Stripped screw nut or bolt

Stripped screw nut or bolt

Working on older or slightly neglected cars the nut bolts and screw especially those on the underside of the car that are exposed to the road spray and winter salt corrode easily.

It’s not the end of the world this page will help you with the following –

    • Help you remove a nut, bolt or screw with a stripped head
    • Help you remove nut, bolt or screw that just won’t budge




Stripped head

First thing is not to panic, things are never as bad as they seem, OK you can panic a little.

Lets imagine your using a 19mm socket to 19mm bolt but due to the age of the bolt the metal has eroded and on your first turn you strip all the edges off the bolt. ACE.

The solution is so simple you will kick yourself for not thinking about it. All you need to solve this problem is a file.

File down the bolt taking away the eroded metal and when you have a few straight edges uses a smaller socket to remove the nut. It’s the exact same trick with screws.

Flat sides on stripped screw Flat sides on stripped screw Flat sides on stripped screw

The images here are from when I was changing the lower front suspension arms on a 7 year old Ford Ka, the heads of most of the screws stripped, oh they joy.