I am installing a hitch on my tracker that bolts into the weld nuts in the frame and I ran into a problem.  3 of the weld nuts have som weld spatter on the threads  :-/.  I was able to clean the weld spatter off of 2 of the nuts using a punch and a hammer to knock it loose, but the 3rd nut has a fairly large bead that I can't get rid of.  To make it worse, the bead is right at the start of the threads so I can't even get a bolt started to try and force it  .

Is there a better too or tacticl I should try to fix this problem?    Thanks for your help.

Use a tap!?!

Cwkick

Thanks for the suggestion.  So I would be looking for something like this

[link]http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=39391[/link]

Now I just have to figure out how to use it.

Taps are easy. Two simple rules. 1) Make sure it goes in straight. Cross threading and off-angle holes are miserable. 2) If you are having a really rough time use a cutting lubricant. It makes things a lot easier.  

Did you try applying some heat to the nut with a torch and then try to knock it loose? Good luck!

Thanks for the suggestion.  So I would be looking for something like this

[link]http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=39391[/link]

Now I just have to figure out how to use it.

That is what I was talking about.

Cwkick

Did you try applying some heat to the nut with a torch and then try to knock it loose? Good luck!

No I haven't tried that.  I think this splatter is on there really good, I have actually chipped away pieces of it, but the big problem is that it is located right at the start of the threads so I can't get a bolt started.  Hopefully the tap will clean it up as long as I can get it to go in straight.

If you try to cut off the end of it with the slag would it end up too short?

Thanks for the suggestion.  So I would be looking for something like this

[link]http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=39391[/link]

Now I just have to figure out how to use it.

I don't think the threads will be SAE tho ... need metric for these canadian (japanese born) machines ...

Cut a hole in the frame, run bolt back down through the nut!

Taps are easy. Two simple rules. 1) Make sure it goes in straight. Cross threading and off-angle holes are miserable. 2) If you are having a really rough time use a cutting lubricant. It makes things a lot easier.  

At school they use lettuce oil (don't know if this is right but they call it sla over here and it's a green vegetable...) as lubricant, so that wouldn't be so difficult  . And I'd say too try it with a tap and I'm quite sure it's metric too.

u got weld spatter on ur nuts    .......... thats gotta be painful  

well i am a welder by trade. i would say use a bigger hammer and a sharp small chisel. i know i could get it off this way. oh nent time try shaving ur nuts for that spatter problem (lol).

Finally got around to doing this, and the tap worked great.  And in case anyone needs the information, the weld nuts for a hitch on a 2002 Tracker are 12mm - 1.25 pitch.  This is actually a pretty odd size, I went to 4 different hardware stores before I found one that had the tap and most kits up to 60 - 70 pcs didn't have it either.

Thanks everyone for your help