Beauty ring...HELP!

[Bracamonte]

Dear lord, getting these beauty rings off is horrendous!!

Had 5 of the bolts in so tight, heads stripped. Took 2 hours to get them off. Won't go into details of how, but it involved a breaker bar, 6 drills bits, a hammer and some fire.

I dropped the spare to do that one as well, and the heads on those bolts aren't even worth it to start trying. So worn, can't even see the torx shape in the head.

So two questions:

1) How do you get these things off?! Drilling them out does not work for me.

2) What size/type bolts are these so I can replace them? (I saw on another thread that they go for about $10/piece. Let's get real here, they're bolts holding on a cosmetic piece...)

 

[Antho]

Did you buy it used? Maybe someone took them off and put some serious loc tite on them? The bolt isnt that long so its weird that they are hard to get off. Mine came off easily on my 2017 and 2019

 

[Retired in TN]

Was there adhesive on the bolt threads? It could be blue or red typically. If so, use a hair dryer on high to break down the adhesive compound. Applying heat before disassembly is the key. I read the torque spec is only 18 Nm and there is no prevailing torque, so I consider it likely the bolts had adhesive.

 

[Retired in TN]

I would talk to the dealer about getting a new set of bolts, or at least the thread pitch, diameter and length. Companies like Fastenal over charge badly and should be avoided.

 

[JohnyPython]

There was blue locktite.

If they were that tight, I would get out the impact hammer. The torx head is shallow and the risk of stripping it is high.

Run a tap in the threaded holes to clear them.

IIRC, it’s like an M10 bolt.

 

[Johnkn]

My 2019 bead lock bolts had thread locker from the factory but came out easily. If the heads strip try a bolt remover tool that bites into the bolt when turned counter clockwise. As stated the proper torque is 13-14 ft/lbs


.

 

[Retired in TN]

Thread adhesive can seize, much to the delight of OEM with problematic attachments. The stuff actually liquifies during the torque process. Why the owners manual leaves out such warnings is irritating.

Thread seizing does not always occur when adhesives are involved. Tool speed (rpm), friction, humidity and torque are all factors. You can shear off the bolt head if the adhesive is not heated (always recommended), or the bolt can be removed easily.

 

[Retired in TN]

Also, adhesive manufacturers offer a variety of adhesives, which are generally applied to the threads and then dried/harden ended. Auto manufacturers often use a lower grade adhesive with a very predictable coefficient of friction, giving a predictable bolt clamp load for the torque spec. These milder adhesives can seize under the right conditions (high bolt clamp load). Then there are stronger adhesives where the OEM is happy if the attachment seizes.

 

[Retired in TN]

I will remove my beak-lock beauty rings this week to have them powder coated. I know pre-heating takes time, but it make removal predictable. 20 seconds on each bolt using a hair drier (on max heat) should work fine.

 

[Bracamonte]

Bought truck used with 19k miles. Previous owner didn’t do anything. There is a white adhesive on bolts when I get them out. I assume it’s all factory.

Like I said, the spare has the bolt heads so degraded, I’m not going to even mess with them. Yes, probably should’ve done heat. It ended up being 8 of the 48 bolts I worked on that were so seized up.