removing stubbon bolts with no head!

[whitey89]

The head has snapped off two bolts holding the axle on my fox 40's (see image) I have tried drilling through them in the hope to get an easyout in there but i cant get deep enough down before either the drill bit snaps or stops eating away.

I managed to get one of them out by slowly drilling down about 3-4mm using WD40 and a slow drill speed and then sticking the drill in reverse and luckily it came out, the other one is a little harder to get in to.

Is there a special type of drill bit i should be using? I was using brand new bits but even they dont work too well...

 

[T-Rex]

Have you got access to a drill press? They are a lot easier to control and usually can be run at a lower speed than a hand drill. I've only ever used a normal drill bit for this type of thing.

Once you have got your hole drilled and your easi-out in, you could try using Freeze and Release, which you can get from bearing and fastener shops. It works better than WD40/RP7.

And put plenty of grease on the threads of your new bolts!

 

[Sam_Fischer]

I had a mate who has used both builders foam and just regular industrial adhesive to remove stripped bolts.

In this sort of case you could try filling up the bolt head with an adhesive, putting in a loose fitting Allen Key and waiting for it all to set, and then have a crack at it.

 

[whitey89]

Have you got access to a drill press?

And put plenty of grease on the threads of your new bolts!

I did think of a drill press, but ill have to wait till i go back to uni in 3 weeks.
I have no idea why they snapped, they weren't in very tightly.

I had a mate who has used both builders foam and just regular industrial adhesive to remove stripped bolts.

In this sort of case you could try filling up the bolt head with an adhesive, putting in a loose fitting Allen Key and waiting for it all to set, and then have a crack at it.

Im liking this! I did attempt to hammer a small screwdriver in but the bolt was too hard to get any groove in there. Adhesive might be a good option!

 

[29er]

Use a left hand drill bit. It'll often grab and unwind the fastener.

This is a good example of why you should but grease on every bolt that you undo.

 

[T-Rex]

I have no idea why they snapped, they weren't in very tightly.

They often corrode in place, so it doesn't matter that they were not done up tightly. This is why you put grease on the threads, to stop the corrosion.

 

[whitey89]

they weren't corroded though...
ok, grease it is then

 

[Sam_Fischer]

Adhesive might be a good option!

I'd like to recommend a specific one for you, but I actually can't recall what I used last time myself. I think I might have even picked it up for a couple of bucks from Bunnings.

Plus if you find yourself wondering how to extract the Allen key from the adhesive and bolt when you're done, normally just applying a cigarette lighter or any form of direct heat for a couple of seconds should do the trick.

 

[downhillsmithy666]

+1 for the left hand drill bit. As theses are small bolts you'll need a high speed on the drill and the likes of inox/wd40 for coolant/ lube, but if you've broken some drill bits in there already some of the old drill bit may still in there stuck. Only way that you'll drill that out is with a cobalt drill bit. just another option but im pretty sure both these drill bits are a little pricey. Good luck

 

[smoothwakey]

Poor 40s

I find these much better than easy outs
http://www.lislecorp.com/divisions/products/?product=376

They are called super outs and they really are super. you basically drill a hole then tap one into it and undo it as normal, also often you can get away with using a torx bit.

Hard to tell from the photo but looks like you missed the centre of the bolt which is understandable if you were using a hand drill, but thats going to make it more difficult to extract so you might want to clamp it down and use a slot drill first to get rid of your old hole and start again in the center of the bolt.

Also "Wurth Rost Off" is amazing im pretty sure its german for wizards piss let it soak in that if possible.
Good luck man

 

[dunndog]

Same thing here whitey, snapped the head off mine a couple days ago tightening it.. wasn't super tight and was greased, I've worked with a lot of stainless bolts over the years and never torn the head off one till this... Have rounded them out though

 

[AndySTi]

Maybe you could apply a specific penetrating liquid (would WD-40 be good enough?), tap the screw a few times to aid the liquid penetrating the screw thread and then carry out the adhesive suggestion which was mentioned earlier in the thread. Good luck.

