AlbertDefender90
Active Member
- Posts
- 955
- Location
- Ellesmere, Shropshire
Hi all,
Thought I'd share my experience removing broken stub axle bolts using various methods.
When I stripped down my rear axle the other day I managed to snap 4 stub axle bolts through impatience and ignorance. Thinking it wouldn't be a bad job to remove them I soaked the bolts in wd40 and left it for a few days.
Yesterday I though I best get a move on so I inspected the damage to see how best to remove them.
Firstly I tried using a set of grips on the bolts which still had a few threads showing but to no avail.
Secondly I tried to coax them out by trying to spin them using a hammer and chisel and some heat but still got no further.
Next I tried drilling out a bolt and using a stud extractor which only ended up with the nightmare of breaking the extractor inside the bolt.
So after a slight panic and swearing session I decided to try welding nuts onto the ends of the bolts. Initially I used smaller nuts so that there was less danger of welding the nut to the axle.
However after several attempts I found that the combination of slag inclusions (I only have a medieval arc welder) and the smaller size the nuts would just shear off.
So a new plan of attack was needed. As I could only weld in the centre of the nut i decided to weld a flat washer to the broken bolt which ensured a good weld and I could weld around a nut put on top.
After several attempts with this new method, hey presto the bolt came out 😃
This just left the remaining 3 bolts on the other side
So after another hour of welding, burning myself and nearly setting my jacket on fire the remaining bolts were out leaving an axle ready for sandblasting and four objects which look like they should be in a modern art museum.
So lesson learnt, rushing gets you nowhere and I should always use wd40 and heat where the chance of breaking things is quite high.
Albert
Thought I'd share my experience removing broken stub axle bolts using various methods.
When I stripped down my rear axle the other day I managed to snap 4 stub axle bolts through impatience and ignorance. Thinking it wouldn't be a bad job to remove them I soaked the bolts in wd40 and left it for a few days.
Yesterday I though I best get a move on so I inspected the damage to see how best to remove them.
Firstly I tried using a set of grips on the bolts which still had a few threads showing but to no avail.
Secondly I tried to coax them out by trying to spin them using a hammer and chisel and some heat but still got no further.
Next I tried drilling out a bolt and using a stud extractor which only ended up with the nightmare of breaking the extractor inside the bolt.
So after a slight panic and swearing session I decided to try welding nuts onto the ends of the bolts. Initially I used smaller nuts so that there was less danger of welding the nut to the axle.
However after several attempts I found that the combination of slag inclusions (I only have a medieval arc welder) and the smaller size the nuts would just shear off.
So a new plan of attack was needed. As I could only weld in the centre of the nut i decided to weld a flat washer to the broken bolt which ensured a good weld and I could weld around a nut put on top.
After several attempts with this new method, hey presto the bolt came out 😃
This just left the remaining 3 bolts on the other side
So after another hour of welding, burning myself and nearly setting my jacket on fire the remaining bolts were out leaving an axle ready for sandblasting and four objects which look like they should be in a modern art museum.
So lesson learnt, rushing gets you nowhere and I should always use wd40 and heat where the chance of breaking things is quite high.
Albert
