I went to replace my rear hatch struts tonight. The first strut went fine, but then I completely stripped the torx bolt at the base of the second one. I tried hammering the torx bit in to give myself a little bit of grip, but it didn't work. Any suggestions?

 

Vise grips

 

I like that idea. It saves money on an easy out.

 

If the vise grips don't work you could weld a nut onto it. Clean the paint of the bolt and weld the inside of the nut to the bolt head.

 

Other options would be trying to hammer an allen wrench into or using a grinder to cut a slot in for a flat blade screwdriver

 

The vise grip worked! I was even able to find a replacement bolt online. Hopefully when it comes, it'll be the right one. With a little bit of luck, it should all be taken care of before Friday.

 

Glad you got it. Next time coat the torx bit with lapping compound. It will grip much better without stripping.

 

It turns out that I was using a T40 bit instead of a T45. Just enough to barely bite, but not enough to do the job correctly.

Oh well, lesson learned. Luckily it was only an $8 bolt.

 

Should be a T47... Same as the seat belt buckle bolts...

 

Guess I got lucky. The T45 seemed to fit really well.