Sheared Bolt

[Keggers]

Hi All

I've just been stupid enough to shear off one of the bolts on one of the rear anti-roll bar mounts. Part number 4 in the picture below.

Is it safe to drive the car with only one of the bolts holding the ARB mount on (although there are still two on the left side mount), assuming I'm not driving at the limit?

Also, am I better taking this to my mechanic to try to extract whats left of the bolt, or are the "bolt extractor" tools (the ones where you drill into the bolt with a reverse thread and then wind the sheared bolt back out with it) that you can get from Halfords actually worth trying?

Thanks for any help.

Greg

 

[Keggers]

Was just thinking about this after I posted and have just gone to have another look. Turns out the length of the bolt that has snapped off and come out is shorter than part 3 in the picture, so I reckon if I remove other bolt and take part 3 off, there should be enough bolt left poking out for me to grab it with some multi-grip pliers and turn it back out. Will have to give it a try in the morning. Fingers crossed!

 

[johnk]

would douse it in lube though because you have a steel bolt in an aluminium housing but touch wood you should have enough bolt left to get grips on it

 

[NXI20]

If you have an angle-grinder, you could cut a couple of flats to ensure a proper grip. Either that or the traditional "weld a nut" approach.

 

[Keggers]

Crisis averted thankfully!!

There was about 3mm of bolt still poking out. A load of penetrating spray and some heat from a blowtorch and I was able to screw it out with some lock-grip pliers. Just need to get myself a new bolt and I'm back in action.

Thanks for the advice guys.