Unthreaded bolts

dan4923 said:

Does anyone know how i can get a bolt off my bike that seems to have come off the thread? It's one for the bottle cages and has been rattling and driving me nuts. I've stuck some blu tack on it just to get some peace in the meantime!

Something I've done before:

1. Lubricate the nut.... the bolt I mean.
2. Use some strong pliers - grab the [censored] by its head and PULL while turning ANTI-clockwise.
3. Keep pulling and turning until you "grab" the thread and then it is just a normal "unscrew" operation.

Make sure you grab the bolt with the pliers firmly, so that it won't slip. I recommend that you place your bike in some sort of a stand or something, so you can use both your hands just for pulling and turning. That's because you may have to turn the bolt several times until you actually "grab" the thread. Success of this will depend on how much the thread is damaged (it may just be dirty ...?). In the worst case you'll have to use a drill - nooo good.

Hope it helps.

Is the wate bottle cage still attached?

If it is, you can cut the cage off and there will be a small gap between the head of the bolt and the contact point on the frame. You should be able to get a thin blade in there to cut the head of the bolt.

The shank of the bolt will drop inside the frame.

Remove the BB and out she pops.

Good luck.

No bottle cage attached unfortunately. Sounds like a pair of pliers and some old fashioned elbow grease is going to be the best option. Cheers for the advice

dan4923 said:

No bottle cage attached unfortunately. Sounds like a pair of pliers and some old fashioned elbow grease is going to be the best option. Cheers for the advice

AFIK those bottle cage nuts are put in with a pop rivet gun. I know them as "Rivnuts" but that might not be right.

The riveted over bit is inside the frame so no chance of tightening it up and havent got a clue how to remove it without doing a butcher job. Whatever you do go steady and dont take off a yard of paint or tear a great hole in the frame. Have you thought about 1 person holding nut firmly with large pliers and another with electric drill, Starting with small drill to take out thread and increase size by 1/64 or 1/32 inch until nut becomes a hollow shell and the riveted over bit falls off (inside). Dont wiggle the drill around to enlarge the hole - drill it. Just a thought.

Cheers
Hugh