Thomson stem bolt stripped/rounded - Suggestions?
 

I am always careful about torqing to the right spec and greasing the threads, and tightening the bolts evenly as they clamp the steerer, but even so, as I was trying to remove the stem from the steerer tube the other day I rounded out the inside of the 4mm hex bolt.

So what are my options now to remove it?



I'd like to salvage the stem if possible, and definatley don't want to damage the steerer tube of the fork that is currently on there. but I am assuming I am going to have to drill the bolt out, which pretty much ruins the clamp peice.

Does thomson even sell the clamp peice by itself?

Arggghhhh!@?! I am so eager to try out the new fork I got.

One of these might be your best bet. No drilling and won't harm the surrounding material.

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/produ...seBVCookie=Yes

My first trick is to try a brand new allen wrench. That'll work more often than you'd ever imagine.

If that does the trick, throw away your old one before it ruins any more bolts.

Thomson does sell replacement parts, but you can always try drilling the head off the stuck bolt.

Once the clamp halves are apart, enough of the damaged bolt should be exposed to come out with pliers.

If the head of the bolt is exposed enough you could try the 'ole slot it with a Dremel trick. Just use a rotary tool (Dremel) or a hacksaw to make a groove for a flathead screwdriver.

Drilling out the bolt just until the head pops off is a technique I've used to remove SPD cleats when the bolt head was too damaged to use the proper hex wrench. Done carefully, it does not harm the other parts and the stub can be unscrewed with a pair of pliers or a Vise-Grip.

After that's done, I'll second what RG recommended. Buy a new hex key and throw away the old one. They are cheap and even good ones don't last a long time. The worst offenders are 4 and 5 mm Allen keys since they are used on a lot of bike components.

+1:)

+1:D

You can often take a crap screwdriver and wedge it into the now-damaged hex head cavity. A pair of vice grips clamped to the screwdriver give you all the leverage you need.

You may have to file or mod the shape of the screwdriver head a bit.

thanks for the replies guys - I appreciate it and I will let you know what worked and what I tried.

thomson
 

http://www.lhthomson.com/elite_stem_sizes.asp
SM-H002 Steerer tube clamp set with bolts $ 18.95

http://www.bikeparts.com/search_resu...604_268%2E6122