Snapped wheel bolts

[G5 VWS]

Has anyone got any tips as to how to remove snapped wheel bolts?

As I was taking a front wheel off this morning 3 of the bolts snapped as I was undoing them.

I was thinking of trying to weld the head back on to try and get the rest of the bolt out but not sure if this will work?

Any ideas would be a great help

Thanks

[ianaudia4]

Never had a VW or Audi wheel bolt snap in 30 years of owning over 45 cars!
Probably quicker and easier to drill out carefully!

[bengould]

You can weld to them and undo. I had to do this on a fiesta a few years ago. The heat from welding may help a little too. If you have a bit of thread left mole grips might work too.

Ben.

[G5 VWS]

Gonna try the drilling option

I've got plenty of good quality drill bits. I think on second thought welding is more hassle than its worth

[Nate]

i'd go for welding a nut onto the remaining bit of bolt. the heat from the weld will help break it loose too. drilling it there is a risk of damaging the thread inside the hub unless you're bang on centred and straight.

or you could just swap hubs

how have they got seized enough to snap? don't take this the wrong way, but are you sure you weren't doing them up? (sorry, but gotta ask!)

i'd also be inclined to bin the remaining bolts and chuck some new in. loosing a wheel ain't fun

[G5 VWS]

It is a weird one. I only put the alloys on about 3 months ago. It wasn't my car then, I did advise the owner to check the tightness of the bolts after a few miles, I'm wondering if he horsed on to them and over tightened them

It's Just the one front wheel I've had trouble with the rest are fine,on one hub 3 bolts have snapped. I've never on any car I've ever worked on snapped a single wheel bolt even on a beetle that had been sitting for 25 years. Yet 3 on one hub I wonder if they got really hot at some point??

I was going the right way, anti clockwise to undo.

Good point about drilling I'd have to be super straight with the drill.

I did have another thought of grinding a slot in them and try an impact driver to shock them loose



I

[Nate]

i've had studs snap on trucks, but they're a friction fit, and get dragged out every time the discs are changed, and regularly retorqued.

i've seen wheel bolts snap on cars, but not trying to undo them. it can happen when a bolt comes out, making the others start to work loose and the wheel shakes like hell. a mile or two up the motorway and they normally snap before they get loose enough to fall out

any sign of it having got mentally hot? brakes in a worse state than the other side, or bearing that feels like it's full of sand?

also, are they the correct bolts for the wheels (taper/flat/rounded underside of the head)

[mr.brown]

You might find it easier to replace the wheel hub. Strip everything off the wheel bearing housing, take it to a garage, get the old hub pressed out and a new one pressed in. Chances are the threads on the old one will be fubar anyway.

[G5 VWS]

Well welding option is out the window. The bolts appear to be made of some kind of alloy and are not taking a weld.

Looks like either drill them or new hubs

[ianaudia4]

Were the bolts replaced when the alloys were put on? If so must be a poor quality!

[Nate]

If the others are made of the same stuff, I'd change the whole lot

[G5 VWS]

When I put the alloys on used the existing bolts. But looking an the ones on my own (keeper) car they have vw/Audi stamped on them. These ones don't.

Once I have them all off I'm replacing the lot with genuine vw ones. Drilling seems to be working ok so far, just taking my time and using a drill bit slightly smaller than the broken bolts.

[the edmundator]

If your alloys are VW alloys then this will be fine, but they might be different bolts because the alloys need longer bolts or a different profile if they are aftermarket.

[G5 VWS]

They are bbs ra 15" 6j et35 with vw stamped on them. Think the part number is 165601025

[the edmundator]

They should be fine with VW bolts.