How to Remove a Rusted Carriage Bolt
Have you ever run into a carriage bolt that is rusted and doesn’t want to come out. A first approach would be to spray WD-40 on the nut to try to lubricate it. But, if that doesn’t work, I have a simple solution! Here’s How to Remove a Rusted Carriage Bolt while keeping your sanity.
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If the bolt still won’t release or the bolt just spins while you try to unscrew the nut, you’re going to need to try something else. Especially because grabbing the head of a carriage bolt is next to impossible. And trust me, I tried using pliers and vice grips to no avail.
The easiest solution is to cut a groove into the top of the carriage bolt. If you have a Dremel with a metal cutting wheel, you can make quick work of this task.
Be careful to stop cutting when you have a groove in the head of the bolt. You don’t want to cut all the way through the head.
Use the socket wrench on the nut and begin turning the nut while holding the bolt still with a large flat head screwdriver.
If the nut still won’t budge, spray more WD-40 on the nut and wait a few minutes. Than use a hammer to tap on the nut and bolt to try to break some of the rust.
And that’s a simple way to Remove a Rusted Carriage Bolt!
Great tip, thank you
Thank God I found this little bit of information. I was about ready to throw the whole project out because of the frustration. You are so smart! Thank you!
You really are brilliant!! I can hardly wait to offer this solution to a bunch of head-scratching men! And yes, I will be taking all of the credit as if I came up with it myself!! Thank you!! 🙂
And that’s why you’re a Pretty Handy Girl!!!! So Smart!!!!
This is genius! I will pin this for later and put my new dremmel to good use sometime.
What a clever solution!
You are awesome! What a good solution. Thanks for this tutorial.
You are welcome.
Great and needed and thoughtful post. Thank you.
I doubted whether anyone would find this useful. Glad to hear it is.
What a clever idea! Thank you for all of your help!!!!!
This is so nice. There have been so many instances where I got hurt but was unable to take out the rusted bolt.
Thanks for sharing.
I’ve been there too! Glad I could help.