stuck Axle Nut

[johnvaudo]

ok here is my situation.  drivers side front outer CV joint has blown out.  Axle nut appears to be over torqued or seized.  have tried impact wrench not success, have used a torque wrench set in excess of 200 ft/lbs.  broke the torque wrench.  have soaked it all day with WD-40  have tried bouncing ( I am 200#) on a 24" 1/2" drive Breaker bar  NOTHING!!!!

 

Can use some serious advice  can't replace the half shaft until I get this bloody nut off.

 

Thanks 

 

John

 

[idosubaru]

i've found like 1 out of 20 (or some number like that) are incredibly nasty to get off.  1/2" stuff will break and huge impacts won't budge them.

 

2 foot isn't enough leverage - you need 3-5 foot pipe over the socket wrench handle.

i have a 3/4" 900 ft/lb impact gun that hasn't removed the really bad/seized ones.

 

for those i have to use my 3/4" socket set and a 4 foot pipe and still give it some serious stank.

 

or crack, drill, cut off the nut.

Edited July 5, 2015 by grossgary

[johnvaudo]

i've found like 1 out of 20 (or some number like that) are incredibly nasty to get off.  1/2" stuff will break and huge impacts won't budge them.

 

2 foot isn't enough leverage - you need 3-5 foot pipe over the socket wrench handle.

i have a 3/4" 900 ft/lb impact gun that hasn't removed the really bad/seized ones.

 

for those i have to use my 3/4" socket set and a 4 foot pipe and still give it some serious stank.

 

or crack, drill, cut off the nut.

WOW  thanks for the insight  I was a Mech in the National Guard and had some that bad  never thought I would run in to something this bad

[idosubaru]

Oh yeah, i've seen a few.  They're really annoying.

 

I'm still really annoyed my nearly 1000 ft/pound impact won't get them off.

 

i saw a shop work on one once for a Subaru - it wasn't budging either - he let their impact hammer on it for like 3 minutes...i was thinking (what is he doing, it's not working)....and after like 3 minutes it finally zipped off.

[turbosubarubrat]

I use a 3/4" Ingersoll-Rand impact and it works great. On some of the stuck stuff you have to keep the impact on for a awhile until they break loose. Had a transmission drain plug that was so tight i had to use the 3/4" on it because it wouldn't budge with a 25" breaker bar with a cheater bar.

[Fairtax4me]

Just for future reference, torque wrenches are never to be used for loosening. Torque wrench = tighten only

 

 

Axle nuts suck. I put a wheel bearing on a friends honda about 3-4 years ago and a couple months back the bearing started making noise. (Cheapo bearing) I torqued the axle nut with my torque wrench when the bearing was originally replaced. I broke two breaker bars (craftsman) trying to get that axle nut loose. Finally had to go get a 3/4" drive socket to fit the axle nut and put a borrowed 3/4" breaker bar on it with a 5 foot pipe. Had to get my 300lb friend to stand on the pipe to crack the nut loose.

Same car I had to buy a special tool to hold the crankshaft pulley so I could get the crankshaft bolt loose to change the timing belt. That took a 4 foot pipe to get a 19mm bolt loose!

[ford'ssubaru's]

A little heat from a propane torch does wonders........

[crazyhorse001]

A little heat from a propane torch does wonders........

Nothin, but NOTHIN can stand up to Smokey the Big Blue Wrench Besides theres something uniquely macho about burning steel with fire *grin*

 

I've had luck putting a big cheater on a 3/4 breaker and driving the car a foot or two to crack really stubborn ones. Kinda like putting a breaker on the crank bolt and bumping the starter. Not 100% foolproof but usually does the trick

[mikaleda]

Nothing like a bit of liquid wrench (and I mean the original liquid wrench called a torch) And a BF breaker bar and pipe.