Rounded bolts on hub..... I need help!

[MN4runnerman]

So to preface I've searched up and down this forum and YouTube(btw I hate YouTube). Living in the rust belt gives you super special challenges when working on anything automotive. A 2 hour job turns into a 5 hour fist fight where nobody wins!

So here's the issue. I'm doing the TBU and replacing the hub assembly(and lots of other things) on my 99. The calipers and rotors were easy peasy nothing can compete against my IR 1/2 impact! Until I got to the 4 bolts that mount the hub assembly to the steering knuckle. The top 2 bolts on each side came off with a 12mm wrench. Then came the bottom 2 bolts on each side. I first tried just getting them off like the top bolts and that was a no go. Then I liberally sprayed PB blaster on all of them and let it soak in for a bit. That also didn't work and now the bolts are rounded. I then used a heat torch to try to loosen them and then pounded on an 11mm wrench to get them off and even that didn't work.....WTF!!!!!!!! They got even more rounded. I'm stuck now and am currently drinking a beer and chilling out..... life sucks......

So if you read all that congrats! You get a :cheers:. This was mostly a rant that I'll probs delete but if you have any sort of idea I'm all ears and willing to give it a shot. Just so everyone knows you can't fit a socket wrench, impact wrench, or anything longer than 2 inches in between the space where the lug studs are mounted and where the hub mounts to the knuckle.

 

[Stiles97]

Heat cycles. Rapidly heating and cooling to break the corrosion bond. Have used in the past a wax crayon in addition to the pb blaster as it seems to maybe wick in a little better when applied to hot stuck fastener. Idk if that's factual but has seemed true on some very stuck fasteners over the years. Rather than pounding on a smaller socket I would try one of the fluted internally splined extractors that will dig in and really bite on the bolt/nut head. Good luck.

 

[KidVermicious]

Irwin bolt extractors are the bomb, but it sounds like you probably don't have enough room to get them on. Normally I'd say weld a nut over the rounded one and go again, but you likely don't have room for that either. So I see two options. a) cut them off flush and then extract them once you've got the knuckle off, or b) pound a cheap 11mm box end back on there and then spot weld it in place. Don't do too good a job, because you're going to have to grind it off once you get the bolt spinning.

That's what I've got off the top of my head, anyway.

 

[MN4runnerman]

An update I got 2 of the 4 bolts out going at it with more heat and letting it cycle and cool before I heated it up again. Then I pounded the 11mm wrench on and was able to get them loose. Thanks for the advice guys!