Why you need a torque wrench

[frolf]

Both in MN. I live in Montana now where we have snow but no salt.

[e30onBBSs]

As someone from Minnesota, this is a classic comment.

PB blaster / liquid wrench is how every project starts on Minnesota cars.

hahahahaha is it more rainy there or snowy? MA seems to be the same way. Luckily for me my town doesn't use salt so no extra rust when I will be cruising around the block ;D

[frolf]

Are you soaking everything in pb blaster before you try taking them out? If not, you definitely should or you will break every bolt on the car from the looks of it :P

As someone from Minnesota, this is a classic comment.

PB blaster / liquid wrench is how every project starts on Minnesota cars.

[e30onBBSs]

wait what inner hexagon shape? we're talking about your broken wheel bolt, right? what are you gonna hammer a socket onto? pics if you can

There is that lug and that rotor place holder allen bolt. It's rusted in there and I know they aren't supposed to be re-used. So I have 2 bolts to get out,
1. Lug bolt threads
2. and the retaining bolt, looks just like this

Since my rotors are off, I have access to the outside of this bolt, so I could probably bang a socket onto it. Yesterday I gave it a shot and it wouldn't budge, and the socket would fall off. I figure if it was wicked hot it would be more willing to form to the socket and maybe even fuse together? I also read about JB welding a bolt head onto stripped bolts like the allen one then breaker-barring them off now there is something to grab onto? Has anyone ever had success with that, or should I just get a torch because basically every bolt under the car is like these?


Thanks r3v :D

[jalopi]

wait what inner hexagon shape? we're talking about your broken wheel bolt, right? what are you gonna hammer a socket onto? pics if you can

[e30onBBSs]

Earlier I tried to drill the bolt out, would it work if I heated it then hammered on a socket? The inner hexagon shape is gone now. I want to avoid wheel bearings/ hubs if I can. Thanks Jalopi!

[jalopi]

OP i wouldn't replace the wheel bearings "just because", they don't get replaced at regular intervals, they get replaced when they make noise.

heat that bitch up, if you don't have a real torch at least use a MAP gas torch (just like a handheld propane torch from home depot, they're in yellow bottles though) and try to get the stuck bolt out.

buy yourself a decent tap & die set instead of the wheel bearings, chase the threads on the hubs and buy yourself a wheel stud conversion kit

[e30onBBSs]

Do these parts pass the r3v quality check? I don't want to put crap on my car!

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...rotor-40406121

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...FcmPHwodCTIAAw

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...nt-34111161936

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...ew-34111123072

[e30onBBSs]

For $240, you get what's in the picture, so, bearings and hub. But that's $240 for 2 FAG brand bearings. There's other brands for less money (like what you linked), but I don't know how they are in terms of quality. I generally do a search here for a given brand/part before I buy, but I'm guessing those Meyle's will be fine. If you don't have a Bentley manual yet, download one. It's available online somewhere, search for it and you'll find it. I haven't actually done wheel bearings yet, so I can't help you there.

You need new rotors for sure, your springs are rust and pretty ugly, but I'm not sure they need to be replaced immediately, unless they're a lot more rotten than they look.

I have a bentley no doubt! I think it would be a good project and I think on my passenger side it may really need them, the wheel can kinda wobble when it's off the ground. I read up on the pelican article and it sounds like it definitely be the bearing, because visually everything else seems decent although a bit rusty. I will probably leave the springs as they are for a while, the rears are going to be swapped first for more low when the time comes.

Thank you turbo and everyone else!

Ben

[rturbo 930]

For $240, you get what's in the picture, so, bearings and hub. But that's $240 for 2 FAG brand bearings. There's other brands for less money (like what you linked), but I don't know how they are in terms of quality. I generally do a search here for a given brand/part before I buy, but I'm guessing those Meyle's will be fine. If you don't have a Bentley manual yet, download one. It's available online somewhere, search for it and you'll find it. I haven't actually done wheel bearings yet, so I can't help you there.

You need new rotors for sure, your springs are rust and pretty ugly, but I'm not sure they need to be replaced immediately, unless they're a lot more rotten than they look.

[e30onBBSs]

Alright, follow me here. You said:

Unless I'm misunderstanding, you're saying here that if you can't get the rusted bolt out, that you're going to be in the market for the entire strut assembly. What I'm saying, is that if you can't get the allen bolt out (and the broken lug, let's not forget about that), that you don't need an entire strut assembly. You will only need a new hub assembly, which is also your wheel bearing. And as I said earlier, quite honestly, it's going to be easier (but more expensive) to buy a new wheel bearing and hub assembly than to deal with drilling out two bolts in your hub, which are probably rusted in solid.

Make sense?

Yea it makes sense but since I am not an expert on wheel bearings I'm not 100% sure of the procedure/ what parts come along with the wheel bearing job. Thanks for helping me learn! And the strut market would be used, but much less rusty and bad. Is $240 for the assembly as well or JUST the bearings?

Could I do this? https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...FcmPHwodCTIAAw

And new rotors/ springs from the other thread?

[ravenlord89]

Why do you think it broke? I bet it was fine then they drove it and clunk sometime later the uneven stress ripped that one off. What's your theory?

Wheel bolt heads do not shear off while driving unless there is a metric shit ton of force on them. And then they will shear together not a single bolt. That was broken off putting it in, or taking it out. Which should be well over 500ftlb of force, as unless I am mistaken the wheel bolts on these cars are grade 10.9, which means they can take an insane amount of stress before shearing.

As for snapping all of the bolts on everything on this car, it sound to me like you need to soak the entire car in PB blaster. Then you need to invest in a torch set. Fire is the magical bolt remover.

[rturbo 930]

And why are the wheel bearings important turbo? $240 is a lot!

Alright, follow me here. You said:

The allen bolt is surely going to be a massive bitch and if I can't get it I'm probably going to be in the market for new front struts and break rotors/ assembly.

What happens if I break the allen bolt or something? Will the whole assembly be done or can I just drill it out and throw on new rotors?

Unless I'm misunderstanding, you're saying here that if you can't get the rusted bolt out, that you're going to be in the market for the entire strut assembly. What I'm saying, is that if you can't get the allen bolt out (and the broken lug, let's not forget about that), that you don't need an entire strut assembly. You will only need a new hub assembly, which is also your wheel bearing. And as I said earlier, quite honestly, it's going to be easier (but more expensive) to buy a new wheel bearing and hub assembly than to deal with drilling out two bolts in your hub, which are probably rusted in solid.

Make sense?

[e30onBBSs]

I'm going to say it didn't break cause of a torque wrench wasn't used...

Why do you think it broke? I bet it was fine then they drove it and clunk sometime later the uneven stress ripped that one off. What's your theory?

[JasonC]

I'm going to say it didn't break cause of a torque wrench wasn't used...