the pinch bolt on my front fork is completely rounded off, thanks to a crap allen key and multiple failed attempts of different methods to get it out. last option short of drilling the buggar out or axle grinding the fork off is to weld a nut onto the head of the bolt so i can remove it. i have no knowlage of welding or access to the the equipment so if anybody could spare ten minutes to do it or has welding kit and wouldnt mind giving me a brief 2 minute lesson at some point over the next few weekends. its worth how ever many cans of beer i can fit in my rucksack :thumbsup: lol.
tried an eazi-out but didnt trust its integrity so stopped as didnt fancy making the problem worse, tried bonding an allen bit in with chemical metal. tried whacking in a slightly larger allen bit. used an impact driver on each allen bit options. not possible to cut in a notch for a flathead screwdriver without damaging the fork. literally cant think of any other options haha will do in a couple of hours :thumbsup:
I got a garage full of tools and and i'm off this week,i live in Birchwood WA3 if i can help,oh and if we get it out i have aa box full of spare bolts too
cheers buddy , any help would be awesome. ive already got the new bolt here waiting. ill pm you after to sort something out :thumbsup:
Here's the state of the little bastard... (Had to screenshot cos my phone decided it doesn't like taking photos anymore)
Is the thread visible/accessable anywhere to allow penetrating oil in? Willing to give you a hand next week wednesday onwards. Before welding anything on need to centre pop ( very very very accurately) and drill small pilot hole to give an accurate reference point should the weld fail. I have Cobalt drill bits etc. Why you removing said bolts, working on wheel or forks, and do you have a forkstem paddock stand (i have) i will pm you my contact numbers easier to talk on the Phone.
considered that but dont know what size torx bit to buy. the set i have doesnt have any big enough, and i dont fancy buying a whole set to ruin one and then never use it again. plus knowing my luck that will probably just round it off further!
no thread visible for penetrating oil. if i remember rightly ive copper slipped it, so i doubt its siezed up. the cause was mistakenly using an old allen key to do up the bolt after fixing a fork seal. but i need the wheel back off again to sort out the oil in my other fork and change my tire. I dont have a front paddock stand as ive always bodged a jack/hoist sort of contraption whenever ive taken the front off before which worked perfectly well.
if you've copperslipped it and as long as it's not a blind hole then drill it from the back, pilot hole first then go at it with a big bit, will pick up and spin it out.
Why not get a decent flat punch about 3mm and hit the top of the bolt where the flats of the allen keys are. Should close up the recess. Hammer in allen key and undo, (hopefully). The metal has only spread out not gone so it's worth a try. As for a torx bit a T50(=8mm) should be right but get a T55 as well due to the mess you've made. LMGTFY
