Cush Drive Washer - Stripped Screw Heads

[abouc]

I've just removed the rear wheel to service the cush drive for the first time. When trying to remove the 6 screws around the large washer, 3 were very stubborn, and 3 of the heads stripped. I'm leery of attempting to drill the screws out and risking damage to the wheel.

 

Has anybody else had this happen? What course of action worked for you? For now, I'm going to let some PB blaster soak on them overnight in hopes they will be more cooperative tomorrow.

 

This is not the first encounter with bolts that wouldn't break free on this bike. And surely it won't be the last.

[grossohc]

Same happened to me on 2 of the screws,I gave the heads a thump with a brass drift and then used a impact driver with a oversize allen head on it and out they came, failing that maybe heat them up.

[GuzziMoto]

Yes on the heat and yes on the hand impact driver.

If you have already stripped the screws you can cut a slot across them and use the aforementioned impact driver with a flat tip bit along with heating the wheel with a torch to get the screw out.

[abouc]

Thanks for the info. I've tried heat, along with hammering a larger size star drive into the rounded heads. No luck. Maybe I didn't heat it long enough, but I was worried about getting the rubber bits too hot or ruining the wheel. Unfortunately I don't have access to any impact tools. Same goes for the front rotors which have to be replaced due to warping. Those wouldn't budge either. Before rounding them I decided to stop. Off to the dealer I go. They said they could take care of the stubborn fasteners when changing the tires & rotors.

[savagehenry]

Don't forget to replace them with something that will be easier to remove next time, should this arise again down the road.

[abouc]

Good point. I will ask for all new fasteners.

[savagehenry]

It's been a while since I was in there, but I seem to recall that they are button heads. I had a similar experience and replaced all mine with socket head cap screws so you would then be using a larger size allen wrench. I like to use those wherever I can. Allen wrenches are smaller than open end/box wrenches and store easily, and I like to be prepared in case you find the need to do the ol' road side repairs... been there, done that

[pasotibbs]

Thanks for the info. I've tried heat, along with hammering a larger size star drive into the rounded heads. No luck. Maybe I didn't heat it long enough, but I was worried about getting the rubber bits too hot or ruining the wheel. Unfortunately I don't have access to any impact tools. Same goes for the front rotors which have to be replaced due to warping. Those wouldn't budge either. Before rounding them I decided to stop. Off to the dealer I go. They said they could take care of the stubborn fasteners when changing the tires & rotors.

I removed my disc bolts by drilling the hole 5mm or so deeper (I used whatever size drill fits without rounding off the flats) and hammering the allen key bit into it, it worked for all the bolts.

The same method may work for the cush drive cover bolts.

[mznyc]

Same happened to mine.Someone suggested using penetrant overnight and it did the job.Also if your using Craftsmen(as I did) allen keys or bits they are not recommended as they tend to be incorrectly sized enough to get loose.

[GuzziMoto]

Thanks for the info. I've tried heat, along with hammering a larger size star drive into the rounded heads. No luck. Maybe I didn't heat it long enough, but I was worried about getting the rubber bits too hot or ruining the wheel. Unfortunately I don't have access to any impact tools. Same goes for the front rotors which have to be replaced due to warping. Those wouldn't budge either. Before rounding them I decided to stop. Off to the dealer I go. They said they could take care of the stubborn fasteners when changing the tires & rotors.

The impact driver you need is a hand tool, not an air tool. You hit it with a hammer (I use a mini sledge hammer) and it applies a twisting motion in addition to the impact force of being hit with the hammer. They are relatively cheap to buy at any store that sells tools.

If you are applying the heat to the outside of the wheel with a propane torch I don't think you could heat the rubber wedges inside the wheel up hot enough to melt. Just apply the heat to the wheel itself where the bolts screw in to, not to the bolt it self.

[Chuck]

Thanks for the info. I've tried heat, along with hammering a larger size star drive into the rounded heads. No luck. Maybe I didn't heat it long enough, but I was worried about getting the rubber bits too hot or ruining the wheel. Unfortunately I don't have access to any impact tools. Same goes for the front rotors which have to be replaced due to warping. Those wouldn't budge either. Before rounding them I decided to stop. Off to the dealer I go. They said they could take care of the stubborn fasteners when changing the tires & rotors.

The impact driver you need is a hand tool, not an air tool. You hit it with a hammer (I use a mini sledge hammer) and it applies a twisting motion in addition to the impact force of being hit with the hammer. They are relatively cheap to buy at any store that sells tools.

If you are applying the heat to the outside of the wheel with a propane torch I don't think you could heat the rubber wedges inside the wheel up hot enough to melt. Just apply the heat to the wheel itself where the bolts screw in to, not to the bolt it self.

 

Impact drivers are required equipment if you're going to work on a motorcycle. Don't cost much. The brass or copper hammer you use to hit it with costs more.. Heat those suckers to soften the thread locker, whack it with the impact diver, unscrew it. Nothing to it.

[jrt]

And heating it won't damage the rubber. There is a lot of aluminum wheel to suck the heat out, so I doubt much even melts the locktite. Aluminum is a very efficient heat conductor.

[68C]

I always heat the bolt, I'm not trying to expand the alloy wheel to free the bolt just heating the loctite in the threads so it softens and allows the bolt to turn. You would need a tremendous amount of heat to warm up the whole wheel to the point where the rubber cush drives are damaged..