Rusted E16 external torx bolts for wheel bearing.

[David A. Warr]

Hello,
Looking for a tip. The E16 external torx bolts on the front wheel bearings are too rusty for the socket to grab the bolt. An E14 is too small. An E15 does exist but is impossible to find. If I can’t get those bolts out I’ll have to grind the wheel bearing to get it off. Any ideas?

 

[KJowner]

Weld a nut onto the head of the bolt.

 

[David A. Warr]

Weld a nut onto the head of the bolt.

Thanks but it is impossible to get at the bolt. That is the reason why external torx is used. There is no room for a hex head bolt.

 

[KJowner]

Thanks but it is impossible to get at the bolt. That is the reason why external torx is used. There is no room for a hex head bolt.

You can weld a bolt onto the torx head, there's space for that. I haven't had the pleasure of changing one yet.

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[David A. Warr]

You can weld a bolt onto the torx head, there's space for that. I haven't had the pleasure of changing one yet.

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Yes I suppose with the axle removed. Hadn’t considered that. Thanks again.

 

[DadOSix]

Occasionally, you can get an e-torx out with a similar sized 6 point socket. Might have to go SAE if a metric will not fit. 6 point only, impact (heavy wall) preferred.

Just did this on my sister’s cruze. Did not have the right e-bit so improvised this.

 

[David A. Warr]

Occasionally, you can get an e-torx out with a similar sized 6 point socket. Might have to go SAE if a metric will not fit. 6 point only, impact (heavy wall) preferred.

Just did this on my sister’s cruze. Did not have the right e-bit so improvised this.

Yes, I am going to try them all. Even heavy aluminum foil on the torx bolt to take up the slack on the E16. Thanks. I don’t really want to remove the upright if I can help it.

 

[David A. Warr]

Occasionally, you can get an e-torx out with a similar sized 6 point socket. Might have to go SAE if a metric will not fit. 6 point only, impact (heavy wall) preferred.

Just did this on my sister’s cruze. Did not have the right e-bit so improvised this.

Yes, I am going to try them all. Even heavy aluminum foil on the torx bolt to take up the slack on the E16. Thanks. I don’t really want to remove the upright if I can help it.

 

[u2slow]

Taking the knuckle off is not a terrible job. After removing the balljoint nut, a swift hammer-blow should do it. The lower control arm is what holds your alignment anyway.

 

[David A. Warr]

Yes I had to remove the knuckle. I skipped some work. I removed a knuckle from a parts Jeep that I own that was totally rusted out. But only has about 130,000 km on it and I know the owner changed wheel bearings on it. So I am swapping the knuckles for now saving my new bearings. I did put the new bolts on it. This is work on my black winter Jeep. I already did this job on my silver Renegade. The last time I bought new bolts they were about $8 each. This time they were $33. I wonder if that was because of the Trump tax. Anyhow the black Jeep will be back on the road tomorrow and I will be able to weld nuts to the rusty torx bolts. Turned into a bigger job than anticipated.
Thanks everyone for the tips. Couldn’t find a socket that would fit. Even tried a Whitworth socket to no avail.
Has anyone ever seen an E15 torx socket?

 

[ikuo78]

I found one with 12 points, but it seems weak.

It's cheap, so it might be worth a try.

https://www.amazon.com/uxcell-2-inc...QEATGP3cJHqb0ZzvRGcVcFHslHApizBOJVoI67jSg92-J EHgyyTB0D8T8UNZtUi2jI7REpq_Bv6aF9O9rdqyBiaJFAzXEPlO9aNnu2Md4338lUKbA20x erWMje-yLjXO3pm37uDmCBHJoNz3YOQ_AH0BTOCStt5yuo7QOB8f4xlqyUi6uO9o.znhW1_S A3nG-vTr7_X8OJ2q7lN4Tn_N6KXZOASIGc3s&dib_tag=se&keywords=torx%2Be15%2Bsocket&qid=1747617274&sprefix=torqs%2Be15%2Bsucket%2Caps%2C275&sr=8-6&th=1

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