No a glamorous question but I have chrome mounting tube that has the long threaded rod stuck in it... how do I get it out without tearing up the chrome ??? I tried raping it in a rag then putting it in a vice but it just turns?? How do you guys deal with this ?? Help
Heat! I used to work in a salvage yard where we dealt with this every day. First off, heat it with a propane torch for the length of the tube. Don't get it red, just get it good and hot. Now try to unscrew it. If it doesn't work, heat it again, then douse it down good with something like WD-40 or Liquid Wrench. Let it cool overnight, then heat it in the morning and try to unscrew it. It might work now. If not, you may need to get it hotter, but now you'll be taking a chance on damaging the chrome.
Another trick is that an old set of disk brake pads make great soft jaws for your vise. I would drill holes in them and screw them on where the iron jaws used to be, but some guys just set them in temporarily.
Thanks
I have soaked it with liquid wrench and heated it but only have a small propane bottle torch. My biggest problem is a way to hold it!!! Why dont they make them with a flat spot on them would make sense to me! Apprecite any suggestions.
It would make it easier. A lot of them do have a flat, but none of the sidecars I've owned have. Once you get it free, coat the threads liberally with Permatex Never Seize or a similar product and it won't lock up again.
Hope you have it loose by now.
I've not had much luck with WD 40. never heard of liquid wrench but guess it's like our stuff over here. The best bought stuff hear that does work contains micro atoms of grahite. For my pennyworth I would try this :
mix a little oil in some paraffin and dose it in it, wrap a rag round the point where the tread exits and really soak it with the mix make sure the rag is firmly in place with string. do something simmilar to other end or up end it and fill it. leave it for a couple of days.
The problem you also have not being able to put any real ooph into undoing it. My method would be to put in the chuck of a large lathe and lock the head then apply pressure with your spanner.
George
Dartford Kent GBR
If you're still working on that stuck mount, an old trick that sometimes works is take an old, or new, fan belt and a smooth hardwood stick or a lug wrench with some heater hose on it. Put the stick through it and wrap it up like a tourniquet and then use it like a strap wrench. The more you twist the belt up the better it will grip. If you can find it Maltby is the best penetrating oil I've ever used. Knocker Loose from a NAPA store is next best. Lightly tapping on the out side sometimes helps too.
David
I got it out a few days ago. I wrote a post about it but it must have never got up. I ended up taking it to a local welder who put i in a press to hold it. We then spent 45 minutes with a 4 ft cresent wrench working it out. It was a bear but its got anti seize on it now and is easily adjustable with just my fingers. Thanks for the help.
