Can you get a drill bit to drill a drill bit?

[sae70]

If the cross member that you speak of is the same on yours as it is my 90 series then it has an open top

The one on fiery has five captive nuts welded to the back of it, three for the front skid pan and two for the bumper. The middle one on mine was sheared off and I considered just chiseling the nut off the back and using a loose nut and bolt in its place. It would have been very easy to weld any replacement nut in place if desired. In the end I manged to drill and tap out the original on mine, so happy days Hopefully Toyota didn't change the design to much between models

Here's a couple of photos of mine that may be of interest;

My new winch tray now bolts to the two old bumper fixings

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

might be a few small holes in the top but otherwise it's a box section.

 

[Ben]

As Gary suggested, a mag drill would be perfect for this.

Doesnt help your problem Warren, but im curious........................

Were you using decent drill bits, plenty of cutting fluid, and slow drill speed?

 

[warrenpfo]

Ben

I was using sharp HSS bits that i have always used but are they good...I could not answer that as i would not know.

It’s hard to use cutting fluid when drilling straight up but yes I did spray some on the bit and in the hole.

I was using a 2 speed battery drill so was going as slow as I could without stalling the drill. One second it was going good the next it bit and "chink" it had snapped.

 

[frank rabbets]

A carbide drill will not be any good as it will shatter on an uneven surface. If you weld up the holes deeply the heat will most likely soften the drill bit enough for an entirely new hole to be drilled in the original position.

Frank

 

[sae70]

might be a few small holes in the top but otherwise it's a box section.

Ah, that's a bugger then!! In that case I'd probably pop down to my m8 and get him to blow the hole through with a cetalene tourch or a plasma then re-drill it and re-tap it

 

[frank rabbets]

I have oxy/acetylene. Not many do so i did not mention it. It would easily melt a drill bit out in about 10 seconds.

Frank

 

[Hans]

Hey Warren did you get those bolts out?

 

[warrenpfo]

Not yet, I have been man down for the past 3 days with man flu. Doc gave me antibiotics yesterday so hope to have another look at it tomorrow when I am feeling a bit better.

Ill keep you posted and update

 

[warrenpfo]

Just to put this to bed and update.

I finally managed to drill and punch out the last of the remaining captive nuts on the front cross member. They are only tacked on so with one of my new punches that I recieved from father christmas it was a job made easy. Now I just need to extend the bolts and the job is a good un as they say. Thanks for all the advise.