[TouregNewbie]

Hi all,

I went to change pads and discs on my 06 Touareg and found one of the discs had a rounded head on the bolt that keeps the disc to the hub and tried a few things to remove it but haven't succeeded so far so i put the wheel back on with my DeWalt impact wrench. I've gone today to take the wheel off to try something else and found that i couldn't get 3 of the bolts out even with a fully charged 4Ah battery and the setting on high impact. I rolled the car forward and backwards a few times and got one of the 3 out but no matter how much i "impact" the other 2 i can't get them to budge.
I've always used this impact wrench and it's worked fine but not now. I've also tried a breaker bar with no success so am i better off taking it to a garage and get them to use their air wrenches ? Also what would i be looking at as a rough guide price to obviously get the wheel off, the old disc locking bolt off (i'm suspecting they'll have to weld something to it) and get them to change the disc (i have the disc but will obviously just get them to pop it on) ?
Thanks

 

[chewblekka]

So you didn't use a torque wrench to properly re-install the lug bolts, just brapped them on for several ugga-duggas. Interesting choice.

Use a breaker bar and a piece of pipe, some muscle, and they should come right off. Unless you cross-threaded them during improper installation.

Why would you weld anything to the rotor bolt? Use a 5/16" drill bit to drill off the head of the bolt. Should take 6 seconds with a half-sharp drill bit.

 

[New2Tregs]

Hi all,

I went to change pads and discs on my 06 Touareg and found one of the discs had a rounded head on the bolt that keeps the disc to the hub and tried a few things to remove it but haven't succeeded so far so i put the wheel back on with my DeWalt impact wrench. I've gone today to take the wheel off to try something else and found that i couldn't get 3 of the bolts out even with a fully charged 4Ah battery and the setting on high impact. I rolled the car forward and backwards a few times and got one of the 3 out but no matter how much i "impact" the other 2 i can't get them to budge.
I've always used this impact wrench and it's worked fine but not now. I've also tried a breaker bar with no success so am i better off taking it to a garage and get them to use their air wrenches ? Also what would i be looking at as a rough guide price to obviously get the wheel off, the old disc locking bolt off (i'm suspecting they'll have to weld something to it) and get them to change the disc (i have the disc but will obviously just get them to pop it on) ?
Thanks

Usually for stuck bolts that hold the rotor to the hub you would use a hammer style impact driver. If you've rounded one of the heads you can find the biggest torx bit that just about fits and tap it in place, then use the impact driver to loosen the bolt. This has always worked for me on past cars.
As far as the lug bolts, as mentioned if you didn't cross thread them when you installed them just use a long pipe on the breaker bar and apply sustained pressure. You could also try tapping on the lug bolts in case they're rusted and it'll help break up the rust to free them.

 

[TommiT]

And torque them correctly in future!

 

[TouregNewbie]

Thanks but yes, I've tried larger Torx and tapped it in but it wouldn't budge and I've also got a set of the reverse threaded removal bits (where you drill a pilot hole and screw it in on reverse) but the head of that snapped off in the hole (so there' no hole whatsoever in the head of the bolt now). The head was rounded off by whoever changed them before me but I've also got a grinder and cut a slot in the head to use a demolition screwdriver to remove it but although the screwdriver fits in the slot perfectly and i can get a big amount of leverage on there it just won't move so I'm not sure if THAT has been cross threaded in there or if they've used Loctite red or something on there (not sure if that would stop it coming off) but yeah, I ran the impact wrench on it but obviously got to learn from that (I guess as I've always seen garages put them on with them i thought it was fine) but if they WERE cross threaded then i'd expect them to come out at least even if the thread is broke.
And yes, I've also tried a breaker bar with a scaffolding pole on with all my weight on but no dice.
I've taken the wheel off and on a few times over the past few weeks to change the pads etc so i doubt they're rusted.
I think I'll give the garage a call and see what they say.
Thanks both

 

[rgh0]

I have never seen a wheel bolt not break loose with a long enough breaker bar and enough weight on the end. Even one that's been hammered up to ridiculous tightness with an impact wrench. A 100kg person bouncing on the end of a 2 metre bar with a good quality 1/2 inch drive socket will break loose or sheer off any wheel bolt.

