Hey guys new to the forum. Recently ran into a problem that I now understand from reading is a common problem. I was going to replace rear axle seals on my 1990 k1500 with the 8.5 rear end, and the lock pin bolt was broken off. Im guessing 2-3 threads left in the carrier. Before reading online I proceeded to try and drill the rest of the bolt out. Wasnt working...became more frustrated and really gave it my all. I gave up...couldn't drill deep enough with the angle it is at. I put everything back together for now. The pin is still being held in by the remainder of that bolt, however I am unsure of how much is actually drilled away. I destroyed the tapped hole in the carrier...half the threads are missing.
So here is my question...I dont want to buy a new carrier...the truck is not worth much. So my new plan, only thing left that I can think of is to drill a hole perpendicular to the bolt hole through the carrier right next to and parallel to the lock pin in order to clear whatever remainder of bolt is holding that pin in. I have already screwed up the threads in the carrier so I dont think drilling a perpendicular small hole will cause anymore damage.
I noticed on the opposite side of the carrier its basically a mirrored image minus the tapped hole for the bolt. But the same boss is there. So my question is do you think it would work to just drill and tap a hole on the opposite side of the original hole in order to thread a new bolt in and obviously flip the pin around so the cross hole matches up with the new threaded hole?
So here is my question...I dont want to buy a new carrier...the truck is not worth much. So my new plan, only thing left that I can think of is to drill a hole perpendicular to the bolt hole through the carrier right next to and parallel to the lock pin in order to clear whatever remainder of bolt is holding that pin in. I have already screwed up the threads in the carrier so I dont think drilling a perpendicular small hole will cause anymore damage.
I noticed on the opposite side of the carrier its basically a mirrored image minus the tapped hole for the bolt. But the same boss is there. So my question is do you think it would work to just drill and tap a hole on the opposite side of the original hole in order to thread a new bolt in and obviously flip the pin around so the cross hole matches up with the new threaded hole?