I have these steel Torx bolts that are lining the outside of my aluminum rims and would love to remove them and either replace them with new ones or keep them out because of the absolute lack of corrosion resistance! Problem is I cant get them out with a normal torx driver even with a wrench gabbing onto it. Should I be afraid of using anything larger to try to pull these out?

As you can tell, the difference in the luster of the aluminum now as compared to when I first got them in the image below

 

I'm pretty sure that you'll find those bolts to be decorative only. They're intended to give the impression of Bead Locks - even though I'm 99% sure you don't have them. That said, they're probably "fake" Torx head fasteners - most likely pressed in. That might explain why they don't want to unscrew as a regular fastener should.

 

I was going to say something along the same lines, 2stroked, but the Torx heads made me hold off. Seems an odd design.

I wonder if they are actually steel, if the rims are aluminum. I would think that would set up a real potential for galvanic corrosion problems.

Dusty, the "bolts" themselves don's appear to have rust on them, I'm only seeing discoloration around them on the rims. Have you tried cleaning that off with something like a Dremel polishing bit?

- Jack

 

I agree, the bolts are steel - with a Black Oxide finish. And Black Oxide is not the greatest finish for corrosion resistance. either. Add to that the fact that the wheels are uncoated / unfinished aluminum and what you get is a real maintenance headache.

The problem with trying to "polish off" the staining & corrosion is that one runs the risk of polishing off the Black Oxide too. (It's just not a very durable finish.) And that would lead to a polished steel fastener with zero corrosion resistance. Related to that, the recessed areas on that wheel lip will make it a nightmare to polish - even if there weren't any fasteners there to make it even worse.

Getting back to trying to remove and replace them, take a close look at the wheel lip they're located on. There's not a lot of material thickness there to drill & tap a hole for a true threaded fastener. That's why I'm guessing those bad boys are just pressed in "fakes."

Here's another thought. Assuming the fasteners did actually come out somehow, what would one do with the blind holes left behind?

I'd love to offer some better advice as to how to clean and polish those bad boys, but I'm pretty well stumped. That's one reason I always take "cleanability" into account when I buy aftermarket wheels for my vehicles. The lack of any finish / corrosion resistance on those wheels would have killed that choice for me even before I got to the "impossible to polish" part.

 

Thanks everyone, I wasn't getting notifications on this topic. Actually the bolts use to have a chrome finish on them! Sorry for the low res pic, but these rims use to look so nice.