| Author | Message | ||
     Buelltours |
wanted to quickly swap the front pads on the uly and snapped off the ball on the long allen end in the upper front caliper mounting bolt. Just spent two hours trying to get the ball out of the bolt with no luck. It moves but I have no meat to grip and my drill bits are too weak for the tool steel. Anyone has a clever way to address this? I feel pretty stupid right now.... Thanks guys!!! | ||
| Sifo |
I don't know about getting it out, but I would highly advise against using ball allens where ever possible. They not only break much more easily, but have very little contact inside the allen bolt and can easily strip out the heads. If you have a welder you could probably tack something on to pull it. Perhaps if you could screw it into a piece of wood you could swing it hard enough against anything solid to use inertia to get the ball to fly out. | ||
| Aesquire |
Try a powerful magnet. Or a drop of JBWeld on the end of a piece of stiff wire. If neither work, welding will, but chose a good welder. That's small & tough. A Bicycle builder is a god choice. Solder might work, you just have to pull it out at the right angle. The ball will only come out in one orientation, I bet. Makes it tricky. If you get a grip, you may have to rotate until it lines up to come out. And then from now on, use a regular allen for high torque applications. ( like you ever will again  ) you're not the first to do this. | ||
| Buelltours |
Thanks guys! I will try to weld to it. And yes, I won't use the ball end any more!  | ||
| Just_ziptab |
If you have a high speed Dremil,lots of small grinding stones and lots of patience.......you might grind enuf windage to get it out. Course the hex of the hole is probably twisted,so the bolt is scrap. If you do succeed at getting the ball out,warm that bolt up before you continue with a regular allen. | ||
| Xdigitalx |
I like these: Sears Craftsman T Handle Ball End Hex Key Allen Wrench Set I got mine on sale. They seem very good so far, although I haven't used them for more than removing the plastics. | ||
| Greg_e |
You should be able to get a small pick down in a corner and pop it out. Try duct tape to grab it too, or blow some compressed air down on top of it. | ||
| Ratbuell |
This is yet another example of why I keep an assortment of dental picks in the garage. $2.99 at a local hobby shop got me an assortment of four - straight, angled, curved, and angled with a tiny little hook on the end. Invaluable. | ||
| Just_ziptab |
Just for fun....wonder what a .17 Remington, shot at 3,000 feet per second would do to that pesky broken ball? | ||
| Reepicheep |
Tungsten carbide dremel bits will cut through that thing like butter. Just take your time and hollow out shaft, then thread in wood screw or something, and try and yank it out. If it pops out, yay. If not, just keep dremel carving till it falls out. You can use a punch to fold it in as well. Fortunately it's in the bolt, so you have a sacrificial margin without hurting anything. | ||
| Greg_e |
Of course there is one other choice that none of us has mentioned... Remove the bolt with a pair of pliers and insert a new bolt. You might be able to grind a slot in the bolt (which will probably remove the broken tool too) and use a screwdriver. | ||
| Spatten1 |
Can you get vice grips on the bolt? If so just get it out and replace it. | ||
| Ratbuell |
The head of the upper caliper bolt on an XB is recessed. Probably not enough to grab with vise grips. | ||
| Nobuell |
Use dremel or a cold chisel to put a slot on the top of the head. Use a hammer drive wrench to knock loose. I've done this with stripped hex socket screws back in the day. | ||
| Blake |
>>> "I have no meat to grip " This really isn't the place to air that kind of issue, is it? | ||
| Crusty |
Did you get it out yet? | ||
| Buelltours |
no, haven't had any luck yet. Tried drilling in with Cobalt drill. Not a scratch. Soldered to it. broke off. I really need to weld, but don't have a welder handy. Maybe I will bring it to a weld shop soon. Weather was so great yesterday that I took the CR and left the Uly in the Garage. And now I am swamped with work... But again thanks for all the good ideas. Oh yeah: My wife tried it with dental picks and scalpel. No luck.... It has advanced to the level of family entertainment now... | ||
| Slaughter |
You might just want to take it to an automotovie machine shop. It's a common enough task for them that I'm betting for $50 you'd be over-and-done with it. | ||
| Reepicheep |
I'm telling you the bullet shaped tungsten carbide dremel bits will cut through that thing like butter. They are small, so they will take a while, and you might want to get two in case you wear one out (though I doubt you will), but I promise that half an hour after you sit down and start carving, you will have that ball completely out (and you will also have a palm full of really annoying micro-metal slivers). | ||
| Hughlysses |
Can you drill thru the bolt from the opposite end & then use the bit to punch the broken ball out from the back side? | ||
| Whisperstealth |
I Just snapped an allen ball on my Uly. The rear peg bracket. Was trying to get it off for a new belt install. Will try some of the above advice. Problem is I Can't ride it to an auto / bike shop - because my belt is not on! - A lesson I guess I had to learn myself. |
