My aluminium quill stem is stuck in the aluminium steerer of my carbon forks. The design of the stem is such that i can’t hammer on the stem bolt to loosen the expander wedge.

I’ve properly wrenched on it using the bars and wheel for extra leverage, but the fork legs start twisting without anything happening to the stem.

According to Sheldon (well, Jobst Brant on Sheldon’s website) there’s basically sweet FA i can do about it.

http://sheldonbrown.com/brandt/stuck-stem.html

But does the STW hive mind have any suggestions?

If you’ve go no movement- tried ‘plugas’ etc.

You could try drilling the stem bolt out or inverting and drilling the wedge from below – with increasing sized long drill bits(+ plenty of oil to keep thing cool).

Took me 1/2 a day once – if it happened again I’d take it to a decent lbs/frame builder -maybe 😉

Thanks for the reply. Half a day? Jesus! I’d have cut the bugger off by then.

The Park website is also fairly helpful (though not very positive).

http://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help/seized-seatposts-and-stems

I think i’m going to go at it with some ammonia first. If i could get hold of a really long stem bolt i could try and hammer the wedge out too. Unfortunately the carbon forks are designed such that i can’t come at from underneath.

Don’t rush it if the ammonia hasn’t helped you may just stretch a bulge down the steerer by hammering the wedge. – good luck-

My own quill stem siezed in a similar way. I undid the bolt a few turns, put a drift in the bolt head and gently tapped away with a hammer. This eventually released the expander wedge and the stem came free.

edit: +1 for bencooper below. I took this out of my post. Watch ed+carbon, not sure how they interact. I wouldn’t use ammonia on ally. Use plus gas/wd and lots of patience.

Aluminium in aluminium is a tricky one. First thing I’d try is taking the quill bolt out completely, soaking it in something penetrating like WD40, and twisting. Don’t use the wheel to twist against as that’s attached at the end of the fork, find a bit of wood you can wedge at the top of the fork and use that.

Beyond that, it’s getting destructive, and probably a job for a good LBS or framebuilder.

Thanks all. I sprayed plenty of WD40 in this morning. That’s a good idea about using a bit of wood to turn the forks higher up. A bit of reading suggests ammonia probably isn’t the best idea too.

My own quill stem siezed in a similar way. I undid the bolt a few turns, put a drift in the bolt head and tapped away with a hammer. This eventually released the expander wedge and the stem came free.

Boblo, dummy question – what did you use as a drift? Could you post a pic or a link please?

Had a similar issue.
I used it as an excuse for a re-spray on the frame and Bob Jackson removed it for me (don’t know how I’m afraid but might be worth calling an outfit who do repairs/re-conditionning to see if they have any tricks)…?

I actually used a cut off bit of the correct sized hex key about 30mm long. It fitted exactly into the bolt head and concentrated the hammer ‘taps’ down the bolt into the wedge. I did this with the front wheel on and tyre pumped up hard to avoid damaging anything. The expander wedge gets stuck fast over time.

The other problem with alloy quill stems in steel steerers is galvanic corrosion but you have ally in ally so shouldn’t have that issue. I’d give it a WD40 bath every night for a few days then gently tap away at the bolt as described above. I say ‘gently’, I gave mine a couple of hard wallops but one man’s tap is anothers wallop 🙂

Ingenious, thanks. I’ve got a knackered set of allen keys i can butcher.

is it a steel expander?

If you can’t fix it with a hammer, you’re not using a big enough hammer

piedi di formaggio – I think you meant to post this on WCA’s thread.

is it a steel expander?

I’ve no idea – it’s hidden from view and i just acquired the frame, so i didn’t put it in myself.