Help identifying this bolt?

[Chuckles1066]

Hi,

Can anyone identify what these two are? I need to remove one of them and nothing in my limited array of tools will fit.

Many thanks!

 

[Burnerman]

They are Ribe screws.
John

 

[Chuckles1066]

Thanks John, never heard of them

 

[Burnerman]

Spline bits is another name...pretty common on VAG stuff these days.
John

 

[Dave54]

When and if the spline strips out (because a lot of these screws bring a whole new meaning to the term "cheese head screw") You can sometimes gently tap an appropriately sized 12 point socket over the head, which will allow removal.

 

[rds60h]

There appears to be several slightly different types of these fixings, the ones used on Fiat, Lancia and Alfa Romeo are usually Ribe Bolts, on German cars such as VW and Audi use a type called Polydrive and some of the other manufacturers use another slightly different type called Torx.

 

[Burnerman]

All sorts out there....Torx has 6 points, spline and ribe 12......if I recall, the ribe has flats on the edge of the spline.
Prefer Allen myself
John

 

[Dave54]

. . . And it doesn't matter what they are, if they're tight they still seem to strip, even when using a good quality correct bit.

I agree with John, out of all of them I prefer Allen heads. Torx next.
As I understand it they're all made to ease assembly rather than removal for maintenance.