Swivel ball seal retaining bolts!!

[Lionel]

Hi All,

I'm in the middle of a job to replace the driver's side swivel bearings & have struck trouble with the removal of the 8mm bolts holding the swivel seal retaining plate to the swivel housing.

These are supposed only to be torqued to 11Nm according to the manual, & they don't appear to be rusted, but I can't shift them. I've tried judiciously hitting them with a hammer but an open ended 8mm spanner or the slightly tighter fitting 5/16" are threatening to round off the hexagons. It's not one rogue one either - they are all the same!! :mad:

Anybody had trouble with these, & what is the best way to deal with them. I'm going to put some penetrene on them over night, & might try some heat, but I'm stumped at the moment. A pity really, as everything else so far has been dead easy (for a change).

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

Lionel

[Bearman]

They certainly shouldn't be that tight Lionel. Try the penetrine first and then the hot spanner. Some knob has probably loctited them with a super strength grade.:(

[Lionel]

They certainly shouldn't be that tight Lionel. Try the penetrine first and then the hot spanner. Some knob has probably loctited them with a super strength grade.:(

Actually, after I posted the "cry for help", I had a beer, thought about it for a bit, & decided I had been too judicious with the hammer! :D With the assembly off the car, I used a pin punch to give the head of each bolt a good belt, & was then able to get them to undo.

The problem is that they are flanged bolts, & with 8mm hex heads there is not a lot to get hold of to undo them. The friction between the flange & the backing plate needed to be disturbed before they would yield to the spanner. Fortunately there was no Loctite involved. ;)

I think I might try and replace them with plain M8 bolts, & use spring washers, just in case I have to undo them again in the future.

Cheers,

Lionel

[Bearman]

Actually, after I posted the "cry for help", I had a beer, thought about it for a bit, & decided I had been too judicious with the hammer!Cheers,

Lionel

There's a lot to be said for that way of thinking:D