I hear you! I’ve definitely got the starts of something! I hurt for a day or so after I’ve been under the car
oh jock my days are numbered 
Technical Rear axle rust
- Thread starter Danoid
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Technical Rear axle rust
oh jock my days are numbered 
OOh yes spiders, we came across some pretty nasty ones when my daughter and her family lived in southern Maryland. But there was also the poison ivy and snakes to worry about. My wife had a young Copperhead wriggle over her toes while we were sitting in the back yard. She nearly wee'd herself! We were later talking to one of the locals and saying thank goodness it had only been a young one to which he replied that actually she'd been very lucky as the young ones are more easily spooked and, being young, they have not yet learned to control their venom so their bites are invariably pretty serious. He also told us to keep the car windows wound up - which we tended to do anyway as it was so hot we ran the air con all the time - as water moccasin (cottonmouth) snakes have been known to hurl themselves through open windows of passing cars! Not sure if he was just trying to shock us though?
Piccolo Nero e Bella
Prominent member
Sounds suspiciously like a 'drop bear' type story...
Like the David Bowie album: The giant spiders from Oz...
gr J
gr J
Imagine….driving along THEN a snake
hurls itself in the open window ….
saying that I don’t really mind the snakes!! Wouldn’t want biting of course but spiders 🕷…. No no sorry NO! We have had some pretty big ones in the house after summer rain but I have a spider sucker from Amazon so I can eject them without hurting them But I just cannot imagine coming face to face with a huge spider from oz .. I actually imagine I’d have a heart attack then it would eat me
I'm going to be changing a bent one soon on my convertible. Side impact pushing it into a kerb and bending the rear beam. I'm hoping I can carefully remove the hubs along with still connected brake lines and drop the old one down keeping the original hubs and brakes. Shuld be a relatively easy job doing it like that. Will all be filmed for my youtube channel. I'm almost looking forward to doing it.
Oh yes, those bump stops aren't metal so that must be rust juice running down from somewhere else.
Oh yes, those bump stops aren't metal so that must be rust juice running down from somewhere else.
What’s your YouTube channel? Will be handy just in case my method is doomed
I was thinking about changing mine (you know what I’m like) but just looking at my hub nuts I decided to leave it alone! They not particularly bad but I just know they are gonna take some shifting!!!
On the same note : one of my rear seatbelt bolts sheared off in typical fiat style I was expecting it!
I can see the bolt thru the wheel arch but is that a captive nut or can I get the bolt off from the wheel arch? There’s more there than the inside!
I really don’t fancy drilling inside the car
As Bag Lady has said, just search for Love 500. I hope to be doing it within the next couple of weeks.
I'm not sure to be honest. I don't think it's a captive nut, I think it's just a thread in the metalwork. Maybe heating it and using a broken bolt extractor might do it, although the reason they break, apart from the rust is because they are so tight so it might be a job and half getting them out. Stupid design like so many Fiat things.I was thinking about changing mine (you know what I’m like) but just looking at my hub nuts I decided to leave it alone! They not particularly bad but I just know they are gonna take some shifting!!!
On the same note : one of my rear seatbelt bolts sheared off in typical fiat style I was expecting it!
I can see the bolt thru the wheel arch but is that a captive nut or can I get the bolt off from the wheel arch? There’s more there than the inside!
I really don’t fancy drilling inside the car
Will be just my luck that I shear off the hub nuts
More chance of them shearing on the hub! Though I’m sure the bolts are thicker so maybe not..But you would get round it you always do!! Yeah going to tackle it when the weather a bit warmer!
The brake line goes through(rather than slot in like most cars) the mounts near the front mounting bolts so it's not that simple.
The two bolts at the front cut any excess sticking out of the nut or you'll find it very hard to get out.
Use a impact socket on the 4 nuts on the rear of the hub hopefully it's not that old in your case mine were really hard and that was with the whole thing off the car
Attachments
For the brakes if it not that old, crack off the brake pipe, remove the piston bolts-it is possible with a open spanner as they are not tight, tap the whole piston assembly free you can now turn the piston keeping the pipe still, with a bit of effort you can wiggle the whole pipe out of the axle whilst removing it, same to replace in reverse.
Cheers for that. I was trying to make it as easy as I could for myself but guess they'll have to come off then. I'll take your advice, thanks.
I was thinking about changing mine (you know what I’m like) but just looking at my hub nuts I decided to leave it alone! They not particularly bad but I just know they are gonna take some shifting!!!
On the same note : one of my rear seatbelt bolts sheared off in typical fiat style I was expecting it!
I can see the bolt thru the wheel arch but is that a captive nut or can I get the bolt off from the wheel arch? There’s more there than the inside!
I really don’t fancy drilling inside the car
There is a kind of captive nut or "threaded insert" welded to the wheel arch and the bolt screws into it. It's not just a Fiat thing.. it's a fairly common way to attach a seat belt to the car.
The bolt shouldn't have just sheared off though.. were you trying to unbolt it for some reason? The only real issue with them is that they're usually longer than they need to be and stick out through the insert, into the wheel arch. The exposed threads eventually rust and then they're particularly difficult to remove, since they're a fine pitch and the rust and crud jams the threads inside the insert.
