broken wheel bolt

[T0rnado69]

having to sort out a cv gaiter and drop link arm,

i thought it best to sort the broken wheel bolt too.

took the hub unit off the car to make things easier..

i made a little spacer out of ali, to fit snug in the hole above the broken bolt.

used a transfer punch to centre mark the bolt..

ive tried a 3mm drill bit but for general purpose im wasting my time.


i need a drill bit to get me through this hard stuff.

whats best to buy.....

cheers all

 

[steveo3002]

know anyone with a welder? blob of weld and it will turn out

 

[T0rnado69]

yer me lol.

problem is its below the hub level
and if it wont budge then the top will be a mess and il not be able to try drill it out.

 

[steveo3002]

whats the other end look like...could you weld on that

 

[WorkshopChris]

Do you know how the bolt broke? Should be easier to remove if it was over torqued and the head sheared off, but if it was crossed and wound on/off with a air gun then you will have more problems removing.
What about a decent Cobalt drill, toolstation have a few so you could pick up locally.

 

[Rocketman]

I have drilled out 10.9 grade and possibly 12.9 bolts with B&D Piranha bullet drills which are HSS but perform better than most HSS drills due to the geometry I think. Not something you would hear very often recommending B&D stuff but I do rate the bullet drills since the first time I used them years ago.

 

[T0rnado69]

il get a photo of the other side this evening.

proberly hard to get too as the unit is all together..

couldn't even get the cv joint out of it, it wouldn't move.

so i had to separate it from the drive shaft, gaiter needed replacing anyway.



no idea how it broke as it was like it when i got the car last year.

it doesn't look like its cross threaded,

if i can get access to the rear, i could tig it to heat it up... or mig it to get a lump to try moving it.



il do some searching now on those drill bits.

thanks...

 

[T0rnado69]

dont want to get things too hot due to wheel bearing and ABS unit too,

but mig welding or heating the spot up with tig i would try.

lol i just found thunderweb ones on there, and noted the codes on my phone ready for today

 

[T0rnado69]

duelfuel vectra

il take a look at the back and see if its accessable

if so i could try heating with tig, then mig a lump on it.
if that doesnt work il try drilling it.

 

[WorkshopChris]

dont want to get things too hot due to wheel bearing and ABS unit too,

but mig welding or heating the spot up with tig i would try.

If you can get some heat into the stud it may help if rust is the problem.

I wouldn't try and heat with a flame as if the stud and the flange both heat at the same time, less chance of the movement you are after as they will both heat/move at a very similar rate.
Personally i would never quench a braking/steering related component although the risk is small you don't want to alter the structure far better to slowly air cool.

 

[WorkshopChris]

Another tactic, sharp cold chisel and BIG heavy hammer, punch a line in, then use the chisel and hammer to try and rotate it out....works but takes a while, and heavy hammer works better than a light one...light tends to just peel away rather than drive the bolt in reverse

That trick will often get things moving, if the stud is sub flush with the surface an nice sharp centre punch works well also.

 

[8ob]

Welding has always worked for me, plug welding through a thick washer of a slightly smaller diameter than the stud will stop you including the surrounding material and than blast a big nut on top of that.

I have put this up on here before somewhere but cant find the thread

Broken stud a few mm down in a head.



Blast through a thick washer



Plug weld a big nut on top



Job done

 

[Wightsparks]

That's clever!

 

[normspanners]

Welding has always worked for me, plug welding through a thick washer of a slightly smaller diameter than the stud will stop you including the surrounding material and than blast a big nut on top of that.

I have put this up on here before somewhere but cant find the thread

Broken stud a few mm down in a head.

As bob says but my method has an extra bit which is to smack the head of the welded nut a few times whilst still hot this helps 'settle' and break the bond between the male thread and the female thread, usually a few impacts helps slacken any fastener anyway. A tight bolt is always helped by some cracks with the lump spanner, IE if doing transit wheel brgs or sprinter head bolts notorious for rounding, putting some turning force on but not enough to round out and then a few direct smacks through the extension to the socket usually frees them I have a sacrificial breaker bar, just for this scenario, and dont usually fail, but once and if rounded they are a pain. having to drill out etc etc

 

[Sean]

The "4lb wakeup call"

 

[T0rnado69]

i wish they was that cheap.

europarts are just under £100 and that with the 37% off currently running.

i picked up the thunderweb 3mm and 6mm bits from my local toolstation.
and wow they drill it fairly easy.

tried a normal 8mm bit but that didn't wanna know.

noticed they did a 19 piece kit of those drill bits in a nice case
(mmmmmm tools )

damm the local store didn't have it in stock....

so drove to the nearest one that did..... leigh on sea.

i managed to drill it out to 8mm

but didn't wanna risk any further incase i hit the threads.

i clamped a piece of 3mm metal plate with rubber innertube under it.

then filled it up with plusgas to leave the rest in a bath of fluid..

il carry on with it tomorrow and hopefully get the rest of it out....

 

[T0rnado69]

aww didnt think to look on ebay lol

well il carry on with trying to get the bit out.
now i just spent £25 on drill bits.

and if it doesnt, and knackers the hub then plan B ^^

 

[Johnseat]

I'd be happy to say I've just bought some awesome drill bits for my collection and that I wouldn't waste the effort in trying to drill it out, just replace it.

 

[tom 748]

copper pipe cut 15mm ,fill with mig ,blast with water,then molegrips,happy days

 

[T0rnado69]

ohh yer im happy with the drill bits and i would of got some sooner if i had of known that was that good.

its not so much wasted effort, its more of a challenge and i dont like being beaten LOL

but if it comes to it and i have no choice then il have to replace it.