Broke the stud on the right fork that holds the axle cap in place. Luckily for me there is enough left to get a a stud puller on it and back it out. I have read that you can use the stud puller without heating the stud. I've also read that you should heat the stud before pulling.

Which way is correct ?

If you heat the stud, how do you tell that you've heated it enough ?

 

I would heat the area around the stud not the stud itself. It'll make it weaker...

 

If you heat the stud it expands and gets tighter, like HotRod said, if you feel you need heat heat the area, not the stud.

 

I would do a couple of heat cycles to the stud, heating it up, getting it to expand a few times in the threaded bore then quenching it with some penetrating oil. Probably do that two or three times along with some "love taps" to the stud to try and break away or loosen any corrosion that might be locking the steel stud to the aluminum.

Then once everything is completely cooled off, go with the previous suggestions on heating up the surrounding area while putting some loosening tension on the stud.

Do you have the ability to weld a nut onto the stud? I have had really good luck using a cheap harbor freight air hammer and a homemade "shake-n-break" tool (link below) The only difference with my home made tool is it is made to accept sockets instead of screwdriver bits.

Just go slow and don't break the stud any shorter. If you make or use a shake-n-break tool, you will be impressed at how well it works. The air hammer cycles so fast that you can actually feel heat on the bolt/screw but it's not the heat that breaks the bolt/stud loose, but the vibrations. YD



https://www.nationaltoolwarehouse.co...yABEgJStfD_BwE

 

You don't have to heat it at all.
You only have to heat it if you are having a hard time getting the bolt (stud) out without heating.

Usually I just use vice grips to get broken bolts/studs out.

 

Forgot to mention blue loctite on the new stud...to prevent the steel threads reacting with the aluminum. Yd

 

Same here (vice grips) or drill it out almost to the threads, relieves tension and comes out sometimes looking like a spring.
Usually the only thins I heat or chill are press fit parts.
I do understand what YankeeDog says - heat and allow to cool breaks surface tension etc. Fortunately I've never had one I didn't get.

 

Odds are that if the stud broken, presumably because the nut was seized on it , the stud isn't going to just come out without some "extra help" ... Patience, patience and then a bit more patience will be required ... If you're not comfortable doing this on your own seek out some help. I can tell you that, over the years, I've made a LOT OF MONEY fixing other peoples mistakes.

 

FWIW if there is enough of a bolt/stud left out to get a pair of vice grips on then I've gotten the broken bolt/stud out every time without heat (mainly because I don't have a good source for it and no patience/money to go get one). YMMV

 

Propane torch and patience....just keep the mind set "don't make it worse", YD