Oh God Rotor Bolt is Stuck

[Mr Kurt]

So, i'm trying to take of my G3 rotor of a Hope Pro 2 evo hub for posting to the guy who has bought them. However! One of the rotor bolts is rounded. My first idea was to hacksaw a slit into the bolt so i could remove it with a screw driver, but that did not work! How do you get these fookin bolts out when they round?

Thanks Guys!

 

[steve24]

drill off the head, then use vice grips to unscrew the remains of the bolt.

 

[Shredden]

If the rotor bolt has a round head, not triangle, try filing a flat onto each side then grabbing it with vice grips. Has worked a few times for me.

 

[Mud Gecko]

Drill it, then use an "easy out"

 

[thecat]

Once you drill the head off and remove the rotor you remove the tension in the bolt and it will generally come out easy with wither vice grips or even just fingers

 

[call_me_bruce]

if you want to unscrew it, you can assist the process by getting a drift and tapping the head of the bolt a few times with a hammer (judiciously, as it's an aluminium hub). This will stretch the threads slightly and make them a little looser to undo.

 

[dontfeelcold]

Once you drill the head off and remove the rotor you remove the tension in the bolt and it will generally come out easy with wither vice grips or even just fingers

+1 on this method. Plus if the bolt is still tight you can easily grab it with vice grips.

 

[No Skid Marks]

Drilling head off is good for sure.
However, before hand, if without any other bolts in you can move rotor a touch(even 1-2mm)you can move it in the undo bolt direction, then hold bolt in place the best you can, while you turn rotor in do up direction, then repeat, and repeat, and repeat. This is obviously better to try earlier, but you'll still probably be able to create enough friction using your slot or allen/star key.
If no luck, drilling is quick and easy.

 

[Mr Kurt]

Thanks for the idea's guys! Will give them all a go tommorrow morning.

 

[Broken Bones89]

By my understanding rotor bolts are usually torx bolts, how the hell did you round a torx head?

 

[davemoss]

Go to Bunnings tool section and you can get a stripped bolt remover kit for about $10. Basically you drill a hole into the stripped screw, then screw in a another screw that comes in the kit. This has a reverse thread to the rotor bolt and as it tightens into the hollowed out screw, it will eventually turn the stripped bolt out. Piss easy. I think the 'easy out' Mud Gecko mentioned is the same thing as this.

 

[Dozer]

By my understanding rotor bolts are usually torx bolts, how the hell did you round a torx head?

By taking it to a bike shop and having the junior use an allen key on it............

Have you tried heating it up with an oxy Mr Kurt? What about putting a piece of pipe on your torx fitting and levering on it?

 

[No Skid Marks]

I've successfully drilled the head off about twenty titanium and steel rotorbolts, if the slot trick failed after the turning rotor trick failed. Never needed to heat or use an easy out. The rest of the bolt usually just unwinds by hand, or with pliers if locktighted. Sorry to mess with others advice, but an oxy near bearings, rotor and hub, and a $10 outlay for an easy out have never been needed for me.

 

[0psi]

Have you tried heating it up with an oxy Mr Kurt? What about putting a piece of pipe on your torx fitting and levering on it?

You forgot boiling water mate. . . . . . . . . . . . . And sharkbearoctopus.

Easy out will do the trick otherwise, try the following, yes it will include the infamous boiling water. Dremel a slot in bolt, pour boiling water over bolt, use big ass screwdriver to undo bolt. But the easiest fix is throw it away and buy a new wheel.

 

[MARKL]

So much advice for such a simple problem? As Thecat and NSM have said once the head of the bolt comes off (either snapped or drilled) it is a non event and will probably pull out by hand. No heat, easy outs or old wives tales needed...

 

[Sam.]

Alternatively you could just get a set of vice grips onto the head of the bolt and just unscrew it... If the head's rounded out then the bolt's useless anyway.

 

[Mr Kurt]

how the hell did you round a torx head?

Was done up a bit to tight Went to undo it and rounded it into a perfect circle.

Have you tried heating it up with an oxy Mr Kurt? What about putting a piece of pipe on your torx fitting and levering on it?

Not big on the Oxy idea, as said by opsi, to much shit around Can't use the lever method as there is literally no thread left.

Go to Bunnings tool section and you can get a stripped bolt remover kit for about $10.

This will be the all else fails method

 

[chadly1084]

I usually first grab my centre punch and try to knock it loose if that doesn't work then I just get a bigger hammer, no that's a joke I would drill it.

 

[rone]

Alternatively you could just get a set of vice grips onto the head of the bolt and just unscrew it... If the head's rounded out then the bolt's useless anyway.

THIS^ Is the correct answer. Remove all the other bolts and attach the vice grips nice and tight by the side of the jaws so as to get maximum grip from the serrations. Then gently turn, release, reclamp, turn and continue until able to remove by hand. Have removed loads like this with minimal fuss and zero hub damage.

 

[Pebble]

To me it seems that when removing rotors there is always one bolt that guaranteed to be hard to remove and wants to round. Hayes bolts seem to be the softest.
I've had best luck with drilling the head off in the past.