so on my way home i stopped at a light and the awesome power of the 3.4L ripped the front left seat bolt clean through the place it bolts too the nut is still attached to the bolt ....ill take a pic of it tomorrow sometime ...still trying to think of how im gonna fix this i don't got a welder or nothing

 

Come up to seattle and Ill weld it up for ya

 

i would like to know how just one side rips out like that

 

Very strange Elton... I'd check all the other seat and seat bealt bolt attachment points as well. i know the under seat area there can become permanently damp from wet shoes/snow etc. It might have rusted out, or it could have been a defective part but this is unlikely given the age of the truck, more likely the former.

 

Dude that sucks. Maybe you can drill it out with a bit and use a tap and die set to re-thread the area the bolt goes back to the body.

At the top of my head...a long carriage bolt and washer-quick fix, but you'd have to tighten the nut from the underside which sucks.

 

Elton,

I had the same thing happen to me. My 99 had around 200 000 miles on it at the time. As I recall, it wasn't even a rusting issue, the bolt (and it was the on on the left), just ripped out of the floor. I am a big guy though, at 220 lbs, that might have had something to do with it!

What I did was drill a hole right through the floor and attached the seat with a carriage bolt, putting a large washer on the bottom side.

It has been like that for well over a year and I don't notice any down side to this. It should be stronger then stock, from what I can see. It is really a quick and easy fix. If you want pictures, I can send them.

Adam

 

ok 3 new bolts later good as new and yes i used one of those big washers up top

new bolt for that one

 

same thing happened to me in the same mounting point. i flipped the bolt over so the nut is on the top and used a big washer. all the other bolts were fine

 

I'm surprised multiple people have this problem... this is a big safety issue. Wow.

 

yes the mounting point for that side is very poor pretty thin metal with a nut welded to it thats what happens

 

Consider swapping out that hardware for Grade 5 or Grade 8 hardware, at least the fender washers.

 

Strange... little late now but you might want to take it apart again and hit the spot with a good rust paint and put a good bead of urethane sealant around the washers before you bolt it together to prevent/slow down the rust...

 

those are grade 5 metric bolts and i didint get cheap with the sealant

 

there wasn't really much rust around mine. it just looked like the bolt had been ripped clean out. i think that the metal is just to thin there and eventually it gave way. the other ones were fine because the bolts go directly in to the floor of the body and this one bolts to some sheetmetal. weird

 

Same thing happened to me a couple weeks ago.

You guys basically just got a new bolt and washers larger than the hole to fix this?

Did anyone cut out the metal and weld in new floor metal?
I can get a cutout from an old runner and want to know if anyone has tried this.

 

Don't think anyone has gotten that drastic yet SR5 but it would be one solution.
The easy fix is basically a grade 5 [min] nut/bolt some fender washers and as an added extra some urethane sealant, and a spritz of anti-rust paint, as some folks have already done.

 

This sounds dumb, but how did you thread everything. How did you hold the nut in place?

Did you put the screw in upside down?

Also, good pic, the hole in mine looks almost exactly like your pic.

 

i just drilled a hole clean through the floor and bolted it in

 

Same spot gave way on mine this summer, no rust and I'm under 150#-not petite but no linebacker either.

 

What the heck?