Ok, I went to put on new shocks last night. Started in the back. Broke the upper shock bolt! What do I do now? How do I get it out?

This is pretty common, the best way is to lift the rear of the body, unless you have a BL already, by unbolting the rear body mounts or however you can to get in there from above. Then take a chisel or something of the like and break off the welded on nut with the bolt stuck inside. Then replace with your own new nut, washers and bolt. I have tried using an easy out, but these things get rusted stuck pretty hard and the above method prevents you from dealing with this again.

Ok. I was thought of trying to drill it out but it is in a tight spot. I'll give it a try this weekend. Thanks

If it's the one on the inside, not the frame side I was able to get a Harbor Freight right angle drill in there to drill it out and re-tapped it to 3/8"-16 that was not too bad. On the frame side you can heat it with mapp gas and back it out from the top with vise grips. Or try the easy outs after heating the bolts. You just have to be careful with the gas tank so close! Good luck, this was the worst part of installing my lift.

Does any one know what size the upper bolts are for the rear shocks?

8x1.25x30....found it.

Thanks for posting that. Ill be adding my lift soon and I'm insanely paranoid this will happen to me

I'm replacing all of them. I have a feeling the others will break

Well, broke 3 of 4 bolts. Time to get the drill out

From inside the wheel well you can see the nut and the rest of the screw sticking thru it. The ones closer to the wheel I was able to grab them with vise grips and back out, maybe you can get lucky.

Or drill it out all the way and if you go too big you can always re-tap it to 3/8"-16. Good luck, I know how bad that sucks!

Drilled 3 pilot holes last night...only 1 went crooked. I'll drill them out today after ther kids hockey game. Wish me luck! Hopefully I will be driving it tonight!!

One shock down 1 to go...tomorrow...time for hockey again!

Finally done! Drilled, retapped, installed. Rides 10x's better!

Here's another way to remove the broken outside bolt. Started replacing the shocks on my son's '02. We're in New England so you know there's rust. Soaked the rear bolts with PB blaster and then tried to shock them using the 14MM socket, 10" extension and 3lb hand sledge. Whacked the bolt head very hard but, of course, the outside bolt immediately snapped.

Tried drilling but the break was convex and I couldn't get the drill to start. Took off the wheel liner and could see the top of the bolt right behind the frame. Using just my 3/8 10" extension, it fit nicely onto the remaining part of the bolt, gave it a few more whacks then tried vise grips....no movement. Getting frustrated so gave the bolt a few more very hard whacks and when I went to put on the vise grips the bolt was at an angle! Put a screw driver on it and straightened it out with a couple of whacks then used the extension to whack the bottom of the bolt some more and now it's at a very strong angle. A couple of hits with the screwdriver to bend it back and it snapped right off! Mine only had one small spot weld on it so it was easy to snap. Fortunately the inside bolt came out without any issues. Got some grade 8 bolts and nuts at Lowes and the shock is now installed.

No BL, no angle grinder, no air hammer, no drill and no tap! We'll see how the passenger side goes next weekend.

Haven't looked at my 2001 shocks recently to remember all the clearances but was wondering if there was any way to get an impact wrench on the bolts? Sometimes the jarring will shake something loose that steady pressure won't. Or would it just bust the bolts quicker?

With an extension you can get to the bolts with an impact drill. Unfreezing them was my objective with the hand sledge. Realistically, with the amount of rust that was on the outer bolt that snapped, I doubt it will work. Do try to get some PB blaster on the top of the nut first by removing the plastic liner and it might help you out.