While installing a Body Armor roof rack last week-end, I seem to have stripped one of the four holes on the passenger side windshield bracket.

I say "hole", but it's actually a nut which seems to be held in place on the body only by some sort of yellow insulation foam/glue... and the nut itself didn't strip, it merely got pushed deeper into the insulation so that the bolt can't reach it anymore.

I removed the whole bracket, but didn't see any way to get in there and move the nut forward again, nor give it any sort of bracing even if I could get at it.

Any ideas for a DIY fix... or is this something that will require drilling into the frame (from who-knows-where) in order to get access to that area?

It's no big deal, since there are three other bolts holding the rack on that side... but I'd like to fix it if I can, if only for appearance sake.

Just another one of those cheap JK engineering designs.

For reference purposes, it's the bottom bolt hole of the four shown here.

 

You try putting a Rivnut in the hole. They work really well. Google it if you don't know what they are because they are kind of hard to explain. Hope this helps a little.

Cheers,
Mike

 

Thanks for the tip... I knew about pop rivets and such but never thought about the same principle for what I now see are called rivnuts/rivet nuts/jack nuts.

Now the trick is finding the right size and hoping the lip left by the rivnut doesn't interfere with tightening the windshield bracket back down flush, because it's a fairly big bolt... leastwise, bigger than what is being displayed in the video.

Here's a youtube video I found, for others who may want a firsthand look-see:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbFAT_0m7SU

 

you could try simply going to the hardware store and getting a bolt that's longer and the same thread type so it will reach the pushed in nut, then once you have it in the nut use that to pull it back out to where it was so you can use the stock bolt that goes in there if that makes sense....

 

I have a bracket for my doors-off rear view mirror that attaches there. You can see it in this picture in front of the door-mounted mirror ...



One time I was removing the bracket and that same nutsert started spinning. I was under warranty, so gave it to the dealership to fuss with. Well, they couldn't get it to free-spin! So, I took it home and a while later it started doing it again. So I carefully put the screw back into the bracket, and that bracket will be on my Jeep when they bury me in it. LOL.

 

That's what I tried almost immediately, but it didn't work... in fact, it pushed the darn nut down even deeper to the point where it's not even accessible... and buggered up whatever little insulation was left, which wasn't going to be enough to hold the nut steady anyway... sigh.

 

Anyone else with this problem? Having the same issue on my 2017!! Brackets are too thick for the factory bolt to grab thread. But the top bolts grab no problem.

 

Windshield frame nuts - JKowners.com : Jeep Wrangler JK Forum

Here's the answer!!!

 

I had a very similar issue when installing new windshield light brackets. The nut is inside the windshield frame and is only accessible when you fold the windshield down. On the back, there are 4 tabs that hold a square nut in place and my tabs got bent out allowing the nut to go too far into the frame and just spin freely! I ended up folding the entire windshield down, and could not find the proper metric square nut as mine was stuck on a bolt I had to cut, so I found the proper thread wingnut and was able to place that in the bracket sideways and use a piece of tape to hold it in place until the threads of the bolt pulled it in tight enough.

I can should you some pictures if needed, but that's what fixed it for me. Mine was the inside front bracket bolt. I know yours is a slightly different bolt, but that's what fixed mine in the front, might be a similar situation? Not totally sure!