Idiot attempts elementary car maintenance. Contains VAG shite & ham-fistedness.

[worldofceri]

Nobody rethreads using taps anymore? I'm talking about this type of tools.

 

I've got an M10 tap, but as Hooli says, I need to use the same bolts.  The existing thread is too far gone to just clean up with an M9 tap.

[hpi_matrix]

Fuck, what a nightmare. Glad you shared this, I think i'll splash out on the £30 labour at my local garage when the ones on my seat leon need doing.

[Pillock]

I'm equally hamfisted and I did my Leon ones OK when a pad fell out on the M1 and made my driver's seat all squishy.

 

I think the issue here is a previous bodger has overtightened it and buggered the thread so it only took a bit more before it ripped out. Probably had a 7mm Allen key and a 6ft breaker bar on the end

 

Can't see OP has done anything wrong to provoke this, just one of the joys of working on shite.

[steveo3002]

Fuck, what a nightmare. Glad you shared this, I think i'll splash out on the £30 labour at my local garage when the ones on my seat leon need doing.

they'l just want to sell you new hubs if that happens

[scaryoldcortina]

I think the issue here is a previous bodger has overtightened it and buggered the thread so it only took a bit more before it ripped out. Probably had a 7mm Allen key and a 6ft breaker bar on the end

I'd guess crossthreading, either this time or previously. The slider bolt is hardened steel, the hub carrier is cast monkey metal and it can be a pita to line them up because of the rubber collar around the slider and the springs pushing the caliper away from the pad. It's really easily done.

[Barry Cade]

They are easy to cross thread,if the caller isn't fully home (usually need a smack with the flat of your hand) the slider goes in squiffy and the threads are so shite it just feels a little tight but will go tight..then the next poor bugger gets the headache.

 

Edit..Lol, just read your post SOC.

[worldofceri]

I didn't realise how critical it is to get them lined up perfectly so I'm sure I cross threaded them through being too gung-ho.  It's difficult to 'feel' the bolt into the thread because it's passing through the rubber guide thingummy. 

 

I've just got back from doing the other side, and having taken the trouble to clean the threads up as well as possible and get everything lined up perfectly, I could just about screw the bolts in by hand.  So if this side is cross threaded then we know that VAG hubs really are made of cheese.

 

It's a bit of a shite design really as it doesn't feel like it's been put together properly even when it has.

[twosmoke300]

Bit of rubber / silicone grease on the slider bolts really helps here . NOT COPPERSLIP OR GREASE 

[SiC]

they'l just want to sell you new hubs if that happens

But at least you won't need the, now broken, car to obtain that hub and also get it quickly.

[steveo3002]

I didn't realise how critical it is to get them lined up perfectly so I'm sure I cross threaded them through being too gung-ho. 

you'll soon learn after a few fuck ups....slow down and start everything by hand etc

[worldofceri]

That's part of the problem, it's difficult to get a hold of them to start 'em by hand.  I prefer carpentry where you can fix a stripped thread with a bit of matchstick.

 

Anyway, I have a s/h hub from a breaker now.  The lad was still stripping it off the strut when I arrived.  He had a bit of a game getting the caliper off, which doesn't bode well, but hopefully that's just because it's been sitting around a long time.

 

He said mkiv bits are just going in the skip now because no-one wants them.

[Lacquer Peel]

I had this happen to an Octavia. The hub needed a new bearing so I took it in, it was re-tapped and fine until OMGHGF.

 

Also, VAG SHITE.

[worldofceri]

Got a bit of time to mess about with this today...

 

Why is it that the most straightforward tasks are a major pita whereas something you think will be difficult turns out a doddle?

 

The splash guard thingy on the back of the new hub I've bought is completely mullered, so I need to swap them over.  This involves three 8mm bolts that are - obviously - completely rusted in place.  Judicious application of wire brush and penetrating oil was only successful with one of them.  The other two eventually yielded with a combination of hacksaw, drill (broke an expensive DeWalt bit), molegrips and hammering-a-smaller-socket.  (Yes, I achieved something by the apocryphal method of hammering-a-smaller... Do I win a prize?)

 

I must have spent at least an hour dicking about with them.

 

By contrast, I fully expected to struggle getting the hub-nut undone, but I managed it in two minutes, using only the tools in the photo.  Win!

 

 

The aforementioned dicking about meant I ran out of time and light shortly after, so I just doused everything else in penetrating oil and cracked all the bolts off that I anticipate having to disturb.  I think I might struggle with the pinch bolt that attaches the hub to the strut so I left it for now as I couldn't really see what I was doing.

 

Onwards and upwards.

