Help Removing a rusted bolt!

[PaNsyBoy8]

Here's the background story:

I got my car used, and if you may or may not know, VW's use lug bolts instead of lug nuts and what happened was that the girl that owned the car before me put on lug bolt/nut converters, and now I can't remove them. I've tried WD40, and a vice grip, but its still stuck on there. I think its rusted tight, is there any way to get it off? Thanks.

 

[Danman]

Um, cut it off?!

 

[amdskip]

Heat it with a torch and then get a huge rachet and put a bar on it for leverage and loosen it up.

 

[hoihtah]

geez..
wd40 + vicegrip ain't working?

how much room do you have to grab?
you might want to drill a hole across the thing.
and stick a piece of metal to turn.

 

[PaNsyBoy8]

Originally posted by: hoihtah
geez..
wd40 + vicegrip ain't working?

how much room do you have to grab?
you might want to drill a hole across the thing.
and stick a piece of metal to turn.

not much, but i'm afraid that i'll prolly bend the bar

 

[Jzero]

Maybe if you weren't such a Pansy......?

Actually, I thought there was some kind of rust remover solvent you could get at hardware stores to loosen this kind of stuff.
Do NOT use Loctite

 

[MajesticMoose]

put a socket or whatever wrench they take and then put a pig metal pole on there to give more leverage, you could even stand on the thing. If you've stripped it, you may want to try something called an easy-out or bolt extractor. You drill a hole down the bolt and then strick that thing in it and turn it out. Just be careful doing any of this if the car is jacked up off the ground at all. Best done with all four on the ground.

 

[PlatinumGold]

i remember seeing commercials for a tool once long ago. I don't remember the name of it, the web site or anything. SO why am i bothering to type this, i'm hoping someone else knows something about it and will post on it.


here's the deal, this tool put pressure on the straight sides of the bolt, not the corners, so you CANNOT strip the nut. It is kind of interesting, i was watching the informercial and it really looked like a good idea. they say that this tool is ideal for stripped or rusted nuts.

I hope someone else that reads this knows about this product and that it helps.

 

[PaNsyBoy8]

Originally posted by: amdskip
Heat it with a torch and then get a huge rachet and put a bar on it for leverage and loosen it up.

I've tried heating it witha torch too, that didn't work either, can't use a rachet cuz its all round, i guess the idea tool would be a allen wrench since there are holes for it, but i tried that and all it did was strip the socket

 

[Ziptar]

Don't use WD-40 use Wurth Rost Off. let that soak and then use a Stud extractor it doesn't have to come from snap-on you cen get them at sears too. Get one that is a 1/2" Drive and get a 1/2" Breaker bar and a piece of pipe....

Also if I remember corrctly those VW lug bolt to stud convertors are reverse threaded ( at least I have seen some that were.) so that means Left to Tighty, right to Loosey.

failing that you will need to remove the hubs/drums from the axle/sping and take then down to a machine shop to get the bolts removed or just replace the drums with new ones...

 

[PaNsyBoy8]

Originally posted by: Ziptar
Don't use WD-40 use Wurth Rost Off. let that soak and then use a Stud extractor it doesn't have to come from snap-on you cen get them at sears too. Get one that is a 1/2" Drive and get a 1/2" Breaker bar and a piece of pipe....

where can i get the wurth rost off stuff?

 

[Ziptar]

Almost any decent forgien car parts shop should carry it.


Don't forget to check the reverse threaded part too.

 

[Lalakai]

the rust breaker fluid is a good choice. A "Poor Man's" option is regular old Coke (just make certain the excess coke doesn't trickle down onto something sensitive/electrical). Pour the coke on and let it set, then use steady pressure and see if it'll break free. Good luck.

 

[Vette73]

Old mechanics trick 101....


Heat it up and then melt wax (like from a candle) around the areas that need to be free. The heat will make the metal expand. When it starts to cool off the wax will get around the opening and act like a Lube.

If that does not work then the person that did it may have used locktight. If that is the case you will have to drill them out and rethread the hole.

