Hi all - first time on here and surprised to find no search results for 'pinch' or 'pinchbolt'. I thought there'd be pages of them?

My daughter's car, an A4 Avant B8 2.0Tdi 2012 - front upper pinchbolt to be removed.

We live in Southampton and I'm wondering whether anybody local has a pinchbolt removal tool that we could hire from them? 

Salty roads down here so I'm expecting it to be a tricky one.

Thanks for your time.

Welcome Lulu,

It would be useful if you could identify ( by photo would be great) the exact location of this ‘pinch’ bolt, and what issues are you expecting with its removal with the correct tools and a prior application of a good dose of Plusgas?

Regards,

Gareth. 

Hi Gareth - thanks for the quick reply. It's the lateral bolt highlighted here (not the actual car, a YouTube screen grab).

I'd assumed that anybody with the tool would know about the bolt, and the mass of YouTube videos knowing what a pig of a job it can be to remove it, hence the lack of a photo initially. My mistake.

That does not look like a pinchbolt to me, nor have I heard of special tools for pinchbolts which normally loosen with a spanner.

Are you perhaps referring to the taper ended ball joints for which there are special tools known as ball joint wedges?

That’s great Lulu,

Sorry for more questions, but are the two (V oriented) control arms with track rod end type joints, anchored into the vertical link? And if so - how? 
Since this bolt is known on You Tube to be troublesome  to remove , and there is reference to a ‘Removal tool’, doesn’t it indicate what this tool looks like, where you can get it?

If the bolt is tapped/pressed out of the link, is there sufficient room for it come out without it contacting the inner wing? 
Apologies for not answering the specific question, but….

I take it the ‘weight’ has to be taken out of the vertical link due to the action of the coil spring. 
Regards,

Gareth. 

Thank you both, but YES, it is a pinchbolt (surely it looks exactly like one?) unless every dealer is selling imaginary components and several third parties have spent time and money developing removal tools for the same imaginary component?

And the ball joints are anchored, or 'pinched' , by the very pinchbolt I've arrowed.

This video shows a cheap type of removal tool, there are also others costing upwards of £500.

I'm not asking for advice on how to do the job, I just thought that there might be somebody who has themselves carried out the same work (in other words, every single person who has replaced either the UCA or the shock absorber/bearing), in my area, who could help out in the way that I've previously assisted people with my VCDS software.

Apologies if I sound frustrated, but my question was pretty clear. If you have any of the pinchbolt removal tools you'll know what I mean.

I expect that I'll be flamed now for venting my frustration, but it does really bloat threads when people try to play 'catch up' on a topic that you've spent two days researching.

It is a pinch bolt, and it is a pig to remove as it's a steel bolt in an aluminium upright so the corrosion is bad.

I had a quote from a local garage to to replace those arms and it was about £1700 and not OEM parts.

 

In the end, I used https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/396075675406 and an electric heat gun (paint stripper) set to around 600deg and a six sided socket on a long bar. Took some time but using the penetrant and heat together and gently wiggling the bolt head back and forth eventually got it to move. I then whacked on an impact wrench until the bolt was free spinning and was able to tap it out.

Using the electric heat gun https://www.screwfix.com/p/erbauer-ehg2000-2000w-electric-heat-gun-240v/576kj I was able to focus all the heat into the bolt and not damage the ball joints, which was my main aim as I then pressed out the bushes and fitted some powerflex polybushes.

 

 

Edited August 25, 2025Aug 25 by Mark M.

That's helpful, Mark - thanks. 

I'm not sure that I trust myself to apply the heat using a torch without breaking something, but that gun looks much more manageable and definitely gives food for thought.

Using the narrow rectangular fitment on the gun made it incredibly focussed which is what I needed. If I had been replacing the arms then you could go gung-ho with a flame as there's not really anything you can damage if you concentrate the heat on the bolt.

Ouch! Those quotes seem brutal even allowing for the most awkward case. Especially as they probably have the specialist removal tools already. Unless they were just trying to use you to pay for them...

Can you remember roughly how long you spent playing the heat onto the joint?

I sprayed the bolt, heated for 5 mins, tried to move the bolt and then repeated until I could see the nut end of the bolt move as I turned the head of the bolt. Obvious I know but very important that if the head of the bolt moves but not the nut end, stop. Then used the impact wrench to speed things up a bit.

Spent around an hour on each side in total from what I remember.

Well that's a new use of the term pinch bolt for me, so sorry if I distracted you. The pinch bolts I am familiar with were used at one time to clamp cables to round battery posts. They are also widely used in engineering for locking sliding rods and the like in one position.

@cliffcoggin no, I'm sorry - a lousy morning and my patience had disappeared. Thanks for your time.

It is a pinch bolt and yes it’s notorious. Aluminium strut and steel bolt, so plenty oxide corrosion.

There are a few ways to remove. The main dealer will have some fancy tool to press it out. Independents possibly use a tool made by Klann.

For me, spray penetrating release on it, PlusGas or similar a few days before. Heat too. The top arm balljoints will be toast anyway. The key is to get the head to rotate, even a little.

Some cut off the head, then add washers to the nut end and draw it out. However tempting, do not hit it with a hammer. All you will do is mushroom the thread, then it’s going nowhere.

I have an air hammer, so particular pressure helps to vibrate the corrosion free. Laser also make a tool, relatively cheap that you can use as a punch.

Again with the cuts on the strut, however tempting, don’t get in about with an oversized flathead screwdriver, use compressed air, a pick and plenty penetrating fluid. Easy does it.

Youll need a new pinch bolt. Use ceramic grease or anti-seize before refitting. Search Dave Sterl video for how to.

@spartacus 68 thanks for that - all very helpful. 

 

Well, believe it or not, I just checked her MOT online to check that it was definitely the N/S, and would you believe it, it's her REAR shock that has failed :-/. My daughter is 'quite' apologetic after I've wasted god knows how much time :-).

So from a potential nightmare job to one that looks like a straightforward 30-minute task - no spring compressors, no pinchbolt. 

Thanks to everybody who replied - including the posters with whom I was short yesterday (sorry about that).

Both front shocks are advisories, so the all the above help will be helpful at some point before next MOT.

Good way to start after the Bank Holiday then. 
As you probably know, replace shock absorbers in pairs across the same axle, and tighten the rear mountings when the car is back on the ground - not jacked up. 
If you need advice on where to possibly get the parts at  reasonable cost then please come back to us. 
Regards,

Gareth.