stripped stud?

[biker4life]

my problem is I was trying to remove the 3 nuts to remove the trunk light housing from my 2006 gl1800, 2 of the nuts came off with no problems but the 3rd one just spins and does not come off. it appears that the stud the nut tightens onto has come loose from the light housing and so when I turn the nut the whole stud must turn with it but does not spin out so I am unable to remove the nut or the stud. i think im just going to have to try to put a vice grip on the nut and try to pull the stud out at same time but hope i don't damage it anymore than it is already. so my question is, has this happened to anyone else and or is there a way to remove that stud without to much damage occurring. im guessing previous owner tightened it too much causing the stud to become loose from the inside housing and now i cannot get the nut off

[WingAdmin]

my problem is I was trying to remove the 3 nuts to remove the trunk light housing from my 2006 gl1800, 2 of the nuts came off with no problems but the 3rd one just spins and does not come off. it appears that the stud the nut tightens onto has come loose from the light housing and so when I turn the nut the whole stud must turn with it but does not spin out so I am unable to remove the nut or the stud. i think im just going to have to try to put a vice grip on the nut and try to pull the stud out at same time but hope i don't damage it anymore than it is already. so my question is, has this happened to anyone else and or is there a way to remove that stud without to much damage occurring. im guessing previous owner tightened it too much causing the stud to become loose from the inside housing and now i cannot get the nut off

The problem with these studs is that they are sunk into plastic. The end of the stud has a ribbed shape that is pressed into the plastic, and the plastic keeps it from turning - until it is tightened too much. This causes the ribbed part to rotate in the plastic, stripping out the plastic that was holding it from turning.

I have had success with these in the past by taking a very small torch and heating the end of the stud. The heat travels along the stud to the plastic. The goal is to melt the plastic slightly around the stud, re-forming it around the ribbed part. Once the heat is removed and the plastic cools, the stud is once again held in place, and the nut can be removed. It's a bit of a balancing act between not enough heat and too much heat.

[biker4life]

interesting idea but since its still mounted might be hard to torch it without melting any other plastics but you have gave me a good idea, I have one of those soldering irons might try touching the nut with it hoping the heat transfers to the stud to the plastic then will let it cool down and hope like you said the plastic would have melted around the stud holding it in place to be able to loosen the nut, thanks again I will update next week as I will be away for a while then try it when I return

[WingAdmin]

interesting idea but since its still mounted might be hard to torch it without melting any other plastics but you have gave me a good idea, I have one of those soldering irons might try touching the nut with it hoping the heat transfers to the stud to the plastic then will let it cool down and hope like you said the plastic would have melted around the stud holding it in place to be able to loosen the nut, thanks again I will update next week as I will be away for a while then try it when I return

The melting point of ABS is around 220 degrees F, so you might be able to do what you're trying with a soldering iron or gun. I know I can set my soldering iron up to about 800 degrees or so. A gun might work better as it will have a bit more wattage, and will be able to put out the heat energy without cooling off too much.

[Grasshutperformance]

Interesting repair idea, heat. Not familiar with this area as I have a 77 GL1000, but I do have a lot of shop experience. If you cannot get it to stick in place with heat, you can try the heat and vice grips and use that to pull while turning. Do this as straight as you can. Then you have a choice, epoxy the stud back in, OR, try a helicoil and get or make a screw in stud. If the hole is too big for a helicoil you can get an easy lock. An easy lock is like a helicoil on steroids! A 1/4 20 easy lock is in either a 5/16 or 3/8 threaded insert. So either way you will be able to get it back together.
Tom