As title says, the bolt itself is seized in the wedge I believe. I doubt the stem or wedge are badly seized and the headset is fine. I have dealt with stems rusted to the steerer but not this.
So far I have done a few cycles of heat and left it overnight trying to soak in some penetrating oil. the oil quickly seeps around the wedge and starts coming out at the end of the steerer and some through the handlebar clamp bolt hole so i try to keep it horizontal and taped off some bits.
The bolt still wont budge despite using enough force to hurt my hand. Any tips? I am thinking of getting a longer/better quality 6mm or a breaker bar for more leverage.
by Few-Supermarket1305
5 Comments
Try hammering a torx bit or a screw extractor. If that doesn’t help – well, you could always take an angle grinder and slice that stem in the middle, so the screw releases.
At this point you should stop trying to save the bolt, because they’re pretty easy to replace and the wrench flats are mangled anyway. Put a 5/16″ or so drill in the top and just drill down to the point where the head separates from the shaft. Be ready for the tension to suddenly be released and the rest of the stem/bars to drop.
Have you tried any percussive methods yet? Maybe get some threaded rod/any long cylindrical solid metal object, and try to hit the bolt/wedge from the bottom of the steerer tube. Might be able to free it up some.
What is the end goal here? What are you saving?
Try cutting a slot for a flathead screwdriver. Use a wrench to turn that screwdriver then
If you really want it off and you have a welder weld a nut to it and crank it off or buy a extractor set and use a big enough bit and hammer it in and just get it off