[Brakes] broken wheel bolt

[landcrab]

hi peeps well i had a tyre fitted about a month ago and last week i had someone i know fit a pair of drop links to the car. he realy struggled removing the wheel bolts (bloody air guns ) had to use a 3ft bar to undo them and one snapped . so i thought the best way to remove it was to drill it and use a stud extracter. well after drilling the bolt i tryed a extracter and it snapped so i drilled the hole a bit larger and used a bigger extracter and blow me that snapped as well and is still in the bolt. has anyone got any idears what i can try . do you think maybey some heat . the bolt is broken about half way into the hub so cant weld a bolt onto it.  it would be good to get it out or it will mean a new hub and that means much more of a work up.   thanks for any idears lads.

[Sol]

Definitely heat, but you have to watch not to boil the grease out of the wheel bearing. High heat applied locally with acetylene is best but slow heat with a butane torch may heat the entire thing and cause other issues.

Just my tuppence worth.

I'd take the hub off if it was me.

[landcrab]

Definitely heat, but you have to watch not to boil the grease out of the wheel bearing. High heat applied locally with acetylene is best but slow heat with a butane torch may heat the entire thing and cause other issues.

Just my tuppence worth.

I'd take the hub off if it was me.

thanks for the reply.

[Sol]

The other thing you may be able to do is drill the old bolt almost to the thread walls and then chase the scrap out with a plug tap. But that would probably require a mag drill with a broach bit and accurate positioning. Those can be hired from HSS for example.

Broach it to 10mm then 11mm and then the last 1mm with a heavy-shank m12x1.25 tap and a big T wrench. Carefully cutting in and back out, over and over till the tap gets to the back of the bolt hole.

[landcrab]

thanks but i think that is above me. lol

[Gadgetman]

Had a broken bolt in an earlier car, and the mechanic first used a grinder to cut a slot in it(also cut a bit into the metal around it, but that doesn't matter).
Then he added hat, and used an impact screwdriver. Out in just a few minutes.

[ItsGreen]

I'd put a second hand hub and carrier/knuckle on.

[Sol]

I'd put a second hand hub and carrier/knuckle on.

Definitely. Me too.

[jj9]

. . . the bolt is broken about half way into the hub so cant weld a bolt onto it. . . 

I would try building the snapped bolt up with weld. Use blobs of weld until it's high enough to get the grips onto it and it should turn out.

Make a copper liner for the hole from a piece of scrap copper pipe and weld down through this, the copper will stop any weld sticking to the threads in the hub.
Cut the copper pipe and open it out then work it between a couple of hammers to thin it out, when thin enough wrap it around one of the other wheel bolts to get a rough size for the hole. Cut to size / height and insert into the bolt hole.


.

[ItsGreen]

I'd put a second hand hub and carrier/knuckle on.

Definitely. Me too.

£40 on ebay and an hour or two spannering sounds a lot easier than all the farmyard engineering being suggested by others. If all the wheel bolts have been torqued to death, it's not going to have done the threads in the hub any good.