So, I'm reinstalling the differential cover on my rear axle and things are going great. I use some blue form-a-gasket and slap the cover on. Put all the bolts in and grab the torque wrench for the first go-around at 20 ft/lbs to be followed up by a second round at the specified 30 ft/lbs. After the first pass I give the wrench a quick twist to set it to the next reading. I hit the first bolt and keep waiting for the click. I give it another turn and it starts to feel mushy. Uh-oh. Then, SNAP! I unleash a stream of explitives, some of which are still hanging in the air out in the shed. The bolt broke clean off in the housing. I tighten the remaining bolts but not quite to torque thinking maybe I read the specs wrong.

About this time, my wife calls me on the walkie-talkie to tell me it's bedtime for the boys and time to read stories. I sulk inside muttering under my breath. There must have been a cloud of doom hanging over me because the dog ran away with his tail between his legs when I opened the door. Story time was a welcome diversion. Otherwise, I might have chucked the whole friggin' axle in the creek that has been steadily overflowing the last couple days. Maybe I should be building an ark instead.

After the kids were put to bed, I got out the shop manual thinking I might have read ft/lbs when it should have been inch/lbs. No, I read the manual right. I head back out to the shed and check my torque wrench. What?! It was set to 40 ft/lbs. After hitting myself in the head with the wrench several times in a fit of self punishment, I set it to 30 ft/lbs and torqued the remaining bolts vowing to doublecheck the settings in the future.

It took about two hours to get the broken bolt out. I drilled it using progressively larger bits and chased the threads with a tap. I own one thread tap and miracle of miracles it was the right size! Unfortunately, I broke another bolt that must have been weakened by the aforementioned antics. I'll borrow Dad's EZ-Out for that one. Shouldn't take nearly as long. I'll probably replace all the bolts now just to be safe. Fortunately, the ones that broke were at the top of the cover where the seal isn't as critical. Hopefully the other bolts held it tight enough while the sealant cured. I was pretty bummed that I wasted two hours on account of my own stupidity. Ah well, it makes for good FTE fodder.



Kevin Kessler
1953 Ford F-100

 

I can relate to your story Kevin. I broke off the bolt that holds in the distributor down when I went to loosen it for timing adjustments.

I had no idea how far in it was braoken off and I was as scared as heck when I redrilled the hole for tapping. I knew the water jacket was behind where I was drilling.

I'm soaking all the bolts no matter where they are on this truck from now on before I try to loosen them.

I'm replacing everybolt I take out with new ones too.

Todd

 

Speaking of bolts...

When I was removing the fenders on my F1, I fiddled with the first one for probably 45 minutes trying to get it off. Brushed what threads were showing and sprayed with plenty of penetrating oil. Rounded the flats off and had to use a chisle. 50 years of grit and grime was like JB Weld. Quickly calculated this was going to take a while and needed abetter mousetrap.

Solution--tighten the @#$% out of them until they broke. Took 5 minutes a piece. A real "snap"! (Sorry! Couldn't resist!)

Tim

 

Kevin, after readin my post about last night I can't belive you consider your error stupid. Pretty sure I got ya beat on stupid.
Oh well we do love our trucks
P.S. thanks for the kind words in my post
Mike

 

I thought I was the only one! Welcome to the club.

 

Liked your story. I can relate, your not the lone ranger out there. measure twice cut once...how's that go..

 

BTDT Anyone who says they haven't is either a liar or doesn't even know which end of a screwdriver to use! Breaking them off like Tim did is actually the best way to remove small (<1/4") bolts where you can get to both sides, you're not going to reuse them anyway. Be sure to buy 6 point box wrenches and sockets for dissasembly work. Sometimes you can use a metric wrench on an SAE bolt to get a tighter fit, or tap the socket on with a hammer.
As far as the broken cover bolts, three things: 1 replace all the bolts with new ones of at least grade 5. 2 I would have pulled the cover back off, you likely would have had enough bolt sticking thru inside to unscrew into the rear end with a small pair of vise grips or possibly even your fingers, or failing that I would have tried cutting some teeth into a piece of tubing or rod slightly smaller than the bolt size like a tiny hole saw, chucked it in a drill and used it to drive the bolt stub right out the back. finally if those didn't work and it was flush I would have used a Dremel cut off wheel to cut a screw slot across the end of it. Even if you cut into the housing a little on each side of the hole it wouldn't hurt anything as long as you cut it parallel to the opening in the housing the gasket sealer would have taken care of it. Easy outs should be a last resort or used where the hole is blind. As they twist into the hole in the bolt their taper expands it, making it even tighter and harder to get out.

 

Kevin,

At least you found your mistake and won't make it again. I swear I have a neighbor who follows the old "Tighten it just until it strips, then back it off 1/4 turn" rule. The worst part is, he just keeps on doing it. So far, I've been able to avoid all his offers to "help" me with Earl. He has borrowed my tools on at least four occasions to repair his handiwork. That's how I know he keeps on doing it.

On the subject of easy-outs, I never got the hang of them. I don't think I ever successfully got a bolt out using one. I have, however, successfully broken off at least a dozen easy-outs trying. That has allowed me to sharpen my skills at removing the broken-off, hardened steel easy-out cores, along with drilled-out bolt threads. I own a lot of stock in the company that makes diamond-tipped Dremel bits.

Sorry you had the setback, but, at least you aren't dealing with some hole under the exhaust manifold where you have about 1/2" clearance to work.

 

Or as my father used to say, " no matter how many times I cut it, it's still too short!"

 

George, you should try getting out a broken # 75 drill bit (about twice the diameter of a hair) out of a piece of jewelry without enlarging the hole!

 

"On the subject of easy-outs, I never got the hang of them. I don't think I ever successfully got a bolt out using one."

I agree George. If a fastener is seized enough to snap, an EZ out will usually break too. I usually just drill them until they are paper thin, and then unscrew the bolt shell with a pick. You have to be deadcenter with your drill, which isn't the easiest task. Left hand drill bits are handy for this task. On a good day, the fastener just spins itself out when hole gets close to fastener diameter.

Kevin,

Get a little 1/4" ratchet. That is all you need to tighten 99% of the covers in this world.

 

Yeah, I agree. Anything smaller than about a #60 drives me nuts nowadays - even just drilling the hole. At work we deal with tiny, fiddly stuff and my eyesight is getting so bad I have to let the young folks do all the work now. At home, I have to use my "bug eyes" as my daughter calls my magnifiers.

 

Not even the dumbest trick Kevin. On Monday I was re-installing my engine and had it all bolted up to the tranny and went to put the bolts in the torque convertor and I had forgot to put the FLYWHEEL on the engine. What a bonehead. I must have has a loss of oxygen to the the brain. ( for real ) It's 4 LPM from now on when out in shop.

 

U should been at my shop to day.. Busted *** all day rigging a new Merc 225hp Black max on a G5 and after ding all the work and set up.. Testing and running.. I found Out I pulled the Wrong Customer boat.. So now I have to derigg it in the morning and Put in on the right Boat

 

sounds like everyone has their stories.......I've got planty of my own! Easy out - Ha, Gunna drive you bannanas and make things worse, while costing you a fortune OUT!