Why waste your time and fuel with a tin pot outfit like Skoda?

The local VW dealer where I live has a spares dept bigger than all of the Skoda dealers in Surrey put together - you could get your pinch bolt in 10 minutes.

rotodiesel.

Thats what I will be doing in future, I've got one now and fitted it, Roto'isd it as well with the copper slip, old one came out easy as it only went back in about 4 weeks ago, I wanted to replace it because the lad had to chisel it a bit to get it out, there was only one small chisel mark on it, but I wanted to be double sure it hadn't fatigued the bolt in any way.

Don't hit it hard with a hammer unless you want to turn the bolt into a rivet. The bolt is 8.8 grade and is soft, unplated and rusty.

These things are a pain. Use a 16 or 5/8" AF ring spanner on the bolt head and see if you can move it a little. Don't attempt to turn it round as it will shear off - the bolt is bent due to its being a "pinch" bolt.

If you can get it to move even slightly, rock it to and fro with the ring spanner whilst lightly tapping the threaded end - protected of course by a nut. Whatever you do, don't hit it hard. Most will break free by this method

rotodiesel.

OK - I finally got around to buying some new bolts and giving this a go. Got the nuts off easily but moving the bolts was another matter. Given the comments above I was careful on how much force I used. Quite possibly too careful.

Roto/Lumox - difficult to describe I know, but how hard can I try to move the bolt with spanner/socket without danger of doing something I would really prefer not to happen? The car's 3+ years old and 35k miles.

cheers

OK - I finally got around to buying some new bolts and giving this a go. Got the nuts off easily but moving the bolts was another matter. Given the comments above I was careful on how much force I used. Quite possibly too careful.

Roto/Lumox - difficult to describe I know, but how hard can I try to move the bolt with spanner/socket without danger of doing something I would really prefer not to happen? The car's 3+ years old and 35k miles.

cheers

You will probably be better off getting a garage to do them now, if they are seized which they obviously are you will have to widen the control arms where the bolt goes through using a chisel and wind it out with a socket on the other end, or heat up the area with a blow torch, make sure you don't burn the steering arms boots though, hth.

Don't mutilate the steering knuckle or attempt to widen the slots. Be patient and apply penetrating oil (not WD40) and let it soak.

With the nut out of the way, put a 5/8" AF (which is a fraction smaller than 16mm) ring spanner on the bolt and try to move it just a fraction in each direction. Don't attempt to turn it round as it's bent - it needs to end up in its original position.

If it's really stuck, you have two options. One is to go to a VAG specialist who have a tool to pull it out. Why VAG spent time designing the tool rather than changing the bolt specification is beyond me. The other option is to take a very fine disc saw (Dremel) and chop the bolt in half using the slot in the knuckle nearer the bolt head. You don't need to go all the way through as you can turn the head portion out with a spanner. You then pull the rest of it out with the nut and an increasing pile of washers on the outer (threaded) end. This does work - go carefully - the bolt is cheap, the knuckle isn't.

Widening the slots does nothing, the bolts rust in their holes.

rotodiesel.

Don't mutilate the steering knuckle or attempt to widen the slots. Be patient and apply penetrating oil (not WD40) and let it soak.

With the nut out of the way, put a 5/8" AF (which is a fraction smaller than 16mm) ring spanner on the bolt and try to move it just a fraction in each direction. Don't attempt to turn it round as it's bent - it needs to end up in its original position.

If it's really stuck, you have two options. One is to go to a VAG specialist who have a tool to pull it out. Why VAG spent time designing the tool rather than changing the bolt specification is beyond me. The other option is to take a very fine disc saw (Dremel) and chop the bolt in half using the slot in the knuckle nearer the bolt head. You don't need to go all the way through as you can turn the head portion out with a spanner. You then pull the rest of it out with the nut and an increasing pile of washers on the outer (threaded) end. This does work - go carefully - the bolt is cheap, the knuckle isn't.

Widening the slots does nothing, the bolts rust in their holes.

rotodiesel.

Thats how mine came out, mind you the cut it in half way looks best.