 

[WarCon]

Have you tried taking it to a shop with an impact wrench?

 

[PaNsyBoy8]

Originally posted by: WarCon
Have you tried taking it to a shop with an impact wrench?

Naw, I tried to do it myself first, but i think i'm gonna try to bring it to the shop sometime this week, since i haven't got it to move at all

 

[db]

WarCon is right. If the hex head is still good, it needs an impact wrench to get it off.

 

[Vic]

Penetrating oil and a big-a$$ cheater bar, something like 6 feet long.

 

[PaNsyBoy8]

there is no hex head, its a lug/bolt converter so its completely round, lemme see if i can find a link to what it is

 

[db]

"there is no hex head, its a lug/bolt converter so its completely round, lemme see if i can find a link to what it is"

Are you sure it's not a wheel lock?
Is there an indented design on the top of the head?

 

[PaNsyBoy8]

Originally posted by: db
"there is no hex head, its a lug/bolt converter so its completely round, lemme see if i can find a link to what it is"

Are you sure it's not a wheel lock?
Is there an indented design on the top of the head?

I'm positive its not a wheel lock.

VW use bolts instead of nuts to secure the wheels to the car, so what happened was that the previous owner of my car put on convertes so that instead of takin bolts, it would be able to take nuts, like most other cars. I want to remove these converters now, so I can put the stock lugs bolts back on, that's where i'm running into problems. I looks as if one shold be able to remove them with an allen wrench, but when i tried, it just stripped the hole the allen wrench went into. That's why i tried a vice grip and such.

 

[SilverThief]

split the bolt in half with a hack saw and then just bang it off with a chisel or screw driver.

 

[notfred]

I don't know why you guys can't grasp this concept. Illustration:

there is a wheel hub. It has 4 holes in it. Into each of these holes, a stud is inserted (if you don't know what I mean by "stud" think "threaded rod") the stud is stuck and will not turn. There are no flat sides, there is no hex head, etc. It's a rod w/ threads. Imagine a bolt. Now imagine that you cut the head off of it, get the picture now?

I can't think of any ways to get it off that you haven't already tried, though.

 

[SuperSix]

Originally posted by: notfred
I don't know why you guys can't grasp this concept. Illustration:

there is a wheel hub. It has 4 holes in it. Into each of these holes, a stud is inserted (if you don't know what I mean by "stud" think "threaded rod") the stud is stuck and will not turn. There are no flat sides, there is no hex head, etc. It's a rod w/ threads. Imagine a bolt. Now imagine that you cut the head off of it, get the picture now?

I can't think of any ways to get it off that you haven't already tried, though.

It's hard to grasp because he didn't explain it correctly.

If you haven't ruinged the threads you can out two nuts back-to-back, jamming them together. You then turn the lower nut against the top one. Works for removing head studs..
As fas as penetrating fluids, nothing beats PBBlaster, available at most retail auto parts stores.

 

[Salvador]

Yep... Lots of penetrating oil and let it soak in really good overnight. I'd preferrably get a good socket and breaker bar, but a tire iron or 4 way that fits the nut really well will work fine. Then grab a long sturdy pole that will slip over the breaker bar or lug wrench for leverage. You'll be surprised at how well the extra leverage helps out. I've done this many times with my many VW's over the years and you really have to literally stand on the bar and jump on the thing to break them free sometimes.

If you cannot get it off that way, I would suggest taking the car to a mechanic and they can either extract it for you or cut it off with a torch and then just replace the nuts.

When you get this all sorted out, I would go back to the OEM nut setup and use a generous amount of lithium grease or something on the threads of the nuts when you reinstall them. Since I've been doing this, I've never had any problems. Also, make sure that those monkey's at your local tire place don't use an impact wrench to tighten your lug bolts. They are usually set way tighter than necessary and make it almost impossible to get your lug nuts off by hand if you ever have a flat on the side of the road. Just ask for them to use a torque wrench to put the nuts back on if you ever have tire work done.

Sal