A novel nonlinear force reconstruction is developed to reproduce stick-slip friction contact behaviors of the joint interface. Nonlinear subspace modeling is used to reduce the complex jointed structures into linear substructures and nonlinear joints. Inversion technique is developed to eliminate the singularity of transfer matrix, and only transfer relationship between the degree-of-freedoms of nonlinear joints and measuring locations is extracted. By using harmonic balance method, measured nonlinear dynamic responses of the linear substructures are directly used to reconstruct local hysteresis nonlinear contact forces of the bolted joint interface. Numerical simulations and experimental investigations of a lap-type bolted joint beam system are performed to verify nonlinear force reconstruction process, and to investigate stick-slip friction contact effects of the bolted joint interface. Good agreement of comparison results validates the proposed nonlinear force reconstruction method, and reconstructed nonlinear virtual excitation can be further used to detect the loss of bolt preload effectively.