Fender strut bolts
#11
RE: Fender strut bolts
There is threadlocker on those threads, and all the rust solvents listed won't touch it.
Some things to try because there is no one answer:
A quality torx bit with breaker bar, sounds like you're heading in that direction. Will work if the head isn't mucked up from the first attempt.
Heat.
Impact driver. Those usually work.
And, lastly because I was in the same boat as you, I had ONE stubborn bolt that I destroyed the head on, I had to take my sidegrinder and carefully cut in two flat sides so I could get a crescent wrench on it.
Some things to try because there is no one answer:
A quality torx bit with breaker bar, sounds like you're heading in that direction. Will work if the head isn't mucked up from the first attempt.
Heat.
Impact driver. Those usually work.
And, lastly because I was in the same boat as you, I had ONE stubborn bolt that I destroyed the head on, I had to take my sidegrinder and carefully cut in two flat sides so I could get a crescent wrench on it.
#13
RE: Fender strut bolts
Well, at this point those bolts are useless. Get a set of Bolt_outs from Sears. These look like sockets but have teeth in them that grab the bolt head. I used these on the front light bar bracket on my bike and they work great. They come in a set of variuos sizes. Use onr that is a tight fit and gently tap it over the bolt head.
Of coarse you will be buying some new bolts though.
Here is a link. I bought a set that had a few less and it was like $20 from Sears.
http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/produ...seBVCookie=Yes
Mike
NY
Of coarse you will be buying some new bolts though.
Here is a link. I bought a set that had a few less and it was like $20 from Sears.
http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/produ...seBVCookie=Yes
Mike
NY
#14
#16
#18
RE: Fender strut bolts
Not sure what the guy who told you that was smoking, but see if you can get some for me. A hair drier is NEVER going to heat up a bolt in that position. The steel braces and fender itself would soak up the heat and wick it away faster than the blower can supply it.
If you want to use heat a torch is the one thing hot enough to get the job done quickly. Only problem with ol "Smokey the Blue Tip Wrench” is that he has a voracious appetite for metal, plastic, leather or anything else that melts below 4,000 to 5,000 deg. not to mention any paint or chrome that might be close by.
There is a softening agent that you can use to loosen it up with. But its nearly worthless if you can’t get it to the threads that have the Loc-Tite on them so I wouldn’t even bother trying it.
But there is a way that you can get a LOT of heat on just the bolt head without wrecking everything else in the area.
Use a good old fashioned heavy duty soldering iron, the big old kind with the fabric (silk) power cords, made by American Beauty I think. Some of these old beasts were used by the phone company to melt lead for shielding on cables, and they can make plenty of heat. You can find them in a lot of old houses that are having "household sales". Older wiring used much heavier cables than is common today. So the irons are nearly worthless for electrical work. But they can work very well for heating up individual nuts and bolts. All without wrecking everything around them.
If you can't find one of those see if you can find one of the un-powered ones. They look a lot like them but have a bigger soldering end, to retain the heat longer and have no power cord. They were made to be used where there was no electrical power available. The phone crews used to use those old pump up blow torches that used gasoline or more recently propane burners to heat them.
Nobody said that you can't use a common household propane torch or better yet an oxy acetylene torch to heat one up.
Get one of them red hot on the end and you can lay it right on the bolt/nut you want to heat up the Loc-Tite on and it should soften it up in a minute or two. Again without wrecking everything around.
Have fun guys.
If you want to use heat a torch is the one thing hot enough to get the job done quickly. Only problem with ol "Smokey the Blue Tip Wrench” is that he has a voracious appetite for metal, plastic, leather or anything else that melts below 4,000 to 5,000 deg. not to mention any paint or chrome that might be close by.
There is a softening agent that you can use to loosen it up with. But its nearly worthless if you can’t get it to the threads that have the Loc-Tite on them so I wouldn’t even bother trying it.
But there is a way that you can get a LOT of heat on just the bolt head without wrecking everything else in the area.
Use a good old fashioned heavy duty soldering iron, the big old kind with the fabric (silk) power cords, made by American Beauty I think. Some of these old beasts were used by the phone company to melt lead for shielding on cables, and they can make plenty of heat. You can find them in a lot of old houses that are having "household sales". Older wiring used much heavier cables than is common today. So the irons are nearly worthless for electrical work. But they can work very well for heating up individual nuts and bolts. All without wrecking everything around them.
If you can't find one of those see if you can find one of the un-powered ones. They look a lot like them but have a bigger soldering end, to retain the heat longer and have no power cord. They were made to be used where there was no electrical power available. The phone crews used to use those old pump up blow torches that used gasoline or more recently propane burners to heat them.
Nobody said that you can't use a common household propane torch or better yet an oxy acetylene torch to heat one up.
Get one of them red hot on the end and you can lay it right on the bolt/nut you want to heat up the Loc-Tite on and it should soften it up in a minute or two. Again without wrecking everything around.
Have fun guys.
#19
RE: Fender strut bolts
Vice grips are your friend...if they are damaged just heat them up a bit and then remove with vice grips...just be careful not to slip and scratch the paint.
I had to remove mine with vice grips, I broke 2 torx bits even after I heated the bolts, I replaced them with regular grade 5 hex bolts and polished them on the buffing wheel.
for spot heating bolts I use my butane soldering iron with the little torch tip, i can direct the heat on the bolt and not burn down the bike.
I had to remove mine with vice grips, I broke 2 torx bits even after I heated the bolts, I replaced them with regular grade 5 hex bolts and polished them on the buffing wheel.
for spot heating bolts I use my butane soldering iron with the little torch tip, i can direct the heat on the bolt and not burn down the bike.
#20
RE: Fender strut bolts
CRAFTSMAN SAVES THE DAY!!!!!
Woo-hoo! It's amazing what a difference decent tools make. The "Brand X" Torx socket from the auto parts store just completely deformed on me Sunday. I was afraid I had screwed up the bolt head, but went ahead and bought a Craftsman Torx socket today just for grins, and it popped it right out. What a relief!!!
Thanks for all the great ideas everybody!
Jeff
Woo-hoo! It's amazing what a difference decent tools make. The "Brand X" Torx socket from the auto parts store just completely deformed on me Sunday. I was afraid I had screwed up the bolt head, but went ahead and bought a Craftsman Torx socket today just for grins, and it popped it right out. What a relief!!!
Thanks for all the great ideas everybody!
Jeff