 

[Nick_M2r]

One of my favourite methods for removing busted bolts like this is to drill a small hole in the bolt, then hammer in a torx bit into the hole (only use a few, sharp, hard hits), then attach it inside a screw driver handle, then put all your weight on it, and gently begin to turn while still holding your weight on it

So far, this has worked on stripped rotor bolts, stripper frame bolts and stripped handle bar/stem bolts

The thing that would worry me with this method on the 40's it that it may damage the lowers should you miss with the hammer, or the hits may deform the drop out. Id suggest wedging a thin strip of metal plate into the small gap in the drop out that allows it to tighten down, this way you dont risk cracking it

 

[dienamics]

grab an imperial allen key (I forget the size) slightly bigger the a 5mm and carefully file it to tapper in.

Get some Penatren (penetrating oil) and some ICE (can of spray on stuff that rapidly cools metal causing is to contract).

spray with penatren, leave for a few minutes for it is settle in. get your allen head and carefully tap it into the bolt head, or whats left of it. Give it heaps with some ICE, again giving it a few minutes to go off then start turning and hope for the best.

 

[Sam_Fischer]

grab an imperial allen key (I forget the size) slightly bigger the a 5mm and carefully file it to tapper in.

Get some Penatren (penetrating oil) and some ICE (can of spray on stuff that rapidly cools metal causing is to contract).

spray with penatren, leave for a few minutes for it is settle in. get your allen head and carefully tap it into the bolt head, or whats left of it. Give it heaps with some ICE, again giving it a few minutes to go off then start turning and hope for the best.

Is there never a threat of the metal becoming brittle due to the temperature drop and either the allen key, or what's left of the bolt thread, simply sheering off?

 

[whitey89]

I think im going to attempt to glue a screwdriver or similar implement to the bolt.
The blot is way to solid to tap anything in there + risk damaging the lowers, but i may get just enough grip with a star key, havent tried yet.

 

[nairebis]

I find these much better than easy outs
http://www.lislecorp.com/divisions/products/?product=376

They are called super outs and they really are super. you basically drill a hole then tap one into it and undo it as normal, also often you can get away with using a torx bit.

These super outs do look much better than the easy outs. I read a lot of bad stuff about easy outs snapping and leaving you with a worse problem than when you started. Might be worth a look if the glueing doesn't work.

I only just removed a snapped pinch bolt from my XT cranks the other day (I got lucky as I had used plenty of grease and a standard drill bit grabbed them enough to turn them back out from the other side)

One tip, wrap your fork lower and around the bolts with electrical tape a few times to stop any damage from the inevitable bump with a drill bit/ screwdriver etc.

Good luck.

 

[timrob]

The reason your drill bits are snapping is you havent got them spinning fast enough. The smaller the drill bit the higher the RPM you need to run it, otherwise it will snap new or old.
However attacking your lowers with a highspeed drill can be daunting, so get a centre punch and whack a mark right in the middle, then use a small drill bit at high speed to drill it out (pull your other bolt to determine how far down you can go.
The heat generated from drilling out the bolt centre will generally be enought to 'crack' the bond and hence an easy out can be easily employed. If your pilot hole is too small for the easy out simply make it bigger! chances are you can get the drill bit to bite in, and run it out in reverse.
Good luck!

 

[whitey89]

I got it out last night!
Ended up taping a small allen key into the shollow hole i had created and it only just gripped but that was enough to turn the bolt out!

Ahh a sigh of releif and a celebratory beer went down well

 

[dienamics]

Is there never a threat of the metal becoming brittle due to the temperature drop and either the allen key, or what's left of the bolt thread, simply sheering off?

I wouldn't rule it out, but it would depend on the bolt/material I guess. Plus I dont think ICE would get the metal cold to the point where is makes it brittle. The idea with ICE is to slightly contract the threads.