DBR Apex ti bottle boss woes

[ishaw]

I recently bought and am the proud new owner of a lovely DBR Apex ti frame. When I bought it I was fully aware that the down tube bottle bosses needed sorting, as the seller gave full disclosure so not complaints there. I now find myself with the dilemma of how to get the bosses out from the down tube without leaving the remainder rattling around in the frame forever.

To compound issues, the bosses have bolts in situ that won't come out as the bosses simply spin in the frame. After a chat with my lbs, they have said (they haven't seen the frame) that they can't help and would be interested in how I get on solving this issue, as the owner has a similar problem with one of his frames (albeit a rack mount on the rear of a scott with bosses welded, and he also doesn't want bits rattling around the seat stay for the rest of his life).

So my question is this, has anyone successfully managed to resolve this issue? If so, how did you do so without leaving bits of boss in the down tube, as the head and bb junction have such small holes there is no way a boss is coming through.

If it were possible, I would remove the bolts, but this is also a challenge as the bolt heads are bigger than the exposed boss, so I can't get anything around them to hold them still whilst I spin the bolts free.

If/when I get the bosses free, what can I do to replace the bosses, and hopefully in such a way that the repeat doesn't happen again, or at least attempt to fit new bosses so that I get use of the most useful bottle age mounts on the frame?

Help gratefully received/welcomed as I'm primed to get this build up and this is a sticking point to me cracking on, as I don't want to start building it up, then have to send it away.

Cheers

Ian

 

[cce]

sell it to me, i use a camelbak.

 

[ishaw]

sell it to me, i use a camelbak.

Thanks for the offer, but I'd like to at least build it and ride it first before parting with it over some loose bottle cage bosses.

 

[Russell]

broken titanium frame?

Give it away for free, but not without a lengthy and unnecessary internet debate about whether it is in fact fixable or not.

Sorry... you want sensibe answers don't you.

 

[ishaw]

broken titanium frame?

Give it away for free, but not without a lengthy and unnecessary internet debate about whether it is in fact fixable or not.

Sorry... you want sensibe answers don't you.

I see where you are coming from, but it ain't broken, just has a couple of stuck bolts that I'd like to try and set free and return to their natural habitat, I mean they are'nt even ti bolts

 

[Andy B]

My Marin Ti has a rivnut loose in the frame, you do not hear it at all when riding, but stop riding and shake the frame & you can just hear it.

As the (gas vent?) holes between the tubing joints are too small to let the rivnut drop out of them I might spray some grease down there which could stop it rattling about if the rivnut gets stuck in the grease

At least that's what I think would work, never tried it so really don't know!

 

[ishaw]

My Marin Ti has a rivnut loose in the frame, you do not hear it at all when riding, but stop riding and shake the frame & you can just hear it.

As the (gas vent?) holes between the tubing joints are too small to let the rivnut drop out of them I might spray some grease down there which could stop it rattling about if the rivnut gets stuck in the grease

At least that's what I think would work, never tried it so really don't know!

Cheers, that might work if I do decide to drill out the old one in terms of noise reduction, but hopefully there is a perfect solution that will mean this won't be needed?????

 

[weeman_mtb]

I would say try and get some loctite retaining compound under the head of the rivnut to try and get it to bond to the frame so you can get the bolts out. Let it set overnight to give it a chance. If you are successful then you can sometimes reset a rivnut using a bolt and nut, rather than ending up drilling it out and replacing.

 

[ishaw]

I would say try and get some loctite retaining compound under the head of the rivnut to try and get it to bond to the frame so you can get the bolts out. Let it set overnight to give it a chance. If you are successful then you can sometimes reset a rivnut using a bolt and nut, rather than ending up drilling it out and replacing.

Thanks for that, how would the nut and bolt arrangement work? Intrigued!

 

[weeman_mtb]

Ah you had to ask that didn't you .

Found a picture below to try and explain. Screw nut onto bolt, then bolt into rivnut as in the piccy. Then hand tighten the nut down onto the top of the rivnut (perhaps with a washer in between the two). Hold the bolt still with an allen key then further tighten the nut down between a quarter and half a turn, you'll have to use your own judgement/feel how much to go. This just further spreads the back of the rivnut and it should hold. I've reset 100's at work like this when the rivnut tool was on the blink and they were coming off loose.

Disclaimer: I know sod all about titanium and wouldn't want to spoil your frame so get a second opinion .