Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
 
Old 12-01-2020, 04:25 PM   #1
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Aug 2020
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 12
Year: 2002
Chassis: Chevrolet Express G3500
Engine: 6.5 L Turbo Diesel
Help! Stubborn bolts!

The brackets that hold the seat belt harnesses are killing us! Bolts won’t drill out, and we can’t get an angle grinder in there. Any suggestions?
Attached Thumbnails
C10601CB-4185-4001-B83D-A53E3A5FA3D2.jpg  

JudyW is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-01-2020, 04:30 PM   #2
Traveling
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Virginia
Posts: 2,302
Year: None
Coachwork: None
Chassis: None
Engine: None
Rated Cap: None
Those are probably Torx bolts, and these are probably made of a high-strength material to prevent breakage in an accident. Blowtorch or correct size Torx bit, with an impact. Hopefully you haven't drilled them where they can't be removed normally, hence I offer the plan B of blowtorch. Can't be tight if it's a liquid.
CHEESE_WAGON is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-01-2020, 04:57 PM   #3
Bus Geek
 
musigenesis's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2019
Location: Philadelphia
Posts: 6,995
Year: 2003
Coachwork: International
Chassis: CE 300
Engine: DT466e
Rated Cap: 65C-43A
Get the largest hole saw that will fit into those circular depressions and around the bolt heads (maybe 1" or 1.25"?) and use it to cut through the track around each bolt head. The track will come off and then the bolt heads will be exposed for some angle grinding.
__________________
Rusty 87 build thread
musigenesis is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 12-01-2020, 09:57 PM   #4
Bus Geek
 
Join Date: Sep 2018
Posts: 2,831
Year: 2007
Coachwork: Thomas Built
Chassis: Minotour
Engine: Chevy Express 3500 6.6l
They are grade 8 or 10 and will dull a drill bit in about 15 seconds. Did you try to unscrew them? On my bus they were 3/16 Allen socket screws. The screws for the shoulder belts were easy since they were t gummed up with undercoater.

If you can’t unscrew it looks like a metal cutting disk in an angle grinder would work.
Danjo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-01-2020, 10:59 PM   #5
Bus Crazy
 
Join Date: May 2018
Location: topeka kansas
Posts: 1,769
Year: 1954
Coachwork: wayne
Chassis: old f500- new 2005 f-450
Engine: cummins 12 valve
Rated Cap: 20? five rows of 4?
well.....

find and buy a tungsten carbide drill bit... They will not bend at all... they will shatter. go watch some utube videos about tungsten carbide drill.... go about 3/8" about 9mm or 10mm. buy two, you are likely to break one. also consider dremel tool with "reinforced" cutting discs.. slow but will get the job done.... try using what is called an "impact driver" that uses 5/16" bits as a first resort... you use a hammer to make an impact driver work..... Proto brand is my go to ... harbor frieght ought to be fine but the bits suck... spend the pennies for good bits, they are considered consumables so buy several.

1) impact driver
2) carbide drills
3) dremel tool
4) cutting torch


start with one and work your way down the list..

william
magnakansas is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-02-2020, 07:44 AM   #6
Bus Geek
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Columbus Ohio
Posts: 18,757
Year: 1991
Coachwork: Carpenter
Chassis: International 3800
Engine: DTA360 / MT643
Rated Cap: 7 Row Handicap
yep tungsten carbibe, Low RPM and USE CUTTING OIL! or you will ruin the bit or snap it off.. drilliing grade 8 sucks no matter what.. start with a small hole and work up in steps..
cadillackid is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-02-2020, 01:00 PM   #7
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Oct 2020
Posts: 27
Year: 2008
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: Bluebird
Engine: Cummins ISB
And some heat never hurts, especially if you can follow that with some super cold. Like torch for heat and then an inverted can of duster squirted on them for cold
Bpike is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-02-2020, 05:08 PM   #8
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Aug 2020
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 12
Year: 2002
Chassis: Chevrolet Express G3500
Engine: 6.5 L Turbo Diesel
Success!

All 3 anchors successfully removed. Torx bit & impact driver did the trick!

Plan B was impact driver and acetylene torch - but didn’t come to that!

Thanks skoolie friends!!
Attached Thumbnails
A910EC96-3FAF-450A-97EF-CBDDCBA95CF6.jpg   F400A60F-7394-4FA1-8005-4752C4E373C3.jpg  
JudyW is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-02-2020, 07:25 PM   #9
Skoolie
 
Join Date: Jul 2019
Location: Houston
Posts: 105
Year: 1997
Engine: Cummins 8.3
I was about to comment that we had to get an impact driver to get ours out. That thing has been INVALUABLE for the bus demo.
Truffles is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 04:06 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.