Broken Towing Eye

T

thedharm

New member
Hi All,

Had a complete nightmare recently from a seized engine which has now been replaced and everything is running smoother than ever. However during this nightmare I made an attempt to tow the car to the garage myself along with a friends ford focus using a towing bar. Literally as we pulled out of the drive the towing eye on the Z4 broke in half.

Has anyone got any ideas how I can get the remaining screw segment out of the chassis (without removing the bumper), could someone also confirm that the lefty loosy rule still applies as strangely on the ford, the eye had to be rotated to the left to tighten and right to loosen :?

Fortunately there is sufficient metal protruding to get some grip (not much) with some pliers so I've tried applying some WD40 and tried turning (in both directions) but it just won't budge.

IMG_2993_zpsb2f4c640.jpg


Any help / advice would be much appreciated...
 
Hi and welcome. Mole grips might work, but you may have to remove the bumper to get some decent leverage.

Make sure you post up some pics and details of your car.
 
Try taking the bumper off and using gland pliers or stilsons on the broken end
If that doesn't work you could flatten the end off and use a Easy Out (screw extractor)
 
srhutch said:
Hi and welcome. Mole grips might work, but you may have to remove the bumper to get some decent leverage.

Make sure you post up some pics and details of your car.
Click to expand...

You beat me to it srhutch :lol:
 
Thanks guys, had a feeling removing the bumper was going to be the best option and fortunately there's a good How-To guide posted by mister_roger. Will give it a go this weekend...weather permitting.

What are peoples experiences of removing the front bumper and more importantly re-attaching it? I have no doubt I'll be able to safely remove it but re-attaching it may be a whole different story.

The seized engine was caused by pure neglect. Ran it on low oil and low coolant for a long time...an expensive mistake I'll not be making again. :headbang:
 
Remove the bumper and if mole grips or similar don't work, weld a nut or a piece of flat bar onto the end so that you've got something to grip and turn.
 
Grind a narrow slot in the end (dremmel?) and use a large flat bladed screwdriver to undo it. Worth a punt before you remove the bumper.
 
If all else fails i can lend you an easy out. Its a left handed helix you drill a hole wind the easy out in. And when it bites it should undo the towing eye.
 
You may get some long nose mole grips in there. If not try cutting or chisel a slot to get a screwdriver in. if no luck go for easy out option. I think I would leave taking the bumper off as last resort.
 
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