"Jackson Wallace" > wrote in message
...
> I've got a caliper bolt that's stripped and won't come off the front
> passenger side of a 99 Ford Taurus. I've tried vice grips but the head of
> the bolt is stripped so badly the grips roll right off once I try to turn
> them. It isn't one of the bigger mounting bolts, it's the lower one of
> the
> smaller pin bolts (I guess they're called).
>
> Any advice?
To begin with, do you not have a proper Allen wrench? If not, use a
GOOD small pair of vice grips--needs to be thinner than the bolt head so as
to expose the bolt head for tapping it with a hammer--lock them onto the
bolt and lightly tap on the end of the bolt head as you apply turning force
with the pliers. The bolt should turn out.
If all else fails, you can use a dull chisel and hammer. Drive the
chisel at an angle into/onto the head of the bolt and in the direction it
needs to turn. This combination of blows plus biting-and-driving force
should remove it. REPLACE the bolt with a good one, in any case.
If you have to go buy a tool, a proper Allen wrench is amazingly cheap &
should be a lot cheaper than a (thin) pair of vice grips. You will need it
for installion anyway. BTW, purchasing a good very small pair of vice grips
is a worthwhile investment that you'll never regret. HTH. s