Freeing the Rotoflex long bolt.

[Sandgroper]

I am preparing to do battle with a couple of GT6 Roto uprights for my Nick Jones CV jointed shafts and anticipate at least a couple of obstinate bolts. 

Surely, I thought, someone will have found a simple way to resolve this old problem. I guess not, but does anyone have any good advice (apart from dump them!)?

[Nick Jones]

There is no easy way I’m afraid 😟 

I assume you mean the bottom, wishbone bolt? Can stick in the vertical link itself, the two bush tubes in the wishbone bushes, or, usually all of them.

Heat, lots of heat (oxy-acetylene preferably, but a mapp torch quite often worked for me) applied to the base of the vertical link where the bolt runs, 6 sided socket and a breaker bar are your best hope. If you can get the bolt moving in the link, but it still won’t knock out, carefully saw through the bushes and bolt taking care not to cut into the link itself. Then you should be able to bash the three parts out separately.

As for the bolt holding the radius arm bracket, in my experience they either come straight out or absolutely no chance. If the bracket and threads are usable, don’t mess with it!

Nick

[ed.h]

You may have to resort to drilling.  The radius arm bolt is trickier because It's pretty long.

http://bullfire.net/GT6/GT6-9/GT6-9.html

Ed

[trigolf]

Many years ago,one of my radius arm brackets was mullerered at the shock attachment end. I gave up trying to get it out and took it to a local garage. They had to use a gas axe and extreme violence to get it out! Nowadays I wonder if one of those induction coil gizmo's would work. Theyseem to have pretty impressive abilities.

Gav.

[Pete Lewis]

or hacksaw through the joint gap a good vice a a nice hard punch and a club hammer  to whack it out 

you could be lucky and it just unscrews and removes    it does happen 

Pete

[PeteH]

Wouldn`t be the first time I used the Kitchen Oven to introduce heat, and then dropped the offending item into iced water.? Got to be careful though of induced cracking, but with diferential materials it can work.

Jeff had "some difficulty" with a Rear drive shaft in a recent post. I near destroyed one with a 20tonne press lucky to get away with just a light skim of the driving face.

Pete

[Peter Truman]

Beautiful drilling job there Ed, did you cross drill the trunnion and fit a grease nipple, also plenty of copper grease on the tie rod bolt, mine are solid!!! 

[ed.h]

8 hours ago, Peter Truman said:

Beautiful drilling job there Ed, did you cross drill the trunnion and fit a grease nipple, also plenty of copper grease on the tie rod bolt, mine are solid!!! 

Thanks, Peter.  No grease nipple, but plenty of anti-seize.

Ed

[Sandgroper]

Applied as much heat as I feel safe with working alone! No go. So the bolts are cut and drilling will commence as and when I have the time. Hope my drilling goes as well as Ed.h's !!!

The job has inspired a garage clear out, repaired my grinder switch, re- shafted two well loved hammers and decided to unbolt my sheet folder (no more 'special' building now!) to clear bench space.

[JohnD]

There must be hundreds of "penetrating" oils on the market, and no "Which?" report to tell the one to go for.

But I've been impressed  by Innotec DeBlock XS https://www.innotec.eu/oth/en//deblock-oil-xs/p1858 , although not on such long bolts as the Rotoflex ones.

Worth a try?   I heat and spray, cool, repeat and leave.    Could need a long leave with these!

Another 'dodge' is to build a collar around one end of the bolt housing, in clay, putty, BluTac, so that the part can be left with a small pool of the releasing agent above it, to percolate through.

JOhn

[PeteH]

I know there are many "formula`s" for the "ideal penetrant" (K-Y. not withstanding) But A mix of Diesel and light lubricant was a "staple" when corrosion due to sea water was an issue?.

Pete

[Sandgroper]

My mentor in my younger days was an uncle who served as an Army mechanic through WW2. He soaked  resistant bolts etc in a recipe that, sadly, went with him to his grave. The only thing that I remember was that it took days!!!

[ed.h]

One popular home brew penetrant is just ATF (Automatic Transmission Fluid) mixed with some combination of acetone, kerosene, and/or mineral spirits.  If mild anti rust properties are needed, lanolin is sometimes added.

Ed

[Ian Smith]

I've got this as an upcoming job on my car. I wondered if mounting a new bolt into a lathe, centre, and drilling a small  2.5mm hole down the centre, with a cross drill operation at the point where the hub reaches it's middle length. Then, tap & install a suitable grease nipple into the hex portion of the bolt head. 

I've had to make similar jobs before, but this will be the first time for this particular application. Opinions, please?

Cheers,

Ian.

[Gary Flinn]

3 minutes ago, Ian Smith said:

I've got this as an upcoming job on my car. I wondered if mounting a new bolt into a lathe, centre, and drilling a small  2.5mm hole down the centre, with a cross drill operation at the point where the hub reaches it's middle length. Then, tap & install a suitable grease nipple into the hex portion of the bolt head. 

I've had to make similar jobs before, but this will be the first time for this particular application. Opinions, please?

Cheers,

Ian.

Ian

A solution I opted for and had read about in a previous Courier Magazine from the 1980's was to drill and tap for a Grease nipple to the centre of the Vertical link, once a year I pumped in a combination of Grease and EP90 Oil and could see it oozing out each side😁

This was done in conjunction with a couple of rotations of the long bolt too help circulate the lubricant

Not sure if it got as far as the Trunnions in the Lower wishbones but the bolt never seized so I reckon it did🙂

Gary  

[NonMember]

I'd feel happier about Gary's solution as it doesn't involve weakening the bolt. The VL is a pretty chunky casting and the new hole is small and short.

[Bob Horner]

I had this issue recently. The wishbone bolts came out ok but the radius arm bracket/damper bolt was utterly solid in both. Unfortunately the brackets had sheared so needed replacement. Took them to a local garage.  He put them in a press added pressure and then heated them and they slowly exited..  Came out in no time.  In fact, I dropped them off on way to work at 9.00am and he dropped them back in a box at my work still warm at 9.45 and said no charge!  I bought him a couple of bottles!

Bob 

[Ian Smith]

49 minutes ago, Bob Horner said:

I had this issue recently. The wishbone bolts came out ok but the radius arm bracket/damper bolt was utterly solid in both. Unfortunately the brackets had sheared so needed replacement. Took them to a local garage.  He put them in a press added pressure and then heated them and they slowly exited..  Came out in no time.  In fact, I dropped them off on way to work at 9.00am and he dropped them back in a box at my work still warm at 9.45 and said no charge!  I bought him a couple of bottles!

Bob 

Bartering at its very best!