Hi, so my steering column has been loose for a while and i have decided to fix it.

 

How do you tighten the bolt with no head?

and what side (both length and diameter) is the bolt so i can find a similar one to replace it?

 

Hi Conah,

When the steering column was assembled originally in the factory, the bolt had a head on it, that snaps off once it is tightened, so no one can get it off again, to circumvent the steering lock. From your pictures, it looks like one bolt you have removed, or has fallen out, and the other one is still in there.

 

Happened to me a few years back. I put the bolt in a vice & cut a slot with a hacksaw right through the centre of the domed head section. Then you can use a big screw driver with a large blade to tighten it up. If you use a large screw driver with a square shaft (rather than round), you can put wrench on it, to get some extra leverage. Bit of Loctite on thread probably wouldn't go astray either, so it won't come loose in future.

 

Good luck ! Let us know if my suggestion worked out for you.

 

Cheers Banjo

Edited August 16, 201412 yr by Banjo

Its not as far out as i thought. I had patched it up prior with a bolt in the other side and a washer to keep it from jiggling around too much (Warrent people don't like that much). I could try cut it though but then id have half a bolt stuck in one side. I'm going to try to scratch a dent in it to screw driver it out.

You can get a thin fine tipped centre punch & place it near the outer edge of the domed bolt & then tap the centre punch & work your way around the head & undo it that way & then when you have it out cut a slot in the dome so you can tighten it up with a screw driver as has been said ..

Happend to me years ago. Just cold chisel/punch it. Hit it round to undo it and replaced with high tensile bolts. Stuff having loose steering

Ive heard drilling a hole in the centre of the shear bolt and then hammering in a hex bit that is slightly bigger than the hole works pretty good. Or just be careful and use a centre punch. Once its lose you can use a pencil with an eraser on the end to remove it

Someone before me has replaced the shear bolts with normal bolts in my car. Lucky me!

 

If you take the shear bolt out, it should be easy to match up. It's probably an M8.