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Hey everyone, I need help removing a striped screw in my car. It is one of the screws in the trunk area where the rear upper strut bar is supposed to connect. When I was trying to remove one of them, the one on the left side of the trunk in the very small corner, I stripped it because I used the wrong type of bit. Instead of using a bit with 6 flat sides to remove the bolt, I used the bit with all the little teeth around the inside with no flat sides to go around the screw. Well, that bolt was in there so tight, that I managed to strip alot of it. The points where each side meets are worn off, but some of the side is still left. How do I go about removing it now? Thanks for your help!

 
Rep Power: 585

if its a screw we are talkin about, then there is a solution. craftsman makes a drill bit for that purpose. it doesnt drill through it just has a set of teeth like things that cut into the head and then catch and unscrews. ive never had to use it but i have it so i know its out there. as for a nut u got me.

 
Rep Power: 306

I assume you stripped a bolt inside your trunk. This was because the screw was really tight and you used a 12 point socket, versus a 6 point. First, I would soak the screw threads with liquid wrench. Then try a pair of vice grips to see if you can get one more try at it.

If not, then you can do two things. Use a small drill bit and an Ez out to remove the screw. Sometimes I have also had really good luck by drilling the head of the bolt off, then the screw has no torque on it and simply comes out. I cannot remember how many times I have done this.

12 point sockets are meant to be faster, but usually cause more trouble than they are worth.

 
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I Second the Vice Grip Idea.. I was a Tire installer/service man for 2 years.. Vice Grips saved me many times.. Drill through the bolt firs..then use the vice grips.. if that fails.. run to sears.. buy an EZ out..

Cheers
Mohawk

 
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i second the EZ out idea im in the air force and large part of my job is pulling stuck screws that crew chiefs strip out and i ez out all of them if that doesnt work i just drill the head off, another trick that i use is take a chisel and use the corner to try to spin it if you can get it to break loose you shoyld have no problem taking some vise grips to finish the job............ hope this helps
FLY

 
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Thanks everyone, sounds like you all know what your talking about. I will mess around with it and hopefully remove it!

 
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<< where the rear upper strut bar is supposed to connect >>




<< the one on the left side of the trunk in the very small corner >>



the bolt that he stripped is the one on the upper perch for the rear dammper..... dude, i wish you the best of luck getting that one off, and back on! otherwise you are going to need to replace some parts [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/IMG]

 
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Sounds to me like he stirpped the corners off the nut. That's what you take off to install a strut bar. You can probably get a 6 point box end wrench in there and it might grab the flats so you can break the nut loose. The way to get some more room is to remove the rear seat frame. That's the part that is in the way of getting to that area to work.

If you were using a regular short socket on that nut, then you may have just stripped the top of it. Get a deep socket and maybe grab what is left on the nut near the bottom. Or the box end may do the same for you.

Is this what you have? Stripped the nut, not the bolt? EZ out isn't gonna help with that.

 
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It might be possible to get vice grips into that area, but I seriously doubt it. You can barely get a standard wrench in there. Even if you got vice grips on that nut from above, it's torqued at 44 lbs ft, so I doubt it would hole or if one could turn it.