Stuck spindle bolt. Help for a newbie please!

[Bravo25]

I have an AA2. I'm not a mechanic and have mainly worked on offroad vehicles where precision isn't as necessary. I had to take my fenders off the re-glue them as the bond came loose and I also did some paint touch up. I couldn't seem to break the allen bolt loose. Tried a breaker bar and an impact, but was afraid of snapping it off. Ended up getting them off by undoing another bolt.

Is this what people removed to get the fenders off?

I want to do some more work to the car with the fenders and would really like to get these bolts off and possibly just replace them for peace of mind. Any suggestions? I don't want to break it off and get it stuck in there and have a bigger problem on my hands!!

Capture.jpg

[cvjoint]

On the A3 SRA the fenders mount with two bolts into the hub, it has no connection to any suspension parts. In the front it has a dedicated bolt into the hub again, but uses the steering rod bolt as well. I never had to undo the a-arm bolt, or any suspension bolts.

EDIT: these are also Skunkwurx.

[WJS26]

Soak the bolt/area with some Liquid Wrench overnight, then use an impact or similar. Should come out.
Yes, remove that upper control arm bolt, then the bracket bolts that attach the fender mounts.

[Atommatt]

If it was me I would buy some Safety washes to put on the upper control arm bolt. There inexpensive and cheap Insurance if you should have a rod failure. Do you have race grade rod ends?

shopping.png

IMAG0297.jpg

[jeff8407]

Don't forget that you can use heat as well. Use a propane torch or heat-gun to get the bolt hot(it doesn't have to be red hot, just 500-600 degrees or so), then let it cool down (apply PB blaster or similar) before it completely cools. Repeat cycle at least three times. (you are actually trying to work the PB blaster into the threads with this approach.)

Alternatively, if in a hurry, heat the bolt and cool with a CO2 extinguisher.

[2/3rdsCobra]

If it was me I would buy some Safety washes to put on the upper control arm bolt. There inexpensive and cheap Insurance if you should have a rod failure. Do you have race grade rod ends?

shopping.png

IMAG0297.jpg

These are absolutely necessary for ALL of the rod ends on the control arms of an Atom because NONE of the rod ends are mounted in double shear. Further, and I don't know why Ariel elected to mount the upper control arm rod end axially as opposed to radially; axially mounted rod ends have about 1/10 the ultimate strength of a radially mounted rod end. I believe they figured that there isn't much force on the upper rod end so they weren't concerned about the orientation. Anyway, I digress; you'll also need to get longer rod end bolts (I went with a Grade 8 Hex bolt vs the Grade 5 Allen that came with the Atom). With the safety washer installed using the stock Allen head bolts, you'll have less that 1.5 times the width of the bolt in thread engagement which is also a no-no.

BTW, Atommatt, love the uprights. They are on my short list of must haves.

[Atommatt]

Thanks that's some of my Atom Candy

[06Arielatom]

If you can not take the old bolt out, I have the whole complete assembly from my 2 available if you need it.

[Bravo25]

Thank you guys for all of the suggestions! I'm going to try your suggestions. I know about the washers from these threads https://www.arielatomchat.com/forums/thread582.html & https://www.arielatomchat.com/forums/thread1929.html which I consider must reads for the Brammo Atom's. Just can't get the darn things off to put any on without thinking I'm going to break them off! I still need to measure the rod ends to make sure they aren't too short too.

I have no problem replacing them with longer to accommodate the washers, after heat cycling or using an impact to an extreme I would want to anyhow.

Does anyone know the thread size, pitch & length of this bolt? I'll order grade 8 before hand a little longer to accommodate the washers before I take them out so I can do it in one shot.

If you can not take the old bolt out, I have the whole complete assembly from my 2 available if you need it.

Thank you! It's good to know I have a fall back plan if I shear one off.

[Lane]

Does anyone know the thread size, pitch & length of this bolt?

See the PDF in this thread on Brammo Atom specs. It has bolt grade/length/pitch.