£88.70
 

Just been hit with a bill for £88.70 due to a stripped tread :(

This was the lower damper mounting thread in the trailing arm/hub assembly - removing the bolt took a 2 foot long square section steel tube and a LOT of force. Sadly the thread was destroyed by removing the bolt :banghead: :( :(

I tried to force in a new bolt just to get the car to a garage (it was due to go to a garage on Thurs for new front brake pipes and noise/vibration investigation) but it needed too much effort and took so long that I gave up and called the Thread Doctor, a mobile thread repair man. As the bolt still had nearly 9mm to go in fully I wanted someone to come to me rather than drive with the damper loose.

Unfortunately the Thread Doctor needed the car on a lift to do the job and suggested I called a local garage that he knew and gave me the name of somebody to speak to, who would have the car put up on a lift for him to do his work. Luckily this garage is literally 4 doors down from me, but even driving the few metres there I could here the damper knocking away loudly. :(

I was worried that there wasn't enough metal around the bolt hole for a helicoil to be fitted, but thankfully there was, otherwise I would have needed a replacement trailing arm/hub assembly!! :eek:

So it cost £60 + VAT for the tread Doctor to work his magic.
£13 + VAT for the garage to put the car on a lift, take out the old bolt and fit a new one.
£0.92 + VAT for a new bolt - surprisingly they got hold of the correct bolt with the correct part number quoted on the reciept. However, Rimmers sell these for £0.12 + VAT - some difference!

Was a bit weird having a garage do work on my car for the first time in well over 2 years (excepting MOT, tyres and T4 traders).

I wasn't impressed by the bloke who took payment though - I explained that this was unforunate as the thread stripped when I removed the bolt and that there seemed to be nothing I could do about it, and he just said "Things like that happen when you try to save money", and didn't even look at me when saying it, just muttered it when wandering off :poke: Yet on their wall is a sign saying that the garage doesn't accept liability for threads that strip when removing parts and that the repair work will be given and charged to..... yes you've guessed it, the Thread Doctor!! Bloomin' cheeky hypocrite :mad::mad:

So my question is: How could I have avoided the thread destroying itself in the first place? I have read of someone that used a 3 foot bar to undo the bolt OK, whereas mine destroyed with only a 2 foot bar. How much force should be used before trying a blowlamp instead? :shrug:

P.S. The garage have decided to kidnap my locking wheel nut key, I shall be having words in the morning :flog2:

If you have the room, use a nut splitter or a hacksaw to remove the nut.

Was it possible that the bolt had been fitted crossed originally and just forced in by some kind of power tool?

as a Blacksmith heat works everytime even with most stubborn bolts but you still have to be gentle then put back together with copper slip.

and sounds like the thread doctor was rubbing his hands all the way to the bank sorry I hate to hear folk getting ripped off

So, the £60+VAT charge is for the "Thread Doctor" to come out to the car and carry out a specialist job.

Doesn't sound excessive to me when one cosiders that these people have to earn a living from what they do.

As for the bolt, if you add delivery to the £0.12, I bet it would be more than £0.92.

Having that happen is unfortunate but the charges don't seem excessive.

In this case, there was no nut to split.

Unfortunately, these things do happen & on some occasions, it's not possible to use heat because of proximity to other components etc

I tend to use plenty of Plus-Gas & keep working the bolt/nut backwards & forwards on removal.

This takes a lot longer but in most cases, saves the thread at least.

Ignore the comment from the muttering man !

I also don't think the charges were excessive for the repair.

Which is the correct way to do it, if you haven't got "hot" spanner! :bowdown:

I'm always amazed at the amount of people that try to use WD-40 (which is a lubricant) rather than Plus Gas (which is a penetrating fluid) and end up snapping bolts/nuts off! :confused:

Possible, but the one the other side was also difficult to remove due to rust and I assume the N/S would be worse due to rubbish thrown up from the gutter. Plus I have read of other people having difficulties with these bolts. So probably just a combination of high torque and rust.

Yes, I have used a blow lamp in the past with sucess, I should have tried that. I did put the other bolt together with copper slip. I wasn't complaining about the charge, but the fact that it had happened:(

Agreed, I wasn't complaining about the cost - not even for the bolt as 92p isn't a problem but I guess the delivery does explain the difference in price, I just thought that was a bit odd.

I think heat could have been used here, as the damper attachment point juts off from the hub/stub axle area, I just didn't resort to it because the bolt was undoing with the 2 foot bar. Again, the price was fine, I was just annoyed that I ended up with an unexpected bill.

I can't explicitly remember if I did move the bolt backwards/forwards, I would usually in this kind of situation so I probably did.

Thing is I have a 'hot spanner' but as the bolt was moving I didn't resort to it.

I was using GT85, apparently not as good as Plus Gas but the local motor factors don't stock Plus Gas. Perhaps I should order some in and spray the night before next time I have a potentially troublesome bolt. The other side was stiff to remove but was OK with being sprayed just prior to removal.

Sorry to hear of your trouble, probably a reasonable total cost for the work done. I've had bolts that were seemingly undoing (albeit with large force) snap as well, there's not a lot you can do to prevent it.

Feel i must comment though on your use of GT85 - again this is not a penetrating oil but similar to (but not the same as) wd40, it's a light lubricant and water dispersant. A proper penetrating oil will eat away at rust and corrosion as well as getting lubrication between two surfaces to help free a seized thread. Very often all that's needed is lubrication so a thin oil which can work it's way in like wd40 will suffice, and we've all given potentially difficult nuts/bolts a pre-soak in wd40 before. but against a truly seized by corrosion problem only a proper penetrating oil will do.

The other side came out with a blast of ancient WD40 (at least 15 years old!) just before undoing. Odd that the two sides were so different.

I had a look under the car today and found that they had kidnapped the washer for the damper bolt.:mood:

I already had to go back on Saturday to rescue my locking wheel nut key, looks like I will be having more words, and making a complaint - leaving off large washers from important suspension components isn't on:flame::flame:

All they had to do was put car on lift, take off bolt & washer, let Thread Doctor do his stuff, get new bolt, fit new bolt and washer, take car off lift. Yet they managed two male chicken-ups!:shrug: