Pinch bolt!!!

[alexza4]

Replacing axles today and ofcourse that fucking pinch bolt is an ungodly piece of shit. I've been slaving my ass for over and hour already and poured about a can of WD40 on it but it still won't budge

Nut came of quickly but its taking the bolt out is what i can not do. Tapping, prying, kicking, swearing and nothing, its baked inthere for good it seems...

Any sugestions? PLEASE!!!!!

[dirtybrd]

Heat it with a torch.

[alexza4]

Heat it with a torch.

tried... no dice...

[dirtybrd]

Did you heat the spindle to red hot? You have to heat the metal the surrounds the bolt not the bolt itself.

[alexza4]

i did, not to red hot though. i'll try again...

[dirtybrd]

Try to keep the heat off the ball joint boots. Also, after you heat it, let it cool for about 2 mins and douce it with WD40. The heat will draw the oil in.

[alexza4]

how long would you say i should be heating it for? i;m using mapp gas but still can't get it red hot...

[dirtybrd]

Mapp gas will take a long time is at all.

[alexza4]

Mapp gas will take a long time is at all.

i thought it was hotter then propain? i have propain too, should i use that instead?

[dirtybrd]

You need acetylene.

[alexza4]

You need acetylene.

what's that and where do i get it?

[dirtybrd]

I't s the kind of touches that uses 2 tanks, the other oxygen.

[alexza4]

oh i see. i know what you;re talking about now. well, i'll go to SEARS tomorrow and pick up and air hammer, will see if that helps, i'll let it soak real good in WD40 overnight, if that don't work, its drilling time...

[swaigo]

never touched the pinch bolt when doing my axles

[biketsai]

Torch is the way to go man. I got a gorillar bar with a socket on the end and even BROKE the snap on socket. I used an acetylene torch and nearly friend my control arms in the process, but that seems like the only way. Heat it up for 30-60secs then hit it with a punch

[alexza4]

never touched the pinch bolt when doing my axles

How the heck did manage to get the axle out, i tried and i tried, but there's just now enough room. Bentley does say to only undo the control arms if you can't get the axle out, so i guess there's a way... i wonder if there's a trick to it, but i just don't see it.

Share why don't you.

[alexza4]

Torch is the way to go man. I got a gorillar bar with a socket on the end and even BROKE the snap on socket. I used an acetylene torch and nearly friend my control arms in the process, but that seems like the only way. Heat it up for 30-60secs then hit it with a punch

I wish i had that torch but the only one i have is mapp/propaine. I'll see about maybe getting one tomorrow as well.

[alexza4]

i'm officially screwed... The head snapped, tried drilling and f-up the housing. So now i'm looking at replacing both upper control arms as well as the wheel bearing housing... all because of one fucken bolt...

can someone tell me the good place to buy the arms and housing please?

thanks

[absolutegtr]

holy hell that thing sounds like a bitch....

Are you referring to the bolt in the middle of the hub? (The one needed to undo when removing the CV axle?)

[aaronz]

Dude I feel for you. Every time I try to fix something or mod something on my car I run into the "fucking bolt" syndrome. I get so pissed and distraught sometimes I want to go ape shit on the car with a hammer! Just know that if you step away, find someone that knows a trick, it will take them 5 minutes and make you feel better! I had a stripped lug that was on tighter then a nats vagina! Shit would not come off. I hammered on a smaller socket and that didn't work. Took it to Just Tires down the road, they charged me 5 bucks, had it of in 30 seconds.

My rule of thumb on the Bitch Bolts, use your brain not your muscle!

Good luck!

[KevinA41.8T]

u only need to remove the rear lower curved control arm from the upright. dont even have to pull the caliper off. thats it. dont know why people mess with the pinch bolt.

[PCYC]

i have always used PB blaster it eats the rust pretty sweet stuff

[dirtybrd]

Just remove the whole assembly, take it to a machine shop and have them remove it.

[alexza4]

thanks for all the suggestions, i ended up fucking the knuckle up pretty bad with drilling and still didn't get the fucking thing out... so i just put everything back together and limped over to my buddy's shop, ended up ordering a new knuckle and both upper control arms, so half an hour $100 job turned into a week and $500. the only thing that makes me feel somewhat better that both control arms needed replacing anyway... the bottom line still, i'm pissed as a mofo... FUCK THIS GOD DAMN BOLT!!!!!!

[vdubstreets]

thanks for all the suggestions, i ended up fucking the knuckle up pretty bad with drilling and still didn't get the fucking thing out... so i just put everything back together and limped over to my buddy's shop, ended up ordering a new knuckle and both upper control arms, so half an hour $100 job turned into a week and $500. the only thing that makes me feel somewhat better that both control arms needed replacing anyway... the bottom line still, i'm pissed as a mofo... FUCK THIS GOD DAMN BOLT!!!!!!

I know what bolt your talking about it took me like 6 hours to get both out with the car on the lift. The trick is air hammer and cutting up the bolt in sections. But if the head is not cut off already take a air wrench/gun on one side and a aim hammer on the other. I tried heating it red hot, I tried drilling it out but the it became impacted and couldn't drill. So i ended taking a death grinder cutting it in sections and pushing it out with the air hammer.

[Boosted3.0]

I tried to do this last friday. I ended up going in from the bottom and just squeezing the new axle in. I got this far then realised I didn't have a 12pt socket. So I took it to a local Vdub dealership and they replaced the axle for me in a hour and a half. At $68 an hour it came to $108, plus I bought the axle online for $99. I'll never replace an axle again.

[dirtybrd]

Don't forget to apply a liberal amount of anti-sieze!

[alexza4]

Update.

After a horror story of doing the right side (ended up replacing the spindle and both control arms after completely f-n up it up because of that damn pinch bolt), today i did the left side.

Took exactly one hour. This time i was going to undoo the lower control arms instead, bur didn't even had to do that. There's more space on the left side so you're able to wiggle out the axle without having to do loosen up the spindle assembly!

So note to everyone else who will be undertaking the DIY axle replacement.

Right side: Have to undo the control arms. DO NOT mess with the upper control arms, undo lower. Much easier.

Left side: See above.

[vdubstreets]

Update.

After a horror story of doing the right side (ended up replacing the spindle and both control arms after completely f-n up it up because of that damn pinch bolt), today i did the left side.

Took exactly one hour. This time i was going to undoo the lower control arms instead, bur didn't even had to do that. There's more space on the left side so you're able to wiggle out the axle without having to do loosen up the spindle assembly!

So note to everyone else who will be undertaking the DIY axle replacement.

Right side: Have to undo the control arms. DO NOT mess with the upper control arms, undo lower. Much easier.

Left side: See above.

that must of been expensive, i remember pricing one out right before i got my bolt out. And yes what a PIA good thing i replaced it with a fully threaded bolt which makes it a little bit skinnier. And if i do need to replace them i can just off the head and put a bolt on the other side and pull it out like that