# broken bolt in primary clutch....need help



## muddbound (Feb 15, 2010)

i have an 05 brute force 750 i bought it back in january and just recently discovered it is missing the center bolt for the primary clutch. i looked down the shaft and noticed that there is part of a bolt broken off in there but way back in there. how can i take the primary clutch off to get to the bolt?? i need help thanks guys


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## blue beast (Feb 16, 2010)

we used a 3 jaw puller...not recomended though..put the jaws around the clutch basket,found something to take up the space where the missing bolt head is ..make sure to keep everything straight...tighten the puller,but not too much you will break the basket...then we tapped the part that screws in with a hammer..towards the motor..and it fell off...dont know how but it worked...

but too much stress on the basket and it WILL break it.


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## rmax (Nov 21, 2009)

that sounds serious, have never ran across that before , i will do some looking at that today an see if i can fiqure something out


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## NMKawierider (Apr 11, 2009)

In any other case, whithout the torque on the bolt correctly the hub spins on the crank. Odd that this has not happened... but with it broke right off I would think a few hard throttle pins and it would just fall off the crank. Keep your foot out of the way.


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## muddbound (Feb 15, 2010)

Ok I have to get my hands on a 3 jaw puller. Any other suggestions? thanks blue beast


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## muddbound (Feb 15, 2010)

How hard were you hitting it with the hammer?


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## JJB (Feb 5, 2010)

nmkawierider said:


> In any other case, whithout the torque on the bolt correctly the hub spins on the crank. Odd that this has not happened... but with it broke right off I would think a few hard throttle pins and it would just fall off the crank. Keep your foot out of the way.


Since the bolt is left-hand threads (counter clock-wise to tighten) and the clutch spins clock-wise, doesn't the torque of the motor always try to tighten the bolt....???


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## blue beast (Feb 16, 2010)

muddbound said:


> How hard were you hitting it with the hammer?


nithin crazy..just some good solid blows....just tighten the puller with enough force to put a bind on it.then you can tighten maybe 1/2 turn after couple of hits ....dont try to get it off with the puller alone it wont come off that way..thats where you brake the cage .....

theres gotta be another way...like i said above i dont reccomend this way...theres a high possibility of breaking the clutch plate that your gonna hook it to...if you put too much force on it..


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## NMKawierider (Apr 11, 2009)

JJB said:


> Since the bolt is left-hand threads (counter clock-wise to tighten) and the clutch spins clock-wise, doesn't the torque of the motor always try to tighten the bolt....???


You would think...but no...it doesn't. I had mine spin on the crank once and it just spun on the washer on the bolt. With no bolt..I wonder how it's staying on.


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## trailmaker (Jun 29, 2010)

I had to fix a similar problem with a home made clutch puller a buddy used and broke in his brute.
We ended up fabricating three legs on a piece of 10"- 2"x2" angle iron with a hole drilled in the center which then would sit on the crank case. then we used two 3" fine threaded 14mm bolts that were welded hex to hex. Threaded the bolt in the clutch then put the fabri. table over the bolt making sure it sit properly on the crank case edge. Placed many washers then threaded a 14mm fine pitched nut and slowly cranked down while the owner tapped on the other side of the crank where the pull start would be removed. Popped right off but i have to say we were nervous during the whole ordeal.
If you send me your email i can send you pics of the bracket and bolt i made.
the hardest part was finding the 1.5 pitched fine thread 14mm bolts(that size mm and thread is exclusive to the power sports and lawn and garden industry)


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## brute for mud (Jul 15, 2010)

I had the same thing with a sled what happens is they spin themselves on and sometimes are a total sob to get off


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## lg07brute (Jul 20, 2009)

Could you center punch and drill the broken bolt? Then use some wd or pb blaster and a drive in bolt remover then back it out? I know that I have a set that are basically easy outs but are straight fluted so they will work on standard and left hand thread bolts. Not sure if there is room for drilling the bolt, been a while since I've had my clutch stuff apart. Just thinking out loud I guess.


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## muddbound (Feb 15, 2010)

That's what I need to do but I need to take the clutch off to get to that cause the bolt is a good 4 inches from the outside of the clutch to the bold. That's why I want to take it off so I can make sure I get the center of the bolt. The bolt is broken at the begining of the thread I can't even put another bolt


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## muddbound (Feb 15, 2010)

how do i repost this thread???


