Removing Rounded Aluminum Bolts

[BrandonVA]

so i went to loosen the 4 bolts on the swingarm of my atv so I could tighten my chain and apparently the previous owner tightened the heck out of it and now all of the bolt heads rounded. I got three out but there is one last bolt that I cannot get out (second from the right).


i've tried penetrant, tapping it, using bolt gripper sockets, pipe wrench, hammering a smaller socket over it....nothing is working. Any advice on what I should try next? I'm thinking of cutting the bolt in half and see if that breaks it free but i'm afraid if that doesn't work it will just be stuck even worse!

 

[threeputtpar]

Have you tried any heat and then hammer a smaller socket (or metric if it's SAE or vice versa) to see if it breaks free?

Otherwise, drill it in the center and use a screw extractor to back it out.

 

[redhat]

Did you try a pair of vice grips? A good pair with some sharp teeth could probably cut into the soft aluminum and get some grip.

 

[EricG]

BTW, those are steel bolts in an aluminum carrier. A little heat and one of these would work!

http://www.irwin.com/tools/screw-bolt-extractors/bolt-extractors

 

[Papa Bear]

weld a nut/bolt to it then remove it.

 

[JHZR2]

drill a small hole and then pound a big robinson or maybe a big torx bit in there and see how that works. Key is lots of interface area to apply torque.

 

[Donald]

I would use those sockets with teeth designed to remove rounded bolts/nuts. Craftsman sells them.

 

[cptbarkey]

drill it.

 

[SHOZ]

If you are going to drill use a left handed bit and use the drill in reverse. Get a bit about half the size of the bolt thickness. They will go in about 3/4 of the way then the bolt will seize and spin right out....usually.

 

[Trav]

This is a job where an impact gun or hand impact would have worked perfectly, you can still use one with a bolt extractor socket as Donald mentioned.
Use the smallest one you can fit on the rounded bolt head even if you have to hammer it on slightly, then use an hand held impact or air impact on it.

You can use these sockets with an impact they work great even though they are not impact rated. Make sure you use goggles.
I had a badly mangled and rusted exhaust manifold nut that was well hidden behind the firewall on a FWD V6.
I threw a hail Mary pass and hammered one of these on used a 24" impact extension with ball swivel on the impact gun, a few seconds later it came right off.

I picked them up at Advance, the quality is good, no damage to them after a lot of abuse.

http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/webapp/...irwin_9010233-p

 

[BrandonVA]

i already bought and tried that irwin bolt extractor set and it just rounded it even more unfortunately. I guess my next step is trying a bolt extractor. It's been soaking in pb blaster for about a week now. is there a particular brand of bolt extractor that is good quality? I don't want to mess this up even more than i have already

 

[Trav]

Did you try to hammer one on and hit it with a hand impact and a hammer? You can grind new flats with a dremel tool for a better fit.

Do not use a internal extractor on this, chances are you will beak the extractor causing even more problems.
You could weld a nut on it as someone posted, the heat from welding might help loosed it.