Stripped brake lever clamp -- oops!

tcmedara said:

I just couldn't resist. Walking around Home Depot today
with the honey-do list and I spied a set of allen sockets
that would go well with my torque wrench. I got them home
and just had to try them out. The short story is I managed
to immediately strip one of the clamp bolts on a brake
lever. No great loss, they were a set of Avid SD 5's that
I never really liked. I took the XT levers off the
hardtail and had them mounted in 20 minutes. I'd been
meaning to swap them over for six months, but never had
reason to get around to it.

Now I'm wondering what to do with a stripped brake lever
clamp. The left side is fine, so I can always keep it
around as an emergency spare, but it seems a shame to not
have a matched set. I don't think there's much hope of
chasing the threads. There obviously weren't a lot of
threads to begin with, and there was a good amount of
material on the bolt when I extraced it.

I've already ordered a replacement set (as well as a few
other goodies to take advantage of the shipping), but I'd
hate to just have to toss an otherwise working lever
because of a few missing threads. Any ideas how to salvage
the lever?

Hmmm. You mean you stripped the threads INSIDE the clamp,
not the bolt, right?

I did one of my usual round-out-the-head numbers on my XTR
brake clamp bolts, so I (actually a friend with skills)
Dremeled a slot in it so I can overtighten it now with a
screwdriver rather than an allen (sp?) wrench.

It's pretty soft metal, so maybe you can get a bigger bolt
to "purchase"?

Bill "either that, or strip the left one to match (that IS
what you want, right? 🙂 " S.

tcmedara said:

I just couldn't resist. Walking around Home Depot today
with the honey-do list and I spied a set of allen sockets
that would go well with my torque wrench. I got them home
and just had to try them out. The short story is I managed
to immediately strip one of the clamp bolts on a brake
lever. No great loss, they were a set of Avid SD 5's that
I never really liked.

Just a thought - dunno how it would work, but if you don't
mind the Frankenstein look, could you drill right through
the centre? Use a couple of metal washers top and bottom.
Poke a long bolt right through and tighten the nut on the
other side to clamp the whole lot together.
--
Westie (Replace 'invalid' with 'yahoo' when replying.)

tcmedara said:

I just couldn't resist. Walking around Home Depot today
with the honey-do list and I spied a set of allen sockets
that would go well with my torque wrench. I got them home
and just had to try them out. The short story is I managed
to immediately strip one of the clamp bolts on a brake
lever. No great loss, they were a set of Avid SD 5's that
I never really liked. I took the XT levers off the
hardtail and had them mounted in 20 minutes. I'd been
meaning to swap them over for six months, but never had
reason to get around to it.

Now I'm wondering what to do with a stripped brake
lever clamp.

Tom

Personally, I don't think it's worth it, but there's really
only one proper and permanent fix that I know of. Go here
mcmaster.commcmaster.comOpen ↗ and type the number 3058 into the
Find search box. Get whichever thread size repair kit your
heart desires.

Those kits are a great thing to have in your tool box for
those emergencies. Been meaning to pick one up myself.

--
Slacker

"tcmedara" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:y1yuc.3067$eP.1185@lakeread01...

Quoted message said:

I just couldn't resist. Walking around Home Depot today
with the honey-do list and I spied a set of allen sockets
that would go well with my torque wrench. I got them home
and just had to try them out. The short story is

I

Quoted message said:

managed to immediately strip one of the clamp bolts on a
brake lever. No great loss, they were a set of Avid SD 5's
that I never really liked. I took the XT levers off the
hardtail and had them mounted in 20 minutes.

I'd

Quoted message said:

been meaning to swap them over for six months, but never
had reason to get around to it.

Now I'm wondering what to do with a stripped brake lever
clamp. The left side is fine, so I can always keep it
around as an emergency spare, but it seems a shame to not
have a matched set. I don't think there's much hope

of

Quoted message said:

chasing the threads. There obviously weren't a lot of
threads to begin with, and there was a good amount of
material on the bolt when I extraced
it.