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## filthyredneck (Feb 10, 2010)

muddbound said:


> how do i repost this thread???


By making a post in it.... The thread is automatically pulled back up to the top of the unread threads

Fueling The Addiction Using Tapatalk


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## NMKawierider (Apr 11, 2009)

Has there been any change? Got that puppy off yet?


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## muddbound (Feb 15, 2010)

no man not yet i had a 2 jaw puller but im scared to use it im just waiting till i get paid to get the 3 jaw puller.


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## tmfisher57 (Aug 8, 2011)

What about VFORCEJOHN??? Maybe he has an idea???? Give him a shout, he might have a trick up his sleeve!!


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## muddbound (Feb 15, 2010)

i emailed vforce john a while ago but ill have to re email him thanks for reminding me


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## carms_2 (Jul 21, 2010)

I wouldn't use a puller if I were you. I would get a bolt extractor drill a hole in the center of the bolt after you use a punch to mark center. Once you've done this smash a extractor into the center of the bolt that's sheared and reverse it out. The tricky part will be finding a reversed extractor.

Or you can weld a smaller bolt to it and take it out that way.


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## DaveMK1 (Nov 8, 2009)

carms_2 said:


> I wouldn't use a puller if I were you. I would get a bolt extractor drill a hole in the center of the bolt after you use a punch to mark center. Once you've done this smash a extractor into the center of the bolt that's sheared and reverse it out. The tricky part will be finding a reversed extractor.
> 
> Or you can weld a smaller bolt to it and take it out that way.


And then drilling into the broken extractor and placing another extractor in your broken one. Sorry man, just never had good luck with extractors.


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## NMKawierider (Apr 11, 2009)

Extractors can be a pain. It does have to come out somehow and its comforting to know that if a bolt breaks from over-torquing it, its only the first few threads that are bound. The rest are free. But, if you use a puller and crank-down against that broken bolt and put pressure on it, way more threads will be bound and you may damage way more threads getting it out. 

I have always had pretty good luck picking two extractors or ease-outs. Both 1/3 the size of the broken bolt. One right had threaded and one left. Start with the one that tightens it and try just moving it, then the other that loosens it. With plenty of PB swithc back and forth moving it a little more each time until it will rotate out without applying enough pressure to expand the bilt and sieze the threads. Patience...patience.

Beats the hell out of replacing the crank....lol


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## DaveMK1 (Nov 8, 2009)

Time, patience, PB and heat. Only way to go


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## blue beast (Feb 16, 2010)

all we did was ...we were trying to drill a hole in it to get another screw of some sort in it to tighten down on, so it would come out...while drilling on it it just happened to bind up when we started the drilling and came right out...you could try this but not gonna say it will work...cause if ya drill too deep you can damage the stuff on the other side of the bolt if it dont bind up.. i think we got lucky on this one


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## muddbound (Feb 15, 2010)

thanks guys im going to try all this tomorrow hopefully


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## carms_2 (Jul 21, 2010)

I wouldn't worry about damaging anything as the bolt is real long. The best scenario is the biggest extractor you can get on the thing. Smash the extractor in with a hammer to get it good and tight once its in there you should be able to back the bolt out.

Good Luck lets us know how it goes.


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## carms_2 (Jul 21, 2010)

DaveMK1 said:


> And then drilling into the broken extractor and placing another extractor in your broken one. Sorry man, just never had good luck with extractors.



Sorry Dude but I don't see how hes going to get it out any other way. If you've had no luck with extractors you must not be using them right. When used right they do what they are supposed to do; REMOVE BROKEN BOLTS.


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## DaveMK1 (Nov 8, 2009)

muddbound said:


> thanks guys im going to try all this tomorrow hopefully


How you making out on this?


Carms,
Guess I use them wrong. The square end goes in the hole right?

Sent from my droid when I should be working. MIMB RULES!


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## carms_2 (Jul 21, 2010)

MK1,

I guess you don't know how to use an extractor then.

But that's the only way to get it out.


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## jctgumby (Apr 23, 2009)

Okay. Settle down guys. 

Any updates on the broken bolt?


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## muddbound (Feb 15, 2010)

im going to work on it in the morning. i wasnt able to get out there to work on the bike at all i had my daughter


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## blue beast (Feb 16, 2010)

well hows the process working out???


