acorad

Hi all, I replaced the pass side rear axle on my '87 951 a month or so ago and a few days ago I lost all power to the rear wheels.

When I got under the car it was obvious that all 12 of the CV bolts had backed out, at least a little, and one that had not quite backed out all the way was sheared off such that about 3/8" of it remains in the wheel hub.

It's kind of smooshed over on one side from the torque when it broke off, and it does not want to come out. I was able to get a pair of vice grips on the little piece that's protruding but it didn't budge at all.

I was thinking of trying to use my grinder and a cut-off wheel to try to cut a slot in the protruding part of the bolt so I can get a flat-head screwdriver on it, but I think it's probably too close to the side wall of the hub and I won't be able to get the cut-off wheel on the bolt.

My experience with "easy-outs" has been really bad, usually the easy-out bit tip breaks off in the bolt which really leaves me in a bind, so I'm not keen on trying it here.

Any other ideas?

PS: Yes, I will get a set of the Stage8 Locking CV bolts. Anyone know if Ideola is around? His VM indicates he might be out of the country...

mazdaverx7

what i would do is first put the car on a lift. clean of what you have left of the bolt with a wire wheel on a drill. get a spare nut that has about the same inside diameter as the outside diameter as the broken bolt and tack weld, filling in the gap and tack the nut to the broken bolt. it will heat the bolt enough that if its stuck it will turn right out and leave you with clean threads and with the nut, it will give you an easy way to turn th broken bolt out. if a nut will not work, try a bolt.

if you do not have access to a welder, go to sears and get a stud/broken bolt extractor set. you thread them on counterclockwise and they have a twisting blad set internally that grabs the stud with extreme prejudice and will back the stud right out. here's a pic of an old set that i have:

acorad

Great stuff, thanks!

dillon410021

^ these work good. I have also cut the bolt and used a flat-head screw driver/ socket thing.

pkt1213

I just had this happen. The PO replaces the shaft at sometime and I was on my way home with it and 50 miles from the house lost it at the tranny. The outside ones are still tight. I checked. Anyways, I got lucky and none of them were broke off in the tranny part that sticks out.

Ordered some of the stage8 bolts and was told he should have them in this week to ship out.

pettybird

If you decide to slot the bolt, use an impact hammer to jar it loose. If it's stuck with vice grips it's not going to come out with a screwdriver...

F40LM

I agree. I would try to weld on a nut or bolt, and MAYBE try to heat the wheel hub a little when you go to back it out.

Learned off-shore years ago that a little heat goes a long way in situations like this. But never tried it on a wheel hub.

michael

aj986s

FWIW, I discovered that these triple-square bolts MUST be torqued to spec in order to stay put. If you try and do it by "these feel good & tight", its probably not enough. I had a set loosen on me twice, before I finally used a proper torque wrench. I surprised by how much effort was needed to get the torque wrench to click. My theory is that because with the allen style head, your torqueing from the middle of the bolt, rather than grabbing the outer edge. Because the leverage is different, the "feel" or "effort" is quite different between the two.

pkt1213

They're a one time TTY bolt. That's what happened with mine cause the PO used the same bolts even with locktite.

If you get the stage8 ones they're reuseable or I read some articals about people drilling them for safety wire. That would be a little less expensive but also requires some time and a drill press.

Van

Welding technique - definitely.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6T0qegbNlnY

hopps

You wouldn't believe how many bolts I've had to drill out on this car. From axles to flywheel. You get pretty good at it after the 5th or 6th one

mazdaverx7

drilling is risky because if you don't get a good start from teh center and ensure the drill is almost perfectly straight then you could do more damage than good. glad you were succesfull up to six times!

acorad

In my particular situation, there is no corrosion holding the sheared-off bolt in. I had removed and replaced it here in Cali just a month or so ago, and it was backing out all by itself before it got sheared off by the axle torque.

When it sheared off it got "smooshed" or bent to one side and that smoosh is, I believe, what's keeping it from turning easily. There isn't really enough of the broken bolt that's protruding to really get a good grip on it with vice grips.

I've drilled out lots of bolts before, but usually with a drill press. I'm not so sure about drilling this bolt out as it's under the car that's up on jack stands. I'm not sure I'd be able to keep the drill centered well enough, although, all I think maybe all I really have to do is remove the protruding smooshed part in order to free the bolt.

My plan, as of now, is to first try hitting it with a cold chisel on the smooshed side to see if I can "un-bend" it enough to get it loose.

Failing that, if I feel confident, I'll try the drill.

If I don't feel confident, my neighbor has a welder and we'll weld a nut or bolt onto the bit that's protruding.

btw, Van, awesome video!

I'm pretty sure I did torque the bolts down correctly, I have a very good torque wrench. And I used lots of mineral spirits followed by carb cleaner to ensure that every little bit of nasty old moly grease that was all over the place was cleaned off the bolts and their holes in the hub.

What made it difficult was keeping the new moly on the new CV joints from getting on the bolts and in their holes in the wheel hub during the process of installing the new axle, but I think I did a pretty good job at it.

Where I think I failed is that I also used Loctite, and the Loctite I used was pretty old and I think it didn't harden. In fact, I think it stayed liquid or semi-liquid and acted as a lubricant instead of a glue.