I've already ordered a replacement set (as well as a few
other goodies to take advantage of the shipping), but I'd
hate to just have to toss an otherwise working lever
because of a few missing threads. Any ideas how

to

Quoted message said:

salvage the lever?

.....honest Judge, I didn't know it was loaded!

Tom

Is there room to drill all the way through the assembly and
attach a nut to a longer bolt?

--
DTW .../\.../\.../\...

I've spent most of my money on mountain biking and windsurfing.
The rest I've just wasted.

"tcmedara" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:y1yuc.3067$eP.1185@lakeread01...

Quoted message said:

I just couldn't resist. Walking around Home Depot today
with the honey-do list and I spied a set of allen sockets
that would go well with my torque wrench. I got them home
and just had to try them out. The short story is

I

Quoted message said:

managed to immediately strip one of the clamp bolts on a
brake lever. No great loss, they were a set of Avid SD 5's
that I never really liked. I took the XT levers off the
hardtail and had them mounted in 20 minutes.

I'd

Quoted message said:

been meaning to swap them over for six months, but never
had reason to get around to it.

Now I'm wondering what to do with a stripped brake lever
clamp. The left side is fine, so I can always keep it
around as an emergency spare, but it seems a shame to not
have a matched set. I don't think there's much hope

of

Quoted message said:

chasing the threads. There obviously weren't a lot of
threads to begin with, and there was a good amount of
material on the bolt when I extraced
it.

I've already ordered a replacement set (as well as a few
other goodies to take advantage of the shipping), but I'd
hate to just have to toss an otherwise working lever
because of a few missing threads. Any ideas how

to

Quoted message said:

salvage the lever?

.....honest Judge, I didn't know it was loaded!

Tom

One word: Helicoil

If it will hold a head on a car engine, it'll hold a
brake lever.

----------
In article <y1yuc.3067$eP.1185@lakeread01>, "tcmedara"

Quoted message said:

I just couldn't resist. Walking around Home Depot today
with the honey-do list and I spied a set of allen sockets
that would go well with my torque wrench. I got them home
and just had to try them out. The short story is I managed
to immediately strip one of the clamp bolts on a brake
lever. No great loss, they were a set of Avid SD 5's that
I never really liked. I took the XT levers off the
hardtail and had them mounted in 20 minutes. I'd been
meaning to swap them over for six months, but never had
reason to get around to it.

Now I'm wondering what to do with a stripped brake lever
clamp. The left side is fine, so I can always keep it
around as an emergency spare, but it seems a shame to not
have a matched set. I don't think there's much hope of
chasing the threads. There obviously weren't a lot of
threads to begin with, and there was a good amount of
material on the bolt when I extraced
it.

I've already ordered a replacement set (as well as a few
other goodies to take advantage of the shipping), but I'd
hate to just have to toss an otherwise working lever
because of a few missing threads. Any ideas how to salvage
the lever?

.....honest Judge, I didn't know it was loaded!

Tom

Drill and tap it for the next larger diameter bolt.

S o r n i said:

Hmmm. You mean you stripped the threads INSIDE the clamp,
not the bolt, right?

Yup, the bolt is as good as the day it was made, and it just
spins merrily away inside the clamp.

Quoted message said:

I did one of my usual round-out-the-head numbers on my XTR
brake clamp bolts, so I (actually a friend with skills)
Dremeled a slot in it so I can overtighten it now with a
screwdriver rather than an allen (sp?) wrench.

I haven't gottten the urge yet to spring for a Dremel tool.
I can only imagine what kind of chaos I'll cause with that
in my hands.

Quoted message said:

It's pretty soft metal, so maybe you can get a bigger bolt
to "purchase"?

I think I might try retapping to the next bigger size as
one reply suggested. I looked at the helicoil option, but
it's just not all that cost effective. I can buy a new
pair of levers for the price I'd pay for the kit. I'm
hoping to be able to pick up a larger tap for much less.
The whole concept is probably an exercise in futility
since its intended to salvage a pair of SD5 levers I never
really liked.

Its more about the process than the result I guess.

Tom

Paul macintyre said:

Quoted message said:

Drill and tap it for the next larger diameter bolt.

I think that's the ticket.

Thanks

Tom