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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[David A. Warr]

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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Thank you.

 

[David A. Warr]

An update. With the upright on the work bench I could see exactly what was going on with the bolts. Each of the three torx heads had a rusty dome built up. A few hits from a small hammer and the bolts looked like torx heads again. An e14 torx socket just grabbed on. I heated the bolts and the bearing flanges and all three came out as normal. The bolt threads were in perfect shape with no rust. I am 76 and still learning. I should have examined the area with a mirror to see what was going on in the hub. It probably would have saved me a lot of misery. At least I know what to do for the other side.

 

[Begle1]

I'm inspired and a little horrified at the thought of still working on this stuff at the age of 76!

 

[KJowner]

We are a selection of stubborn old men keeping our obsolete Jeeps rolling

 

[David A. Warr]

I do see a day coming soon when I will have to take the Jeep to a garage to get even the simplest work done. Not only the Jeep. I have four antique cars as well.

 

[Mhalloran]

I'm inspired and a little horrified at the thought of still working on this stuff at the age of 76!

Never give up or be intimidated no matter what age you are. I’m 62 with MS & I still try to attempt any job that I think I can tackle. Especially on my 02 Liberty. Hardest thing for me now is getting up & down off the ground tho…..a garage with a lift would be so much easier….

 

[David A. Warr]

That is my problem as well. Plus I have bad discs in my neck and arthritis in my left hand.

 

[Mhalloran]

That is my problem as well. Plus I have bad discs in my neck and arthritis in my left hand.

I understand what you’re going through. It ***** getting up there in age huh? My 02 is running good. I had to replace the 3.7 engine with a rebuilt about 75,000 miles agobecause of the known problem with these first gens. ( pressed in head valve seals possibly dropping out) Happened to mine. Now it’s been running good. Using synthetic oil. The jeep body & suspension has 148k on it. Sometimes erratically when I turn key to start it it does nothing. No noise no click no crank. After a few tries then it starts. So every time I get in & turn key I cross my fingers. Not sure if it’s the starter acting up or what but it’s not the classic sign of a bad starter. Have any ideas David?

 

[David A. Warr]

Hard to say. I have had the same thing happen to me. I used to use one of those battery shut offs, the one with the green knob. It got corrosion on there after just a short while and even after cleaning it was problematic. I took it off. Sometimes there seems to be no connection from the battery but all is well after taking the negative battery clamp off and cleaning the terminal. It never seems dirty so I don’t really understand what happens.
I have two Jeep Liberty. The Renegade is for the summer and the other one, a Limited Edition, is just for the winter salt. I also have a parts Sport. It has helped a lot. Very often parts vehicles have great parts because people put parts on them just before scrapping them, like brakes, tires, alternator, etc.
So far I haven’t had engine or any drive train problems. The worst problems have been with the brakes, stuck callipers or warped rotors. I have changed the front upper control arms and the rear lower and upper control arms.