Stuck bolts on the rear tire of my bike?

Question

i have this old bike i wanted to fix up but tha bolts on the bac wont come off ive tried everythin pliers, wrenches, wd-40 and its still stuck i think i stripped it what should i do?

Answer 1

Try bringing it to a bike shop.  They may have some tricks that they have used before.  Or even a hardware store would work!

Answer 2

go to a reputable store i.e. Sears and in their tool department they have a wrench and sockets designed specifically to remove stripped bolts.

Answer 3

It depends on what tools you have available. I would cut them off. You can use a hack saw or a tool called a nut splitter. As for a penetrating fluid, use PB Blaster instead of wd-40. It works so much better. WD-40 is basicly kerosene in a can.

Answer 4

The other suggestions above are good ones but if all else fails there is a last resort. It's a set of tools known as "easy outs". They are quite expensive ($50-ish) but will remove any burred or damaged bolt or s***w, guaranteed.

They consist of a bunch of little tapered s***w-like cylinders, similar to a tap (not the water kind, the thread making kind) of various sizes. They have a thread on them but the thread spirals the opposite way to normal bolts and screws.

You use them by:

1) Drilling a hole down the middle of the bolt

2) Selecting an "easy out" of the correct size

3) s******g the "easy out" into the hole (remember you have to s***w it the opposite way to s******g in a bolt because of the backwards thread

4) Once it is screwed in all the way it cant turn any more and, because the thread is backwards, it will start to undo the bolt/s***w. They are made out of hardened high carbon steel so they won't burr.

Of course you may still have problems getting the bolt to turn if it's rusted in so I recommend soaking it for a few days with WD-40 (or whatever your preferred penetrating lubricant is). If you can actually manage to immerse the bolt in the WD-40, that's ideal but, if not, just keep giving it a liberal squirt every few hours for a few days. It should eventually move.

If you still have trouble, put a 1 metre piece of steel pipe over the handle of your spanner and really get some leverage onto it. One of 3 things will happen:

1) Your spanner will snap

2) The bolt will snap

3) The bolt will turn

If the bolt snaps, use the easy outs again on the remaining bit. If it snaps again, repeat. You'll eventually get it all out.

Hope this helps.

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