Sheared bolt

[Frar]

Was adjusting the rocker arms on my trailer at the weekend despite a couple of days soaking in WD40 one of the bolts sheared . Any ideas on best way to remove?

Was thinking drilling a pilot hole through the shaft of the bolt, sticking some metal through and trying to spin it out less hassle and better result than drilling the whole thing?

Be gentle with my poor technical terms if they're wrong!

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by Frar

Was adjusting the rocker arms on my trailer at the weekend despite a couple of days soaking in WD40 one of the bolts sheared . Any ideas on best way to remove?



Was thinking drilling a pilot hole through the shaft of the bolt, sticking some metal through and trying to spin it out less hassle and better result than drilling the whole thing?



Be gentle with my poor technical terms if they're wrong!

A picture tells a thousand words.

[charliee]

I've had success with these, https://www.boatoolcorp.com/our-prod...lt-extractors/
Use so heat when you are ready to remove.
I also like to use an impact driver on hard to free boats, the hammer action seems to help.

[breezeblock]

before you go and bodge a repair stick a picture up of what it is as there may be better methods of extraction than easy outs I find that easy outs are crap at most things on a boat as inevitably its corrosion that has caused the problem and this is probably the worst application for an easy out the last thing you want is a broken easy out its on par with a broken tap in hardness

[Frar]

Originally Posted by Pikey Dave

A picture tells a thousand words.

And my face sank a thousand ships...
How it should be and how it is.

Think the easy pout won't work as it is really tight.

[Daibheid]

Easyouts only ever break in my experience. That’s quite an easy bolt to deal with. Given how accessible it is, I’d use a hacksaw to cut the bolt inside the U and try a visegrips on the stub before anything else as taking the stress off might free it.
If that doesn’t work, File or grind it square, even better down to flush. Centre punch it and pilot drill it about 10-15 mm deep. Then depending on how central your pilot hole is, drill the biggest you can without damaging the insides of the threads. The bolt will collapse if you get it right. Drill a little larger if you have to. Even if you hit the thread because your pilot was off Centre, you’ll only damage a small part of the circumference leaving plenty of sound thread for the replacement bolt.
Even if you have to obliterate the threads to get the bolt out, you could always use a nut inside the U.

[spartacus]

First off, stop using WD40. What you want is Plus Gas or similar penetrating release oil. Soak it. Now get yourself and the trailer to a local garage to spot weld a nut on the exposed thread. If shifting the trailer is an issue, whack the sheared thread with a punch and lump hammer and see if you can get stiltsons or claw grips on what's left of the thread. I'd use an easyout as a last resort too.

[beamishken]

Get a hacksaw in the gap cut the last 1/4" off the bolt, that will allow you to get the whole assembly off the trailer & weld a nut on the end you just cut a bit of heat on the captive nut will have it screw out the wrong way pretty easy. The chances of success with easy outs & releasing oil is slim to none
Getting the assembly off the trailer and in a vice will make life far easier

[Pikey Dave]

I’d get some gentle heat into it as a first resort. Not enough to damage the galvanising, but enough to make a difference. Heat up the bracket from the outer edges so the heat moves towards the bolt. Get it hot then spray some wd40 or similar onto the bolt. Repeat for a few cycles & then try & get hold of the bolt & work it backwards & forwards. If that doesn’t work, I’d grind the end of the bolt flat, centre pop it & drill it out. Looks like a 10mm bolt or thereabouts, I’d go in with a 8.5/9mm drill.

[Limecc]

No need for me to add to sound advice already given, but I've been gradually changing all the fastenings on my trailer to stainless. Looks much tidier now. I also ran a die nut down each of the U bolts and treated exposed threads with some cold galvanizing spray.

[Frar]

Thanks all. Will report back. Won't be this weekend given how crappy the weather is. Can almost float the boat off in the driveway

[breezeblock]

go with beamishkens idea looking at what you've got there

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by breezeblock

go with beamishkens idea looking at what you've got there

Yup, best of the bunch [emoji106]

[GuyC]

Interestingly whilst the stainless bolts won't suffer, the difference in the electrical potential between stainless and zinc galvanising will cause the zinc coating on the trailer to fail more quickly which will leave bare mild steel and subsequent corrosion issues. You can isolate the stainless bolts but I think in general you should avoid mixing galvanising and stainless.

[gpsguru]

Originally Posted by Frar

And my face sank a thousand ships...
How it should be and how it is.

Think the easy pout won't work as it is really tight.

If you have the facilities, or know a man that can, then i would do the following to release that bolt ............

Mig-weld a bolt of similar or greater size onto the broken end ........ whilst it is still very hot, douse it with cold water especially at the seized end ..... then use a spanner on the welded bolt to undo it, and it will come undone easily .....

If I were closer, I would do it for you, but Devon is a feck'in long way from Scotland !