Maintenance & Technical > KX500 Original

Dang allen bolts!!!

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maddoggy:
try heating it up with a propane torch, the small torch will let you concentrate the flame on the bolt so you won't melt something else. then when it is hot touch some quality wax to the thread end of the bolt. the heat sucks the wax into the threads and acts as a lubricant on the threads. if you do it right you can use the torx aproach with success.

MadKaw:
I'll sure try it. thanx!
like candle wax?
or car wax?

maddoggy:
try a good quality candle wax. i've used this method with success many times. hope it works for you.

c-152:
I tried the candle wax method with my allen bolt (Same deal - brake caliper bolt) and had not luck.  I took the caliper to the shop to see if the could put a helicoil in it.  As I don't have the tools for that yet and they were only going to charge me 20 bucks for it.  The ended up saying they didn't want to do it and were trying to get me to buy a new caliper.  I took it home drilled it out and ran new thread in.  I then bought a peace of thread rod and ground it down were needed and cut a slot in it.  It looks bad but so far has held and the brake action works fine.  I would not recomend doing this unless it is a last resort but it has worked for me.  I am currently looking for a cheap rear caliper to fix it right, but the bolt that I made has help up very well.

alan:
Don't forget heat! In most all applications you will have dissimilar metals with different expansion coefficients. I often use a heat gun like some of the paint strippers. I soak the bolt with liquid wrench overnight, and then apply heat before I attempt removing it.

Remember if was seized and you finally got it out, you need anti seize compound when you replace it with a new bolt.

One more tip, I replace many problem bolts with Stainless Steel ones. This seems to also help the next time you have to remove one.

Finally if you can't get it out "drill it out". If you have a really good eye and a nice slow drill and can drill one step at a time to the clearance drill size for the tap of the thread. Many times as your drilling the heat from the drilling will remove the old thread as you are drilling. As you are increasing the drill size you can sometimes use an easy out to remove the thread, however they tend to expand the hole which makes for a sloppy fit and reduced holding capacity. You can always go to a Heli coil as a last resort or weld it up an re drill it!

Just my 2 cents!  :-D :-D :-D

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