. You can just see one, at right edge of pic. It's worthwhile to crawl under there periodically, back out, lube and retighten some of these small bolts. There's some aero panels near the rear trailing arm: to lube the main bolts I had to remove the little panels, and their hold-down bolts were almost seized. I think another year and the heads would have snapped off on them too.

 

Mine are already so corroded that I just applied penetrating oil on them although they probably still can’t be opened.

What I tried to tell earlier is that for years I haven’t broken the any bolt where:
-I can clean the treads with wire brush
-It did start to open even the slightest bit

 

sometimes you can heat the female fastener with a propane torch, and loosen the nut or screw. if it won't move hit it with oil while its still hot. the cooling causes it to suck some oil into the threads. repeat until it moves. I suspect a butane torch would also work good on small fasteners. I bought the very smallest tip I could find for an acetylene torch years ago. it works great on 5mm and larger nuts. I know most folks don't keep an acetylene torch handy...

 

But in a case of these bolts that I and Mendel Leisk are talking about bolt holds plastic peace on and female fastener is the car body…