As for removing the small screw that holds the brake disk in place when the wheel bolts are removed if the socket is damaged so nothing fits to get good torque on it, just drill off the head and remove the disk and then tackle the remnants of the securing screw with heat and drills and all the other tool options to get it out

cheers
Rohan

 

[TouregNewbie]

Thanks RGH0, i might leave some WD40 soaking into into the bolts for a day or two then and have another go (and i am 100kg) i was going to try and drill or grind the head off anyway but obviously without getting the wheel off then it was a non-starter.
I've learnt my lesson putting them on with an impact wrench but again I've not seen ANY bolt this wrench can't get off so wondered if there was another reason.

 

[buckwheat]

You can always put the breaker bar/lug wrench on the car and drive the car forward or backward (more controllable is to jack the car up and lower it with the wrench on and foot firmly on the brakes). Do not be surprised if you break the lug bolt.

In the future, on rotor screws, use a punch and a big hammer to wallop on the side of the screw head (not inside the torx head) to break the rust free prior to attempting to unscrew. And make sure to use a quality tool with a good fit.

 

[WolverineFW]

Well nobody asked yet......lefty loosey? [emoji854]

Sent from my SM-G965W using Tapatalk

 

[New2Tregs]

Well nobody asked yet......lefty loosey? [emoji854]

Sent from my SM-G965W using Tapatalk

Good point.

 

[TouregNewbie]

lol....yes....lefty loosey I managed to get that bit right.
I have JUST a few minutes ago managed to get them off...i tried with my 1m breaker bar and an extension pole and a few bounces but nothing apart from a springy pole and breaker bar so i had an idea and got a smaller rachet arm (about the length of half the wheel width) and put the handbrake on and then used the jack to jack the arm of the wrench up and thats worked ! I think it's obviously better to have a shorter "arm" as there's less to bend but then obviously you need a lot more force but it worked a treat so hopefully that might help someone i the future.
I did cut a groove in the torx bolt and got a good screwdriver in there with a decent hammer right on the side but again it didn't budge but not sure (as you said BuckWheat) if hitting it there might not be the best position but i'm going to cut the head of it this weekend and then see if i can get the remainder off with some grips but i'll post back as to my success or relative failure.......Thanks again all !

 

[SaVAGeSoot]

I'm sure you also used anti-seize compound on the bolts the last time you impacted them on right?

 

[New2Tregs]

I'm going to guess that anti-seize was the last thing that came to mind when brapping the lug bolts on.

 

[TommiT]

There's a school of thought that says that in order to get the correct torque lugs/wheel bolts/studs/nuts should be dry otherwise they may be over-tightened.

 

[rgh0]

Actual bolt tension load varies about +/- 50% for the same bolt torque depending on multiple factors. Using anti-seize with the specified torque may result in more clamping load than originally targeted with dry clean threads on the factory assembly line but I don't think this is really a problem and enables easier removal in the corrosive environments most of you live in and avoids thread galling on assembly which was probably the problem in this case

Do VW actually specify a bolt condition and lubrication corresponding to the specified bolt torque for the wheel bolts as I have never seen it ?

cheers
Rohan

 

[SaVAGeSoot]

There's a school of thought that says that in order to get the correct torque lugs/wheel bolts/studs/nuts should be dry otherwise they may be over-tightened.

Come drive in my hood for a year and let me now how your seasonal wheel swap or any wheel removal goes for you with your properly torqued dry lugs (or any fastener for that matter)

 

[New2Tregs]

There's a school of thought that says that in order to get the correct torque lugs/wheel bolts/studs/nuts should be dry otherwise they may be over-tightened.

That's what I had come to know also. I don't add it to mine and have not had a problem removing the lug bolts, provided they were properly torqued in the first place. Even with the weather I get in my area.

 

[paul.h.brown]

Use something other than WD40 to free up frozen threads. Kroil or PB Blaster, according to tests I've seen.

 

[gazaflash]

You could also try a ½” impact screwdriver. Used on a lot of motorcycles. Fit the correct bit, select the correct rotation (CCW) insert bit into seized screw, grip the screwdriver really tight and hit the end with a big hammer really hard! The sliding mechanism in the screwdriver wil rotate the bit CCW and the impact will loosen the screw

 

[gregbrown697]

You could also try a ½” impact screwdriver. Used on a lot of motorcycles. Fit the correct bit, select the correct rotation (CCW) insert bit into seized screw, grip the screwdriver really tight and hit the end with a big hammer really hard! The sliding mechanism in the screwdriver wil rotate the bit CCW and the impact will loosen the screw

Used many times when the manufactures fitted phillips head screws to the cases - or a hammer and cold chisel on the side of the screw and replace them with allen headed bolts