Drilling out bolts.

[koda6966]

Good idea or bad?

The rust on my tire carrier has made it so that the bolts are prettymuch fused to the frame & bracket, so I can't get them off. I've tried some rust solvents but it didn't help much. So I'm thinking I might as well just drill them out and replace them. I have to take the whole thing off because being rusty, its broke. I'm going to take it off and fab up a new thingy to hold the tire in, because that's the only part that is broke the rest of the tire carrier is intact. I just want to know if this is a good idea, or if it is even possible. (Some bolts CANT be drilled. Too hard yah know?)

 

[snake]

Get a cobalt bit and drill the hell out of them. I had to drill out head bolts on a suzuki the other day- cut right thru. Wear eye protection- no sense in taking chances.

 

[gotmudd]

or just grind the head off the bolt, and again..........wear eye protection!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[koda6966]

Don't have to worry about telling me about eye protection. I had a hot metal burr from cutting some steel hit me about a quarter inch below my eye once. Scared the hell out of me. I've worn protection ever since. I'm gonna go see what I can do right now.. I've got some metal bits, but I don't know if they're gonna work alright. If they don't I'll have to take a walk down the road to the neighbors and see if he's got a grinder.. or some better bits.

--Edit--

Well that sucks. I went out to do it, and my damn drills to long to fit in between the fender and the frame. I'm gonna have to find a shorter one, I might as well just get a grinder. I bet it would be easier.

 

[metalmacguyver]

Grinder is way easier. Trust me.

 

[MAKG]

You'll have to do some drilling anyway if you actually need the bolt removed. But if you don't, just grind (or better yet, torch) the head off.

Drilling isn't as hard as people think. Drill a pilot hole first, ALL the way through, and then expand it. It's MUCH easier to expand a hole, even with cheap HSS bits. For the pilot hole, the biggest risk with a hand drill is breakage; if the bit isn't held square, it is much easier to break.

The drawback with grinding is that it makes a lot of noise and throws sparks everywhere. If you're in the driveway, lighting the bushes on fire may be an unacceptable risk.