Congratulations! 

And I am saving this thread as I suspect these tricks can help in other situations. 

        What great info.

And, thanks Rick for reporting back your progress and this goes down as a big group list success!  On New Years as well!  Very auspicious! 

Eric Caron 

> On Jan 1, 2024, at 3:17 PM, Rick Cooper <rick@WEBLEAF.CA> wrote:
> 
> Success at last!  Thanks everyone for the range of options -- I was amazed at all of the ideas, most of which I had never considered and/or thought impossible.  
> 
> I started with the simplest, Mark's suggestion of driving a 1/4" hex into the rounded off 6mm socket.  All the while trying to keep in mind the caution that I should not hammer to hard -- I addressed that in part by using an 8oz hammer with lots of small taps.  This almost worked but the metal gave at the last moment. 
> 
> So onto the next simplest -- Karl's suggestion of using a 8mm Triple Square bit (I think the one I used is triple square, it has about 12 splines? Torx has around 6 splines, if I'm correct.) That worked!  Came out so smoothly I suspect the 1/4" drive attempt just before helped to break it.
> 
> I had played around on the bench with using a 12-point 12mm socket.  I think that too would have worked but I would have had to hammer quite a bit harder to get it on.
> 
> Anyway, now onto replacing the joints.  Which I am going to have to do judging from the pitting on the ball hubs and races.  Our local dedicated VW parts shop has these https://vanagonwestfaliaparts.com/products/cv-joint-kit?variant=29737033793 at $95CAN, which is very roughly equivalent to $65US, and I can pick them up.  I think they are Lobros but I will need to confirm that.
> 
> Thanks again for the help.
> 
> Rick
> 
> 
> On Mon, Jan 1, 2024, at 10:49 AM, OlRivrRat wrote:
>>        I’m not familiar the hammering in of an allen or torx bit but the amount of
>> 
>> hammering on that is needed to secure a socket on the outside of the bolt head
>> 
>> is surprising slight & I am somewhat sure that longitudinal forces that happen
>> 
>> upon the Axles are arrested by thrust bearing surfaces & probably not the roller
>> 
>> bearing chases but even if I’m incorrect on that point, the Axles have some end
>> 
>> play when properly installed so what ever it is that they hammer up against on
>> 
>> the kinds of drives We like to subject them to can apparently take a beating ~
>> 
>> 
>>> On 1 Jan , 2024, at 8:24 AM, Ray Brubaker <rayandmerle@GMAIL.COM> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Be aware! Any hammering on this bolt goes through the ball bearing that is
>>> part of the wheel bearing system. Heavy hammering can cause the balls to
>>> dent the races causing shorter bearing life. These are robust bearings but
>>> no bearing should be hammered on if you want it to have a long life.
>>> 
>>> Ray
>>> 
>>> On Sun, Dec 31, 2023 at 9:15 PM Mark Drillock <madvws@cox.net> wrote:
>>> 
>>>> The 6mm allen bit is slightly smaller than 1/4".
>>>> I buy a 1/4" allen bit, file a slight taper on the 6 edges of the tip.
>>>> Then hammer it into the rounded out 6mm hole, using heavy blows.
>>>> Then unscrew the bolt.
>>>> 
>>>> VW used many 6mm allen bolts on many of their vehicles.
>>>> I have used this method lots of times, including CV bolts.
>>>> 
>>>> Mark
>>>> 
>>>> On 12/31/2023 5:08 PM, Rick Cooper wrote:
>>>>> Hi all,
>>>>> 
>>>>> I've got a noisy CV joint and thought I would remove and repair it
>>>> today.  But I managed to round off one of the twelve 6mm Allen socket-head
>>>> bolts so that I cannot break the last bolt free.  Unfortunately it is on
>>>> the outside CV joint so it inaccessible by most tools.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Has anyone had this experience and can offer any advice?  Am I stuck
>>>> drilling out/off the head of the bolt?  And then how do I remove the shaft
>>>> from the wheel assembly since it will be challenging, even with joint out
>>>> of the way, to get a good hold on it with vice-grips?
>>>>> 
>>>>> Thanks for any help.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Rc
>>>> 
>>