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damaged eyelet thread

Old 05-17-04, 04:39 PM
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Shortly after putting on a rear rack on my Raleigh c40 the other day, I realized I had misaligned the setup and needed to take it apart. I removed the rack with great difficulty, as it had damaged the threads of the bolts through the eyelets, making the bolts hard to unscrew.

Now I'm ready for take 2 but have a serious problem: I cannot completely screw in the bolt into the left eyelet. It screws in at a slight angle for about 1 mm or so, then mysteriously tightens.

I believe the thread in my left eyelet has been damaged, and am unsure how to proceed from here. Do I need to drill out the eyelet and rethread it? If so, where can I do this, as I do not currently own any power tools? Will the LBS be equipped to handle this problem?

Any help you, the reader, can provide would be greatly appreciated.
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Old 05-17-04, 04:43 PM
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Originally Posted by latortilla
Shortly after putting on a rear rack on my Raleigh c40 the other day, I realized I had misaligned the setup and needed to take it apart. I removed the rack with great difficulty, as it had damaged the threads of the bolts through the eyelets, making the bolts hard to unscrew.

Now I'm ready for take 2 but have a serious problem: I cannot completely screw in the bolt into the left eyelet. It screws in at a slight angle for about 1 mm or so, then mysteriously tightens.

I believe the thread in my left eyelet has been damaged, and am unsure how to proceed from here. Do I need to drill out the eyelet and rethread it? If so, where can I do this, as I do not currently own any power tools? Will the LBS be equipped to handle this problem?

Any help you, the reader, can provide would be greatly appreciated.
It depends on how bad you borked it. If it isn't totally destroyed, simply retapping it will take care of it. If that won't work, you might be able to drill it for a helicoil. I would think your LBS can handle this.
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Old 05-17-04, 04:48 PM
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There is more then enough clearance on the left side to use a short bolt, smaller then the eyelet, and a nut to secure the rack strut.
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Old 05-17-04, 06:31 PM
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Did you try putting the bolt through the other side of the LH eyelet?
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Old 05-17-04, 07:01 PM
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To Dafydd: Yes, I've tried the other direction and I run into the same problem.

To DieselDan: I worry that it will not be securely fastened into the eyelet if I just use a short bolt. Loctite would be an option, but I worry I wouldn't be able to undo any further damage.

To halfspeed: I guess this means I borked it pretty good, eh?

Thanks, everyone, for your replies so far.
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Old 05-18-04, 04:17 AM
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Originally Posted by latortilla
Shortly after putting on a rear rack on my Raleigh c40 the other day, I realized I had misaligned the setup and needed to take it apart. I removed the rack with great difficulty, as it had damaged the threads of the bolts through the eyelets, making the bolts hard to unscrew.

Now I'm ready for take 2 but have a serious problem: I cannot completely screw in the bolt into the left eyelet. It screws in at a slight angle for about 1 mm or so, then mysteriously tightens.

I believe the thread in my left eyelet has been damaged, and am unsure how to proceed from here. Do I need to drill out the eyelet and rethread it? If so, where can I do this, as I do not currently own any power tools? Will the LBS be equipped to handle this problem?

Any help you, the reader, can provide would be greatly appreciated.
What you need is a 5x.8mm tap to clean up the threads. You'll probably find it a lot easier to get started straight if you run it through from the opposite side.

A slightly inelegant work around is to drill the eyelet out slightly oversize and to use a longer bolt with a nyloc nut on the other side. In fact, even if you retap the eyelet, I'd use a little blue loctite on those rack bolts. You don't want your rack to vibrate loose and stick its legs into the spokes.
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Old 05-18-04, 10:14 AM
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Originally Posted by Retro Grouch
A slightly inelegant work around is to drill the eyelet out slightly oversize and to use a longer bolt with a nyloc nut on the other side.
Before you do this, make sure the nut will not interfere with the smallest cassette cogs or the chain.
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Old 05-18-04, 10:28 AM
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Originally Posted by madpogue
Before you do this, make sure the nut will not interfere with the smallest cassette cogs or the chain.
That shouldn't be an issue. The problem discussed in this thread is on the left side of the bike; the chain and cogs are almost certainly on the right.
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Old 05-18-04, 11:19 AM
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It certainly sounds like you have some messed up threads in the frame. The best thing to do is take the bike to a good LBS and show them the problem. They should be able to fix you up. They may be able to chase the threads with a tap. If the threads are really messed up, they may have to drill them out and install a helicoil. In any event, it's probably cheaper to have them do it than buy the tools and risk screwing it up. If you are not experienced with using taps, you can easily make matters worse, especially with aluminum.
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Old 05-18-04, 11:37 AM
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Originally Posted by cerewa
That shouldn't be an issue. The problem discussed in this thread is on the left side of the bike
D'OH, missed that detail; just saw "rear". As Emily Litella used to say, "Never mind...".

Actually, knowing that, a slightly smaller-diameter machine screw and nylock nut might do the trick, without any work done on the eyelet threads.
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Old 05-19-04, 08:54 PM
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Didn't I say use a nut and bolt? Short bolt meant one short enough not to interfere with the rear wheel. You put some tourque into it to keep it from coming loose.
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Old 05-20-04, 03:00 PM
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To Dafydd: Yes, I've tried the other direction and I run into the same problem.
Did you use a new undamaged bolt from the backside? If you used the old damaged bolt, you just boogered up the threads there too. I would chase the threads with a tap. If there is not enough material left, you will have to tap to the next size up.

One quick rule to prevent these things. Never put a tool on a nut, screw, or bolt until you are sure that the threads have started properly. If it wont go in a few turns by hand, something is wrong.
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