hatch77

Ok before anyone says "get a pair of vise-grips you idiot"; this bolt is fucked. Proper fucked. Because i already TRIED the vise grips....but only after exhausting every option i had.

I was installing a rear strut tower brace and every bolt came off fine. I hosed them down with PB blaster pretty good because bronze nuts (haha) have a tendency to stick after they've been torqued like a mofo. Every other one came off fine ("sweet, this is going to be an easy install..." it's a strut tower brace, how hard can it be right? wrong, bitch)

I get to the last one...the FINAL one... and i can't get it off. I tried open end wrenches, deep well sockets, tapping on it with a hammer...I sat out there for three motherfucking hours trying to get it to loosen. And so finally i walked inside and got my secret weapon (vise grips) thinking to myself "This won't take long...I'll just get a new nut tomm at the dealership..."

But even those couldn't get it off. The hexagon shape of the nut is now a circle. Perhaps i should go and buy a cheap 13mm socket and form it over the nut with a hammer? Anyone know of any shops that could take it off wthout charging an arm and a leg? I feel so stupid, but I tried best i could. Thanks in advance for your help!

crxnfx

when I've encountered shit like that, mister dremel and his amazing metal cutting disc is where its at. but thats just me. If your going to get another nut, why not?

hatch77

I'm afraid that i might damage the threads on the struts or something...

crxnfx

just be careful. The cool thing about the dremel is the control you have over it. I did two tie rod bolts and I didn't mar either one of them, and that was after 1 hour of dremeling, some awesome hot chocolate, and the fact that it was 6 in the morning!

hatch77

sweet, I'll give that a shot this afternoon. Thanks dude

crxnfx

yep, just go slow. You'll be able to see how far your going. I was underneath the car, inside the wheel well, and we watched it cut away. Hell, since its under so much pressure, once you get to a point, it will pop off. Its pretty cool

Brock Obama

try the Craftsman EZ out set.... works wonders!

bigd0915

well you say its a bold to start with and then it turns into a nut.

if its a bolt, i would recommend using a EZ-out, be careful not to brake it though. if you end up breaking it that will be a bitch..

it its a nut, use a dremel like has been mentioned, or i have had success using bolt cutters to break the nuts off.

yeer

theres already a thread about stripped nuts and bolts just 2 days ago. but use the craftsman EZ out socket set and you'll get it off. If you go to home depot they have the same socket set just a different brand and probably cheaper.

i got off both of my stripped header nuts with it.

yeer

umm.......yea you can cut the nut off with a dremel but you risk the chance of messing up the threads.