Did I Damage My Passenger Side Spindle?

[arjun90]

Onto the passenger side,

I was using an angle grinder to cut up the pinch bolt from the nut-side (a Dremel just wasn't fitting into this tight spot). A little frustration led to the formation of a a less than 1mm cut into the spindle (pictures attached) . It doesn't feel or appear that deep. Do you all think I need a new spindle? Or should I be good to proceed forward with drilling out the pinch bolt?

Thanks

[rollerton]

Dude...that is ROUGH! I just yesterday tackled ONE front strut/ control arm set on the S6 that came from the midwest. OMG I feel your pain now. I had never had any problems with seized bolts before. What a shit-show. BUT! I managed to NOT break the pinch bolt, heat and PB blaster and heat and more. Gently twist the bolt, heat, spray, rinse, repeat.
It took a while but I was NOT going to go through broken pinch bolt hell.
One of the strut-cap bolts did snap off though. Had to drill that out and put some threads in it, seems ok.

Anyway, I wouldn't sweat that too much unless you're going rally car status or going off road. If THAT ^ results in a failure then it was going to happen anyway. People grind away at these spindles all the time for wheel clearance, I have never heard of one of these spindles breaking.
For resale value I'd be tempted to grind a little bit away around it so it doesn't "look" like a mistake or stand out. Make it smooth.
Doesn't matter. You're cool.

[arjun90]

Haha, thanks rolleton, it really is mind-boggling now, now that the passenger side is as challenging as was the Driver side. All for that silly pinch bolt! Everything else worked well for me except for that Pinch bolt!

I'm going to try air hammering from the side where the nut inserts to (upper rear control arm area). Hopefully, a miracle occurs. I have the spindle leaning on one side right now--hopefully, gravity allows the Seaform Deep Creep to penetrate / sink into the bolt overnight.

How is it that everything is straight-forward except for that pinch bolt?!

Anyway--almost close to completion

Haven't started the car for about a month 'till yesterday, and it sounded rough--Cylinder 4 misfire
Idled the car for about 30 minutes, misfire gone

[arjun90]

Is this safe to use on an aluminum upright?

[brokenwrench]

Is this safe to use on an aluminum upright?

Depends on what you plan to do with it.....

The method I've used for removing a seized pinch bolt it to jam two nuts together (insert snicker here I guess) on the threaded end and use an impact to get the bolt to spin, of course this only works when the square head is cut off. Since your bolt shaft is cut, that may not work, or maybe it will, go ahead and try it if you have an impact wrench. but at this point I would say go ahead and try the air hammer if of the impact wrench doesn't work. If nothing else, I have a donor C5 with the front suspension already torn apart, I'll send you another upright cheap.

[arjun90]

Thanks, I'm planning to use that accessory to delivery vibration on the shaft of the bolt via the aluminum surface of the spindle. I don't know if this can potentially mar / damage the spindle's structural integrity. When I was reviewing Bentley Publisher's video, it shows the fellow using this exact accessory (hammer head) on a steel-upright.

I like your idea on jamming two nuts together on the threaded end and using an impact on the other to attempt to spin it out. May be I shouldn't have intentionally damage the bolt afterall

Depends on what you plan to do with it.....

The method I've used for removing a seized pinch bolt it to jam two nuts together (insert snicker here I guess) on the threaded end and use an impact to get the bolt to spin, of course this only works when the square head is cut off. Since your bolt shaft is cut, that may not work, or maybe it will, go ahead and try it if you have an impact wrench. but at this point I would say go ahead and try the air hammer if of the impact wrench doesn't work. If nothing else, I have a donor C5 with the front suspension already torn apart, I'll send you another upright cheap.

[arjun90]

This is crazy, part of the bolt came out (first used hammer drill 3/8" bit for demarcation, 5/16" Bit, and 3/16" Bit), used a cut-off disc with a grinder, and continued and tried to push out the rest of the bolt---it just doesn't want to come out. Going to try again tomorrow morning using a clamp and heavier and longer hammer--aka sledgehammer. Check out the progress in the pictures below--how am I doing?

Should I be concerned about the drill eating away a thin layer of aluminum from within the spindle (as seen in one of the picture below)?

Thanks again

[brokenwrench]

Um, I don't want to be overly negative, but methinks you may have a problem, sir. That little bit of oversize on the pinch bolt hole is going to cause it to be able to move around, even if you torque it down beyond spec. If the pinch bolt isn't held securely in its mounting, the upper ball joints could move under extreme loading. Probably won't be noticeable most of the time, but say, if you have to slam on your brakes while swerving, the slight movement could cause your steering/suspension geometry to change just enough that you hit what you might otherwise be able to avoid or over correct and end up in the ditch on the far side. I had a similar problem for a long time in a car I used to own, took me a long time to find the cause, but it made for some really hairy cornering once in a while.....

Without looking at it in person I can't say for sure, but you may be better off at this point to just take it all the way out and plan on replacing it. Do you have any junk yards nearby?

[CJKaz]

Don't worry about a slightly oversized hole. The ball joint's bore fit is the one that clamps the stud of the joint. The pinch bolt merely deforms the bore of that fit. Pinch bolt won't move as the deflection of the pinch bolt's bore will lock it in.

If you're worried about the grinder gouge, radius the end of the slice to eliminate the stress riser. A ball end bit in a Dremel is perfect.

[arjun90]

Thanks a lot!

I ended up drilling the remaining part of the bolt out. It appears fragments got caught in the way when hammering and drilling at the same time (similar to a tunnel caving in) and thus was unable to get it out with simply hammering. Further drilling, hammering, and grinding (little by little) helped get the remaining bolt out. I should be all good now.

Don't worry about a slightly oversized hole. The ball joint's bore fit is the one that clamps the stud of the joint. The pinch bolt merely deforms the bore of that fit. Pinch bolt won't move as the deflection of the pinch bolt's bore will lock it in.

If you're worried about the grinder gouge, radius the end of the slice to eliminate the stress riser. A ball end bit in a Dremel is perfect.