Stripped brake lever clamp -- oops!

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

tcmedara wrote:
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 wrote:
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 wrote:

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
http://www.mcmaster.com/ 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" wrote in message
news:y1yuc.3067$eP.1185@lakeread01...
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


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" wrote in message
news:y1yuc.3067$eP.1185@lakeread01...
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



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"
wrote:




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 wrote:

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.

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.

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 wrote:

Drill and tap it for the next larger diameter bolt.

I think that's the ticket.

Thanks

Tom