A couple of rusted bolts broke off, when I was pulling the bed (or box) from my 2000 Ranger. I've messed with the broken bolts some, as I've been working on other stuff under the bed and I haven't put my full attention on them yet, but at least one is proving difficult and I'm close to being ready to put the truck back together.

A YouTube or two shows the easiest way to get the bolts out of the way (to replace them with Grade 8s as has been suggested in other threads on this forum) is to cut the clips or u-nuts. If I were to do this, I'd have to replace the u-nuts which I'm seeing online for $12 each, plus time and shipping.

Of course if anybody has a suggestions other than spraying with penetrate and heating for eat-up-with-rust bolt removal, I'd love to hear it, but in case I'm forced to cut the clips... my local junkyard doesn't carry things like these u-nuts. Instead, they say that I'm welcome to look around their do-it-yourself/pull-it-yourself yard. The junkyard is like 20 minutes up the road, so it's a trip just to see what's available. If I were to go over there looking for a couple of clips, if there aren't any just laying on top in plain site, is there another spot on a Ranger or any other vehicle where the same clip could be obtained easier than pulling-off the bed from another truck?

Thanks!

 

Update & Follow-up Question: The bolt I bought at Tractor Supply wasn't the right size for the u-nut, nor was the one I tried from Ace, both were US-sized. I'm guessing those who suggested one of these stores did away with the clip and used a standard nut, though I'm hard-pressed to see how they got to some from underneath without a lot of work. (Luckily for me, the one in the front that broke off was on the side without the tank. Still, if it can be easily done, I'd kind of like to have the bolts in the front match, even if they're hex.)

There are a couple of bolt stores about an hour away. In a wicked old thread, @powersmoked said, "the 2 closest to the cab are 12m x 1.75 x 120mm and the other 4 are 12m x 1.75 x 100mm". Before I call to see if either of the regional bolt stores have them in stock, can anyone verify these sizes are correct for the u-nuts on a 2000 XLT? I can just run the wrong-sized bolts back to Ace and Tractor Supply, but it's a two hour roundtrip to the bolt stores and if I'm just going to end-up using a nut anyway, I could use the bolts from the local stores.

IOW: I pulled the box from my Ranger to repair some things. In the process, one of my front bolts broke off and the other is usable, but it probably wouldn't come out whole again. One from the middle row also broke, while the others are fine. I'd rather not pay the outrageous list price for these bolts, if I can figure out a workaround. Does anyone have any suggestions or answer to my questions?

Thanks!

 

2nd Update: I had to move toward getting the truck back together. Least expensive set of all new hardware I could find online was $52 (including shipping), the quickest delivery (2 days) was $60 and unless someone has someplace to suggest (because I'm interested), the place suggested on these forums which sells the pieces individually would have cost almost as much as a full set.

So, I put a cutting blade on the grinder and clipped the clips as shown in the following video. I didn't even have to tap them, gravity did the deed and I'm just going to replace the two missing with hex bolts and regular nuts until I find a less expensive source, another option or I get ready to sell the truck. A little bit of lumber and occasional pieces of furniture is all I really haul.

Thanks!