Bought this Santa Cruz with bontrager wheels off a guy and this is my first time trying to take the front wheel off. It would not budge and I finally took a torque wrench to it and now it looks like I stripped it. He must’ve over torqued it I’m guessing? Did I do anything wrong? What can I do to remediate this?
by emjaycu3
17 Comments
Some thru axles have hex on the thread side, check for that
Did you loosen the clamping bolt right next to it? My GF did the same on my bike as she didn’t know or wasn’t familiar with that type of mounting.
Gonna need a new thru axle, probably gotta have a shop drill that one out or you could try home remedy it with like filling it with super glue sticking an Allen key your okay with losing in it and letting it harden then trying to turn it, that idea may completely fail tho so be aware
Loosen the pinch bolt before trying to remove it again.
UPDATE: it was indeed the pinch bolt. Luckily it wasn’t too stripped and I was able to remove the axle by just angling the torque wrench to get some more traction. Looks like I’ll probably be buying a new one tho just to be safe. Thanks everyone
Hammer a slightly too large Torx bit in.
Also torque wrenches shouldn’t be used to loosen.
Some axles have a cap like this from super soft aluminium and the actual point where the tool has grip is way deeper inside of the axle
Edit: probably with a too one size smaller
Use a screw extractor to get it out
The Pre-Owner of my RXF had a similar Problem. Get a sharp 6mm Allen Key and a 5.5mm Drill. Drill first then knock the Allen Key inside the Hole. Do that slowly. Knock in ( not all the Way), remove, knock in, remove and so on.
Note: put something underneath the Axle to support the Hammerblows. UNDERNEATH THE AXLE *NOT* UNDER THE STANCIONS!
And then always remember to loosen the Pinch Bolt.
Good Luck
My thru axel is a bit worn. I put the Allen key right inside. Not just the head, an inch or two. That gives it the purchase to turn properly.
Had a santa cruz with the same issue on an old fox 36 in a wee bit ago, just batter a T40 in there until you’ve got some good grab to turn it out AFTER loosening the pinch bolts on the bottom of the fork.
If you’re just gonna replace the thru axle, then go ahead and do that. if you want to reuse it, then whack it in a vice and drive the t40 home with a mallet for a nice, positive fit, then reinstall.
That bolt says the torque specs on it btw I’m not sure if you’re familiar with Nm but 6Nm is barely more than finger tight
if you take care of the bike it’ll take care of you, your fault
Easy out
Get a general bike repair guide. It would have told/warned you to loosen the pinch bolts. It would also show you some basic mechanical techniques (ps – torque wrench doesn’t really do anything for removal- other than give you a big fulcrum for stripping/shearing bolts) Next buy some “hex head easy out” sockets and you should be all set. Better than hammering in an oversized Allen (that rarely works for me – these now always do).
Sometimes, if you’re lucky, there’ll be a hex hole on the other side of the through axle too. Worth a double check.
Why are you trying to loosen things with a torque wrench?
I might hammer in a torx socket, then use an impact hammer with a medium steel mallet. A couple solid careful whacks should do it.