My nuts have seized .........
dilemna
Posts: 2,187
Two bolts which secure the rear rack and mudguard on two bikes snapped recently when I was trying to remove them. I was gentle and did not use a f*ck off spanner for a tiny nut, honest. Anyway they were mild steel Allen key headed cap bolts. One offered a lot of resistance to turning despite gently turning back and forth and applying WD40, the other was totally seized. I cut the head off this latter one to get the rack and mudguard stay off. I then replaced just the mudguard stay so I could ride the bike using a nut and spring washer to hold the stay on the seized bolt minus head that remained. But there still remained the problem of how to get the remainder of these bolts out of the bike frames. Both on the rear non drive side strangely.
I grease all bolts before assembling but I guess not touching them for at least 5 years is not a good thing grease or no grease. I cut off the one that had totally seize flush at the frame with a small hacksaw.
So I then was ready to drill them both out. I lay the bike on it's drive side supporting the rear stays and chain stay, a large rag to stop swarf getting into the hub seals or drive chain, then started drilling with a very small drill bit on a low speed to obtain a central pliot hole and stop the hole wondering as I drilled, gradually increasing drill bit sizes to the required hole size. With a bit of patience and care I managed to drill out the remains of the snapped bolts. I then used a stainless steel bolt and nut to re-secure the rack and mudguard stay on both bikes. Good as new, better in fact, as I have used stainless steel nuts and bolts and copper slip. I'm rather chuffed. I can't imagine any LBS doing anywhere near half as good a job.
But moral of the story is periodically, I'd say annually, remove all the little bolt fittings that screw into your bike frame, or any other nuts and bolts, and lubricate them with grease or anti-seize compound, otherwise, if you neglect them, as a few seasons go by, they will seize solid in the frame and present a real problem when you come to or have to remove them.
I grease all bolts before assembling but I guess not touching them for at least 5 years is not a good thing grease or no grease. I cut off the one that had totally seize flush at the frame with a small hacksaw.
So I then was ready to drill them both out. I lay the bike on it's drive side supporting the rear stays and chain stay, a large rag to stop swarf getting into the hub seals or drive chain, then started drilling with a very small drill bit on a low speed to obtain a central pliot hole and stop the hole wondering as I drilled, gradually increasing drill bit sizes to the required hole size. With a bit of patience and care I managed to drill out the remains of the snapped bolts. I then used a stainless steel bolt and nut to re-secure the rack and mudguard stay on both bikes. Good as new, better in fact, as I have used stainless steel nuts and bolts and copper slip. I'm rather chuffed. I can't imagine any LBS doing anywhere near half as good a job.
But moral of the story is periodically, I'd say annually, remove all the little bolt fittings that screw into your bike frame, or any other nuts and bolts, and lubricate them with grease or anti-seize compound, otherwise, if you neglect them, as a few seasons go by, they will seize solid in the frame and present a real problem when you come to or have to remove them.
Life is like a roll of toilet paper; long and useful, but always ends at the wrong moment. Anon.
Think how stupid the average person is.......
half of them are even more stupid than you first thought.
Think how stupid the average person is.......
half of them are even more stupid than you first thought.
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