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## kdixer (Apr 14, 2010)

I like the idea of drilling and tapping the broken bolt. It is reverse thread so if something binds it will likely spin it out. Use plenty of lube when drilling and tapping to prevent either one from breaking off in the bolt. You should be able to find a long drill bit to drill with the clutch on. And you can run a tap in using a socket. Just take it slow and watch the alignment.

Another idea for the clutch is to rapidly cool the clutch with something. If you get a can of compressed air and hold the can upside down while spraying it will be really cold. Spray the clutch hub as thoroughly as possible and use a rubber mallet. The idea is to make the aluminum grow enough using temperature to release itself from the taper on the crank.


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## NMKawierider (Apr 11, 2009)

kdixer said:


> I like the idea of drilling and tapping the broken bolt. It is reverse thread so if something binds it will likely spin it out. Use plenty of lube when drilling and tapping to prevent either one from breaking off in the bolt. You should be able to find a long drill bit to drill with the clutch on. And you can run a tap in using a socket. Just take it slow and watch the alignment.
> 
> Another idea for the clutch is to rapidly cool the clutch with something. If you get a can of compressed air and hold the can upside down while spraying it will be really cold. Spray the clutch hub as thoroughly as possible and use a rubber mallet. The idea is to make the aluminum grow enough using temperature to release itself from the taper on the crank.


I thought cooling contracted materials....so...you would want to heat the hub and cool the crank...right? And the hub on the primary is steel..by the way..

I still say without the bolt the primary won't stay on the crank. Just lock the parking brake, fire it up, put it in low range and peg it once. It will just move out enough to start spinning on the crank. Of course keep your feet well out of the way. If it doesn't, someone wayyy over torqued it...which is probably why the bolt broke in the first place.


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## kdixer (Apr 14, 2010)

nmkawierider said:


> I thought cooling contracted materials....so...you would want to heat the hub and cool the crank...right? And the hub on the primary is steel..by the way..
> 
> I still say without the bolt the primary won't stay on the crank. Just lock the parking brake, fire it up, put it in low range and peg it once. It will just move out enough to start spinning on the crank. Of course keep your feet well out of the way. If it doesn't, someone wayyy over torqued it...which is probably why the bolt broke in the first place.


 
Yeah cooling will contract material. I had it backwards. Should work even better considering you could concntrate the spray on the end of the crank.

I would not try to spin it off if it were my bike though. Could do some real damage to the clutch.


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## muddbound (Feb 15, 2010)

sorry i havent posted io have been swammped with work im off tomorrow so im going to figure something out tomorrow. thanks for all the input just scared to break something expensive


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## NMKawierider (Apr 11, 2009)

muddbound said:


> sorry i havent posted io have been swammped with work im off tomorrow so im going to figure something out tomorrow. thanks for all the input just scared to break something expensive


Just don't do anything to damage those crankshaft threads or make that broken piece harder to get out.


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## IBBruin (Feb 10, 2009)

To get the clutch off, I would buy a regular clutch removing tool and modify the end that would normally go into the crankshaft. It would take some measurements and would need to be precise but it could be done. If you were to cut the end of the tool off and machine it to a point, it would contact the broken bolt in the exact center of the bolt, thereby not causing any additional damage to the broken bolt or damaging the crankshaft threads. The removal tool would work like normal but instead of pushing against the crankshaft, you'd be pushing against the exact center of the broken bolt.


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## IBBruin (Feb 10, 2009)

Even the square extractors I have are directional. They have a leading or biting edge that cuts in as the extractor is spun CCW. In this case, you'll need to turn the broken piece CW to remove it. I suggest drilling and tapping out the broken bolt out to say 3/8th's fine thread, then screw a socket head bolt into it. When the socket head bolt bottoms out in your broken bolt it *should* spin the broken bolt out. This may have been covered in previous posts but I'm to lazy to read them all. lol


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## blue beast (Feb 16, 2010)

IBBruin said:


> Even the square extractors I have are directional. They have a leading or biting edge that cuts in as the extractor is spun CCW. In this case, you'll need to turn the broken piece CW to remove it. I suggest drilling and tapping out the broken bolt out to say 3/8th's fine thread, then screw a socket head bolt into it. When the socket head bolt bottoms out in your broken bolt it *should* spin the broken bolt out. This may have been covered in previous posts but I'm to lazy to read them all. lol


this is what we were tryin to do when the drill bit got hung up and screwed out the broken bolt...


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## muddbound (Feb 15, 2010)

well i hope thats going to be the case with me... fingers crossed


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