Tailgate hinge issue(broken bolts and rust!)

[woofy]

Hope this is the right place to post this, if not let me know.

Ran into this problem removing Forum member girlxpup's 70 c10 tailgate, we had a bolt snap off in the bed, obvious route would be to drill it out but all that accomplished was a nice little hole through the bolt and the surround for what it screws into broken.
I have included some pics and id imagine some of you have run into this problem before, what should our next plan off attack be short of just welding the hinge on on that side.

thanks in advance guys!

[boostedc10]

You could always drill it out bigger and rivnut the hole or if you have access to the back side drill it out and weld a nut to the back. Someone just posted an issue with a hood that has all the details for the rivnut/threadsert. If it was me i wouldnt want to weld the hing on, but thats me.

[mr48chev]

I've got exactly the same problem on mine and would have to think if may be pretty common.

I am going to try soaking it with PB blaster and then drilling the bolt and attempting to get it out with an easyout. If that doesn't work I'll do just whatBoostedc10 suggested in post 2.

[woofy]

Awesome, thanks guys!

We'll prolly go with boostedc10's suggestion, Good luck on yours mr48chev hope it works out easy for you.

[Greasey Harley]

Apply localized heat , get it good and hot, put Rapid tap on it, let it cool... spin it out.
60% of the time, it works every time.