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Loosen my nuts

Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2008 7:42 pm
by Jolly Rogers
I am trying to remove my sidesteps on my Bongo. I managed to get one side off no problem. The other side all the bolts on the other side won't budge :oops: , Any idea how I can loosen them? The bolts have cross head on them, maybe impact screwdriver :? or spray them with somehing so I can loosen my nuts [-X The ones on the sidesteps :oops:

Re: Loosen my nuts

Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2008 7:44 pm
by westonwarrior
can allways drill them off

why you removing them?

Re: Loosen my nuts

Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2008 8:08 pm
by Jolly Rogers
Me use a drill near my beloved Bongo :shock:

I want to replace the rusted bolts with some nice shiny ones :oops:

Re: Loosen my nuts

Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2008 8:55 pm
by ford tinny
Hello,
I replaced rusty old bolts on my sidesteps too with nice stainless steel ones
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/M8-X-30-A4-GRADE- ... m153.l1262

Two packets of the above

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/8mm-STAINLESS-STE ... m153.l1262

Two packets of the above

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/M8-STAINLESS-WASH ... m153.l1262

One packet of the above
Looks fantastic and no more rusty bolts EVER!!!!!!
Thanks John

Re: Loosen my nuts

Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2008 11:02 pm
by cheffy34
Jolly Rogers wrote:Me use a drill near my beloved Bongo :shock:

I want to replace the rusted bolts with some nice shiny ones :oops:
better option than a chizel and gentle persauder :D

Re: Loosen my nuts

Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 1:47 am
by bigdaddycain
Try tightening the bolts, then loosening. Make or Break (literally).

Also try centre punching the very centre of the bolt,(carefully!) Sometimes, (in conjucntion with penetrating fluid), this can persuade the "seal" to be broken...

Re: Loosen my nuts

Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 12:47 pm
by tricky
ford tinny wrote:Hello,
I replaced rusty old bolts on my sidesteps too with nice stainless steel ones
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/M8-X-30-A4-GRADE- ... m153.l1262

Two packets of the above

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/8mm-STAINLESS-STE ... m153.l1262

Two packets of the above

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/M8-STAINLESS-WASH ... m153.l1262

One packet of the above
Looks fantastic and no more rusty bolts EVER!!!!!!
Thanks John
Careful now. Putting Stainless together with Mild steel can result in galvanic corrosion of the mild steel. If the Stainless is a bolt and the Mild is the body of the vehicle you may end up with more costly corrosion than that of a bolt. The Mild steel can corrode sacrificially to the Stainless as it is more reactive. With the amount of salty water on out roads in winter this could be a costly cosmetic gain. The relative mass of the anode versus the cathode affects the rate or occurance of corrosion so you might get away with it if the bolts are small in mass versus the area to which it is attached.

You'd probably be safer using zinc galvanized bolts, where the zinc plating is designed to be sacrificial to the steel (being more reactive).

I've noticed rapid corrosion of the screws used to attach my Fiamma F45 awning to the stainless brackets due to the meeting of non-reactive stainless with the mild steel screws.

Re: Loosen my nuts

Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 1:10 pm
by Jolly Rogers
Well no success as yet :( I have managed to blunt 3 drill bits #-o , off to buy some more drill bits wish me luck [-o<

Re: Loosen my nuts

Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 1:20 pm
by bigdaddycain
Did you centre punch the boltheads first JR? Use the narrowest drill bit you think you can get away with at first, once you have made a small hole, you have a better purchase for a bigger drill bit.

Re: Loosen my nuts

Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 1:29 pm
by Jolly Rogers
These bolts have phillips crosshead on them. I started off with a small drill bit and worked up to bigger one, Still managed to blunt my drill bits and annoy my neighbours with all the noise :roll:

Re: Loosen my nuts

Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 1:40 pm
by francophile1947
Can't you get a small grinder to them?

Re: Loosen my nuts

Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 3:18 pm
by Jolly Rogers
Don't own one :( also she is lowered so nut much room underneath 8)

Re: Loosen my nuts

Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2008 12:04 am
by bigdaddycain
I don't have original sidesteps fitted, are the bolts conventional heads with a cross-headed centre? I'm guessing the bot heads have rounded off? Is there enough room to get a pair of vice grips on them? It may shear the heads,but at least you'll have a (hopefully) clean flat surface to work with [-o< [-o< [-o<

Re: Loosen my nuts

Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2008 5:59 pm
by Jolly Rogers
They are round headed bolts with cross head in them. They just don't want to budge](*,) I want to put them on my Aft. Still trying to convince her in doors to let me keep the Bongolow she's gorgeous ooh and so is the wife.