Socket Won't Grip Bolt Head

gudenteit
Sat, 22 Mar 2025 18:30:54 +0000
Maintenance/Repairs

A buddy and I were trying to replace his right front wheel hub, on his 2008 Chevy Impala LTZ. He described the engine size as 3900, I would think that means 3.9 liter, although I didn’t know there is a 3.9, I only know of the 3.8 liter and 3,1 Liter. One of the mounting bolts is so tight that the socket would not keep a grip on the bolt head, no matter how hard we tried to force the socket onto the bolt head. We had tapped on it as best we could with a hammer and metal rod, we heated the area with a torch, no luck. Of course, very little access to this bolt head, so impossible to use an impact hammer. The extra leverage of a breaker bar made no difference, the socket just kept slipping off the bolt head, no matter how hard we tried to push the socket against the bolt head. My buddy saw a hack online about gripping the bolthead with a small piece of latex rubber, like from a balloon. But how would a professional deal with this? Actually, it has been several months now since we attempted this, and so I don’t remember if we would have had room in front of the hub to get my oxycetylene torch cutter in there to blow out the seized bolt, and without doing fatal damage to something.

62 posts - 23 participants