Can I remove my thru axle when the lever is disengaged?

Question

I was changing a tube on my Breezer Doppler pro today, and when I went to reinstall the thru axle, everything threaded together smoothly but then the cam lever became disengaged from the axle. Now the lever spins freely in either direction, without engaging the axle at all. It's just tight enough that I can't close the lever, but I can't tighten or loosen it. No Allen key hole on the there side either.
Is there any way to get this axle out easily? A non-destructive method would be ideal, but I'll be replacing it anyways, so anything you got, as long as it doesn't damage my frame.
My first instinct when I saw these axles was to replace them immediately, but I didn't, and here we are. They have worked flawlessly for almost a year. Just seems like a really poor design.
I apologize that this is basically arepeat, but none of the answers here or on other forums seem to provide a workable solution. It seems like a really common problem that I just haven't seen a good fix for.

MikeyC · Accepted Answer

Because necessity is the mother of solving problems caused by poorly designed components, I'm answering my own question.
I tried vice grips, as someone recommended, but the alloy in the axle was too soft to get any bite before they slipped off (did manage to mangle the exposed threads though, so that was fun to file off before removing it).
The solution that ended up working was to jam (force) a ball-end hex wrench that was just too big into the open end of the axle, press hard, and turn. For this axle it was a 3/16" (4mm was too small, 5mm was too big). As soon as I got it backed off just a hair the lever engaged as it should, and all was right with the world.
For reference, I also tried this approach using various sizes of Philip's head screwdriver without success. My next plan was to file a slot in the threaded end for my jumbo sized flat head screwdriver. If that didn't work, I was going to buy a reverse-treaded screw extractor. Based on my experience, either of those approaches should have worked as well.
I'm fairly confident that if I had taken this approach from the start I could have salvage the axle (at least until my new one comes in the mail). Live and learn.

MaplePanda · Answer

A set of vice grip pliers or those large plumbing-style pliers (not a monkey wrench!) will take that out easily.
I would recommend replacing it with a different style of thru axle. The types with a plain hex hole work well, and many come with a removable hex wrench handle as well.

Can I remove my thru axle when the lever is disengaged?

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