smmcla

I need some ideas on how to get this broken bolt out. The head of it busted off. I can't get the shock assembly out unless I remove this bolt. Thanks for the help.

stevieteg

If you pull the axle out of the spindle you'll be able to get the shock out with the fork still attached. Undo the lower ball joint and use a 32mm socket to undo the axle nut. Pull the spindle away from the axle and you should have enough clearance to get the whole thing out.

If you're planning on reusing the shock you can drill it out, it's a PITA but it can be done. You might be able to salvage the fork by drilling to the threads and then heating it and using a vice grips on the thread side of the bolt to turn it out.

FYI heat is your friend. If you think you're going to break another bolt, heat it up. You'll avoid a lot of these nasty time consuming, annoying situations. Your car must be pretty old and rusty because fork bolts are usually pretty easy to get out.

Good luck man! It's going to suck but don't give up.

Jockone

You might be able to cut the bolt where the split is in the fork with a grinder and a thin cutting wheel and get the fork off the strut,then you can drill whats left to use an easy-out with plenty of heat.

smmcla

thanks guys for the input

smmcla

its a 90 crx si btw

98civdx

what i would most likely do is pull the shock and fork, on the back is a slit in the fork, you may be able to get a grinder in and cut the bolt and wiggle the shock out, run to a junk yard and grab a new one.

smmcla

thanks for all the suggestions guys. I ended up taking out the axle(it was the easiest bolt haha go figure). and the LCA with the help of two jacks to get it loose.. heres some of the pics! thanks again. BTW i had to buy a new fork it wasn't salvageable.

95skunkedgsr

thats sucks but dont feel bad i complety redid all the suspension on my gsr when i got it. It came from mass. and everbolt i tell you know lie snapped if i heated or used a air gun it still broke ... i hate honda for making the bolts fluted they all rusted to the metal in the bushings i was lucky enought to retap them or use the reverse drill bit , now everything was reassembled with never seize lol

laziebun

Bring this back from the grave but I just did the same thing on my TL. What do you guys think about driving it until i get the new part?

98civdx

It's not worth the risk, I would not.

However, Honestly you would likely be fine.
The shock is still being pinched, and held into the fork.

Even then I would park the car until you can get the parts.

brucey

on some of these pinch-bolt designs there is a notch in the captive part and if the bolt is there (loose or not) the captive part is not going anywhere.... I'm not sure these parts are like this or not though.

I have found that honda-spec bolts with the 'built-in washer' type heads have a couple of interesting features. 1) I've don't think I've ever seen a Honda one this shape with a very high strength rating; in metric they are usually 8:8 or maybe 10:8... 2) they will corrode very easily along the shank if there is access for any road salt. The fork pinch bolt is like this.... here where I am in the UK a lot of people swear by a product called 'waxoyl'. Its messy to apply and stinks but it does stop rust....

The reason the bolt strength rating is important is that you can usually MIG weld quite happliy onto 8:8 and 10:8 bolts, (but not 12:9 ones; these crack when welded....). If anyone is similarly stuck I can heartily recommend using a small MIG welder to build up onto the sheared bolt end; after a while the 'blob' of weld metal can be gripped with something and the bolt will often turn quite easily. Remember that as noted above, 'heat is your friend' and you can't put heat in any more precisely than by welding onto the end of the bolt. If the threaded hole is open at the other end you can go at it both ways (although you will have to do some grinding to remove one 'blob' once the initial movement is obtained.

Large bolts like this are quite easy to weld onto; small ones....? Hmmm... I've done bolts with a 4mm dia core to them using this approach; now that was fiddly....

cheers

NorwichCadet

Have a somewhat similar issue. I tried to put the fork top bolt in the wrong side and ended up stripping out the threads in the fork so that threaded bolt could not be tightened. I put in a correct diameter threaded bolt/NUT and torked it to specs. Do you think this is ok as permanent fix or do I need to find a new fork? THANKS