[Richard]

I don't know if it would have helped in this instance but these are shit hot http://www.irwin.com/tools/screw-bolt-extractors/5-pc-bolt-grip-base-set and http://www.irwin.com/tools/screw-bolt-extractors/5-pc-bolt-grip-expansion-set

 

I've only used mine a couple of times but they have saved a load of grief. This kind of thing works well too http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Impact-Stud-Extractor-Removal-1-2-Drive-For-6-13mm-Studs-Bolts-/381821115162?hash=item58e64fdb1a:g:orQAAOSwvg9XbVLz

[worldofceri]

Had another crack at this yesterday...

 

Action shot of hammering a smaller socket... to get the splash guard off.

 

 

As I'm now beyond the reach of my previous experience I'm proceeding very cautiously.  Had another trip to Halfords to get a deep socket to get the pinch bolt undone that holds the hub to the strut.  They don't sell an 18mm singly so I had to buy a set of eight or ten.  They'll be well handy in future though.

 

Unfortunately I've now been defeated by the track control arm ball joint...  The hex hole in the bottom is rounded so I can't grip it to turn the bolt.  I assume I'm going to have to hacksaw it off and acquire a new track rod end.

 

Ebay prices for tre's seem to vary massively.  Should I go for any particular brand or just the cheapest?  I think I'll probably go to my local factors and take whatever they sell me; they always seem to supply decent quality stuff when I've been in for filters and batteries and what have you.,

[steveo3002]

would a nut splitter fit ?

[Richard]

Can you post a picture of the bit you're having trouble with? Normally you can deal with spinning ball joints by forcing the ball joint into the taper. If the ball joint points up that's simple to do with a jack, if it points down it can be done with creative use of vice grips or G clamps.

[Dave_Q]

Think the ballpoint points up on these so I would get a trolley jack underneath it as suggested by Richard.

Alternatively some track rod ends have a flat on the back side by the boot that you can get a 17ish open ended spanner onto - not always obvious when assembled but try jamming one in there.

[Dave_Q]

Mind you, I have also been known to go straight for the grinder if I can get it in there and I know I'm replacing it anyway.

[worldofceri]

Can you post a picture of the bit you're having trouble with?

 

Phone battery died yesterday so not my picture.  This is stolen from the interweb but shows what I'm trying to do.

 

[worldofceri]

Mind you, I have also been known to go straight for the grinder if I can get it in there and I know I'm replacing it anyway.

 

The ball joint looks in good nick to me, so don't really want to replace if I don't need to.

 

Thanks for your replies, all.  Very helpful to a dipstick like me.

[Dave_Q]

OK, getting some pressure on it from above is good, either by hand or by levering with something against the bottom of the upright or something.

Also do try lifting the boot up a bit to see if there is a flat for a spanner, there normally is on pattern ones, not sure about OE.

[steveo3002]

try hard to not muller the track rod end as its probably siezed on the rod , plus the cost of tracking etc

[worldofceri]

Yeah, hang off the TRE with one arm so your weight is on it, then undo it with the other hand.

 

My jack is jiggered so it's only just far enough off the ground to get the wheel off!

 

I don't have any clamps but I have a vice I can take off the bench and maybe rig something up.  I also have some threaded bar that I could fashion into a clamp come to think of it.

 

Thanks again.

[worldofceri]

try hard to not muller the track rod end as its probably siezed on the rod , plus the cost of tracking etc

 

Yeah, I would rather not have to try and remove the tre to be honest.

[Richard]

Try to tighten the nut right up again to pull the taper back in. Undo it until it starts to spin again, then tighten it again. Hopefully if you keep repeating that you'll get further every time and eventually get the nut off. Give the exposed threads a good clean with a wire brush too.

 

That's to go alongside the other advice, you'll probably find a combination of everybody's tips will work best.

[steveo3002]

if the jack works at all...

 

raise car and install piece of wood under tre...lower car so wood puts tension on the tre

 

or car on stands /bricks and use jack + wood /whatever to push up on it

[beko1987]

I'd get it off then just buy whatever is cheap. It'll get smashed to bits within 6 months on our lovely roads anyway, so you'll be doing it again in the summer!

 

Put a wrap of tape around the rod butted up against the end, then you should be able to turn the new one against the tape and itll be tracked up*

[steveo3002]

see any local shitters with a cordless impact will come and roar the nut off in exchange for a hand job

[scaryoldcortina]

As mentioned earlier, golf hubs are made of cheese, so  when you spin a rod end trying to get the nut off it often destroys the taper and prevents all efforts at reseating. I'd recommend a nutsplitter followed by a new hub.

 

Luckily, you are trying to change a hub