Hey guys
I kind of screwed up and I now have 3 broken rotor bolts in my back wheel.

Any suggestions on how to get the bolts out now the heads have snapped off?

drill them out?

Stud extractors are cheap and quite easy to use, you just need a drill.

http://www.robertdyas.co.uk/product.php?product_id=149963&source=froogle

Good luck with that! If you are able to drill into the sheared bolt centrally (or drill into it at all) you are doing WAY better than I ever could. I’d suggest that you take the hub to a good bike mechanic/ local engineering workshop.

Thanks guys I will head down to BnQ and get some of them drill bits.

Awaits next post- “I have the broken off tip of a bolt extractor stuck in my broken off bolt”.

Have you got the rotor off? Is there any bolt sticking out of the hub? Also, can you lay hands on a dremel? Best approach if the answer to these is yes, is to carefully cut a slot across the top of the broken bolt and use a screwdriver on it. Way more reliable than a bolt extractor, and also whacks a load of very localised heat into the bolt to unseize it a little. (you can cut a slot with a hacksaw, but that doesn’t do the heating up thing)

Good penetrating oil beforehand may help too- GT85 works surprisingly well if you don’t have Plusgas.

If you can scrounge a Dremel, score a groove across the top that you can get a flat head screwdriver in. You may possibly be able to do this with a hacksaw but it’s easy to **** up the remaining bolt shaft head, a Dremel will do it cleaner and quicker.

I’ve done this a couple of times. I had rotor bolts that fitted perfectly in a hub that had bottomless holes for the bolts. Then a new hub had a closed end on the holes that weren’t deep enough for the bolts and of course I kept on tightening… doh. What an idiot.

Experience – that thing you get just after you needed it.

One word:

centrelock

or grease.

there we go Northwind has it spot on.

Don’t panic this is fixable without big dramas.

Here’s a Dremel:

pic from here

Use it as an excuse to buy a new wheelset 😉

When you next assemble one of these, use grease with the Shimano triangular torx bolts and the alloy paired-washer-folding-tags.
The tags guarantee the bolts will not loosen and the grease allows you to get the bolts out easily.

Cheap, reliable, lightweight….sorted.

I know….black torx bolts are not bling…

PaulD

The grease will quickly dry out due to the heat from the brakes, copper slip would be a better option.