Well, I may have messed up yesterday. Got my saddlebags and Easy Brackets last week. Yesterday I was going to remove the factory fender strut bolts and replace them with the docking studs for the Easy Brackets. Didn't have the correct Torx tool, so I ran up to Auto Zone and bought one of their cheapies. Tried it, but the bolts were too tight, and it actually deformed the cheap Torx socket I was using, and I'm afraid it may have rounded off the bolt head!

I'm heading to Sears at lunch to buy a Craftsman, but if it messed it up too bad, then what? Godzilla must've put these things on with an impact wrench! Any suggestions????

Thanks,
Jeff

 

spray some WD40 or loosening oil (forgot what its called) over night. That might help your next attempt. If the bolt gets stripped, you could drill it out

 

I did the exact same thing. No Worries, the Craftsman tool should work fine. I used a breaker bar with the bit.

 

I think the name of the stuff your looking for is "PB Blaster". Good stuff for old nuts and bolts, but you do need to give it a day or two to work really well.

 

Thanks guys, I'll try soaking the bolts with the PB Blaster before I do anything else. I've got lots of it left over from taking my '69 Vette apart last year. Now THAT was a challenge! I just didn't expect the bolts on a 6 month old bike to be that tough. I REALLY don't want to have to resort to drilling the bold out if I don't have to!

Jeff

 

I picked up a set of torx sockets that fit my ratchet. Get that if you can. It will be much easier for all the work you do on your bike.

 

When you eventually get those bolts out, check the new bolts that came with your easybrackets to make sure they are not too long. When I installed mine the bolts were long enough to contact the tire on the left side when I hit a bump. I almost ruined the tire before I found out what was going on. I had to shorten the bolts about 3/8 of an inch to cure the problem. Good luck getting the bolts out, mine were not that tough to loosen.

 

Not sure if the fender bolts have it but there are some bolts on Harley's that are put in with Lock-Tite. If so PB Blaster isn't going to help much, your going to need the release agent, and or a bunch of elbow grease to get them out.

 

Yep, Harley puts something like LocTite on em. When I put my sissy bar on, I though I wuz gonna wring the bolts off before they came out.

 

Is there anything that will loosen up the LocTite besides a torch?

Mikester48, I noticed when I got everything out the other night that those bolts looked a little long, but I was just eyeballing it since I didn't have the old bolts out. I'll double-check that before I ride off into the sunset!

I picked up a new Torx socket from Sears at lunch...