You needs a lot of release spray and letting that soak in before you attempt to remove rusted fine pitch bolts. If possible, also clean all the exposed threads with a wire brush or similar before you start. If the bolt is nowhere near anything that will melt, heating it with a blow-lamp and then squirting it with release spray can also "shock" any corrosion.. although be careful to let the screw cool just a bit before you spray it.. I set fire to my sister's Murano being a bit careless. It didn't burn for long though... (the spray, not the Murano)
If the bolts are particularly bad and you can get Her Majesty in there, cut off the exposed threaded ends of the bolt.. since dragging them through the threaded insert is hard work, even if th bolt doesn't shear off. The bolt inside the insert is usually fairly clean.
To remove a sheared bolt, you have a couple of options. If there's a lot of threaded bolt shank poking into the wheel arch you can get a stud extractor "socket" on it;
Stud Extractor Roller Remover Bolt Removal Socket 4pc Metric or Imperial | eBay
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These are filled with vertical rollers that "jam" against the stud as you unscrew it, so allowing it to turn. Yo'll have to "unscrew" the thread (acw) since you're screwing it further "in" if you look at it from the bolt head (inside the car) side.
If you don't have enough thread to grab hold of, then I would cut the threaded shank off at the insert (flush) and then drill it. You don't need an easi-out etc.. or a reversing drill, since drilling it (clockwise) will tend to unscrew it into the car.
If the worst comes to the worst and you ruin the thread inside the insert, then you can use a (stainless bolt) that's long enough to pass through the damaged insert and sticks out enough to put a nylock nut on the end (also stainless).
Ralf S.
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Stainless steel for fastening seat belts is very much frowned upon because SS shears off much earlier than normal steel. Ideally you should use 12.9 grade steel bolts. Seat belts standard thread is 7/16 UNF if I remember correctly and bolts and nuts are easily available, so no reason to bodge something on a safety critical part.
It‘s probably worth covering the bolts from the outside with some rust prevent (brantho corrux or similar), I will look into that when I‘m next in the wheel arches which will be soon (tyre change is due).
It‘s probably worth covering the bolts from the outside with some rust prevent (brantho corrux or similar), I will look into that when I‘m next in the wheel arches which will be soon (tyre change is due).
I have those extractors and that’s what I was planning to use but: the bolt sheared in the threads (deep) so no chance of extracting from inside the car & as you can understand I’m a bit nervous of drilling inside the carThere is a kind of captive nut or "threaded insert" welded to the wheel arch and the bolt screws into it. It's not just a Fiat thing.. it's a fairly common way to attach a seat belt to the car.
The bolt shouldn't have just sheared off though.. were you trying to unbolt it for some reason? The only real issue with them is that they're usually longer than they need to be and stick out through the insert, into the wheel arch. The exposed threads eventually rust and then they're particularly difficult to remove, since they're a fine pitch and the rust and crud jams the threads inside the insert.
You needs a lot of release spray and letting that soak in before you attempt to remove rusted fine pitch bolts. If possible, also clean all the exposed threads with a wire brush or similar before you start. If the bolt is nowhere near anything that will melt, heating it with a blow-lamp and then squirting it with release spray can also "shock" any corrosion.. although be careful to let the screw cool just a bit before you spray it.. I set fire to my sister's Murano being a bit careless. It didn't burn for long though... (the spray, not the Murano)
If the bolts are particularly bad and you can get Her Majesty in there, cut off the exposed threaded ends of the bolt.. since dragging them through the threaded insert is hard work, even if th bolt doesn't shear off. The bolt inside the insert is usually fairly clean.
To remove a sheared bolt, you have a couple of options. If there's a lot of threaded bolt shank poking into the wheel arch you can get a stud extractor "socket" on it;
Stud Extractor Roller Remover Bolt Removal Socket 4pc Metric or Imperial | eBay
Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Stud Extractor Roller Remover Bolt Removal Socket 4pc Metric or Imperial at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products.www.ebay.co.uk
These are filled with vertical rollers that "jam" against the stud as you unscrew it, so allowing it to turn. Yo'll have to "unscrew" the thread (acw) since you're screwing it further "in" if you look at it from the bolt head (inside the car) side.
If you don't have enough thread to grab hold of, then I would cut the threaded shank off at the insert (flush) and then drill it. You don't need an easi-out etc.. or a reversing drill, since drilling it (clockwise) will tend to unscrew it into the car.
If the worst comes to the worst and you ruin the thread inside the insert, then you can use a (stainless bolt) that's long enough to pass through the damaged insert and sticks out enough to put a nylock nut on the end (also stainless).
Ralf S.
As for the wheel arch end I can see the end of the bolt inside the nut … do you think it’s going to be possible to remove it from the wheel arch?
I can gather my bits now …was thinking of plus gas? Would I get that captive nut off?
I needed to remove the rear quarter panel properly and obviously I had to remove the seatbelt nut… apparently it’s common for them to shear also when I do finally remove it I need to find a replacement bolt too
ugh! (Fiat aka fix it again tony)
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I'm pretty sure the nut is welded to the body, plus gas both sides then brake cleaner on the bit sticking out then whatever you want to try to turn it, will probably come out easier this way as the threads will be cleaner?
That’s going to be my first attempt: hopefully that will work
