ajack

My FPDM went on my last Friday. I got a new one and the trucks now starts up and runs just fine now. My old one was pretty much disintegrated. Unfortunately even with a ton of PB blaster and lots of care I managed to snap both the old mounting bolts about a quarter inch above the frame cross rail.

I'm sure most of you know this is a hard place to get a drill into. And I'm pretty much a newbie when it comes to drilling and cutting metal and I've never used a tap before.

For you guys with way more experience at this stuff that myself, what should I do to get these bolts out? Grind them down flat, drill them and tap them? Grind them smooth on two sides and wrench them out? Heat them with a torch? (that doesn't sound smart being so close to so much fuel). Or should I just mount the FPDM somewhere else?

gone postal

Where you mount the FPDM isn't really important, as long as it's solid and has some air across it to cool it. I know at least one person on here has extended the harness and mounted the puppy in the cab.,

ajack

The bottom of the module seems to have a protrusion that fits right into a hole in that cross member. I thought about mounting it on the frame rail or cross member under the bed but I wasn't sure if that little post was there for a reason.

If I do mount it elsewhere, do I just drill holes about the same diameter as the bolts and let them self thread or do I need to actually use a tap and die to create threads?

gone postal

Tap and die. Make sure you use oil on the tap, nothing sucks worse than trying to remove a tap.

techrep

iTrader: (1)

Zip tie's ??

ajack

Hahahaha! That's exactly how it's on there right now... I had to run to the office and needed a working truck!

Especial86

iTrader: (1)

Definitely Zip tie it well, than move on with your life..

I suppose you could also use a couple band clamps too

gone postal

Not a huge fan of zip ties for critical components, they get brittle with age and cold.

Especial86

iTrader: (1)

Not the thick long ones electricians tend to use... I agree with drilling and re tapping, but that's a job for the summer, and a job that requires a good hour of work..


If there is any meat left to get some channies on the bolt, than I would just work them out in a back and forth motion after a couple kroil soaks.. There are also easy outs or you can weld a nut to whatever's left.. Either way, the truck can still remain safely operational with good, solid zip tie job..

gone postal

Though better zip ties for this than the dual one quart remote fuel filters I saw on a Dodge 3500 the other day:

The truck had at least a 6" suspension lift, body lift (you could see the spacers) and dual fuel filters mounted on the frame rail under the driver's side door. The mounting was done with zip ties, and the way they were mounted they were in the perfect place to be hit by all the crap spewing from the ultra wide tires.