My buddy stripped his pad pin bolt on his bike trying to use vices instead of going to get the 1/4" 12 point socket. Smh. What would be the best way to get the bolt out?

 

#17

 

If you mean he stripped the 'points' on the outer end of the bolt, ie not he stripped the threads inside the caliper, I'd get a hacksaw and cut a groove across the center of the bolt, as deep as you can go without hacking into the caliper, and then use a flat-bladed screwdriver to unscrew it.

Before he tries turning it, I'd soak the threads in WD40 or some other thread penetrating oil. You can access both ends of the threaded part in the caliper, so spray both ends to get it to penetrate. To make sure it backs out easily. let it soak overnight (I can't recall but it's probably got loctite on it). Also, use a heat-gun to heat the caliper (hopefully also helping unbind the bolt).

If that fails, use some thin-sided vicegrips with nasty teeth that will fit between the brake pads, and try to turn the bolt out from there. Maybe something like this.

If that doesn't work I'd ride slowly over to my local independent bike mechanic and he'll have it out in a jiffy. Maybe take a new pin and fresh pads and do the whole job there before riding home.
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That would be the first thing I'd try if I tore up that #42345-08 pad pin

 

Thanks guys. And yes he stripped the head of the bolt. I will give it a try and let you know how it goes.

 

On my pad pin there was a bit of thread locking compound on it and it was tight the first time I removed it; if you do try any penetrating oil to try and dissolve the thread compound take care to degrease the rotor when you finally get the job done; last place you'd want to chance any oil

 

those pins are not usually torqued in that much so I would first try using an easy-out of some kind and if that didn't work, get a larger bit and drill the head off and then the caliper will come apart. Should be easy to pull the rest of the pin out then with vise-grips or a bench vise

 

Threadlocker... apply heat to loosen up.. davdoodle has the right idea.

 

Cutting the head to allow use of a flathead screwdriver is a great idea, but if the bolt isn't broken loose yet it's likely to just break the screwdriver. I would suggest an impact driver to remove it if you're going to cut it. For those who don't know an impact driver is basically a large cylinder that can either accept sockets, or screwdriver bits, you place it on the bolt and apply pressure on it like a screwdriver, then tap it with a hammer and the force is transferred to a twisting motion to break loose fasteners