Mike141

Was rotating my tires today when the rear was extremely hard to get the lug bolts off and snapped one of them off in the rotor! Any suggestions is greatly appreciated to get this out without having to remove the rotor if I can help it. The broken lug is pretty flush with the rotor so I cannot grab it with anything.

Pothole5000

Left hand drill bit.

Or take it off and to a local machine shop, they should be able to get it out in no time.

Mister Bally

The bolt is actually broken off in the Hub, not the rotor. Remove the rotor (brake caliper & carrier will likely need to be removed but pretty easy).

Then, Heat & Penetrating oil along the circumference. Once hot and soaked, Grip with a pair of genuine Vise Grips (Hopefully an old, "Made in USA" pair) and beat it counter-clockwise.

Alternate is to drill it part way and use an "Easy-Out". Heat and penetrating oil are still your friend.

You've learned that a dab of Anti-Seize Compound on wheel bolt threads is a good idea going forward.

Also note that you can drive the car with four bolts for a short time.

Hannibalacp82

I am a big fan of PB Blaster for issues like this. Also when you take the rotor and caliper off make sure to either balance the caliper on a bucket under the car or zip tie it to the suspension arm so that the flexible brake line doesn't break and you then have to bleed your line.

Mister Bally

Bailing wire. I have a roll of it and I keep a few cutoff pieces 2' and 3' that I reuse for brake jobs on the fleet.

richard-tx

Forget an easy-out. If the original bolt twisted off, the easy out isn't going to help and will likely hinder as it too will snap off.

What is needed is heat ... and a lot of it or drill it out. An acetylene torch is the right tool for the job if going with heat. Forget propane or mapp gas torches. They are a waste of time and money for this job. There is however the possibility of the heat damaging the wheel bearing so drilling it out is likely best.

A LH drill bit isn't likely going to help either. If the threads in the hub get damaged, then Heli-Coil it.

The key to success is centering the pilot hole perfectly. If you get the pilot hole perfectly centered, then removal of the remains of the fastener from the hub (without damaging the hub) is easy. If it were mine, I would drill and tap it as needed.

In the future, use an impact wrench. An impact wrench will loosen and remove corroded fasteners where a constant torque tool will just twist them off.

the_duke

I don't have much need for a full size acetylene torch. I have one of the torches linked below. The gasses don't last long and are kind of expensive but since I only use it every couple of years for stuck bolts it has served me well.

Bernzomatic Welding and Brazing Torch Kit 331675 | Zoro.com

Mike141

How difficult is it to remove the rear rotor? I know you need a VCDS to release the parking brake, which I have...But the bolts to remove the brake caliper mount look really tough to get at. Do you think I'd be able to get this out without taking off the rotor if I drill it out? It's been soaking in PB Blaster since yesterday

Mister Bally

They were simple.

MP4.2+6.0

Once pads are released, rear caliper removal is easy and it is light. Hopefully you realize it is two steps--first the 13mm bolts where the caliper itself attaches to the mounting bracket, and then the mounting bracket comes off separately. After that you pull the rotor.