Page 1 of 1

hub nut wont come off

Posted: June 27th, 2006, 1:01 am
by boojeah
my front hub nut wont come off, on both sides. I am assuming it's just old and rusted but i thought id ask if it is really suppose to be this tight lol.
we had a socket on it that was almost a good fit and we used a bar to extend the handle to like 3 feet in length and instead of the nut turning, the front wheels would spin under the pressure.
so they are on there pretty damn tight...
maybe we're taking them off wrong?
my dad wants to take a torch to it :shock:
but i think hes done enough damage T-T

Posted: June 27th, 2006, 3:21 am
by Vanished
if your front wheel is turning, then put it in gear, and get another guy on the other side with a wrench holding the other side down. Use liquid wrench or similar products, and a torch will work as well. Good luck, you can do it!

Posted: June 27th, 2006, 5:25 am
by neutral
Gettin your front nuts off is a b----. Let the weight of the car work in your favor - get it back on the ground and THEN try to turn the nut. This will also ensure you don't mess up anything in the drivetrain from applying your massive guns to those bad boys with the wheels off the ground. You already have the nuts exposed so either put the wheel back on (leaving the nut exposed) or if your wheel center cap opening doesn't leave room to work on it, use the donut-spare, which has better access.

Also, the socket has to be snug fit. I'd have preferred access to an impact wrench which uses super-thick-walled sockets - but no compressed air was available. Ended up buying a HD thick-walled 6-point impact socket in 3/4" drive, and a 3/4" drive breaker bar. Soaked each nut with a little PB Blaster a few times over several hours first - lightly tapping the nut after each application (helps it to penetrate). I'm guessing it still took ~250+ ft-lbs of counterforce torque to get those damn things to release. A joyful moment tho! :)

Posted: June 27th, 2006, 7:22 am
by Bochek
i got a 450 f/lb impact gun, it takes the off in about 45 seconds of going at it. so have fun, its gonna take a while.

Bochek

Posted: June 27th, 2006, 9:48 am
by Macen
Put a screw driver in one of the ventilation holes on the discs near the brake caliper. That will hold the axle still when you apply force on the nut. If that dosen't help, put som heat on the nut and try again.

Posted: June 27th, 2006, 10:39 am
by Custommx3
1" breaker bar, and a really long pope works for me if my impact wont take it off.

Posted: June 27th, 2006, 10:52 am
by LooseChangeRacing
heh it all depends on what you have done in the past for me....the axles on the ze where simple, I actually didn't even have the 32mm socket, I used a wrench...squeazzed the bolt and put a screwdriver through there and just turned it....once you get them off for the first time...but some no-seize or something in there and you'll be fine....IMPACT is the key to a hard bolt though lol

Posted: June 27th, 2006, 11:02 am
by lakersfan1
You're in Canada. If you've never taken the nut off before, you're probably going to have to grind it off.

On my car, it comes off fine with a breaker bar. But last MX3 I worked on was a Chicago car which looked like it'd never had the axle out before. I completely snapped my 24" breaker bar into two pieces trying it that way.

Posted: June 27th, 2006, 12:31 pm
by ryanlindenberg
use a long breaker bar to get leverage.

if you have a 5 speed put it in gear and have someone else hold the brake down all the way while you wrestle with the nut.

Posted: June 28th, 2006, 6:42 am
by boojeah
wow, so it really is just a pain in the a-- lol.
yea when we were trying it we had one of the front wheels on the ground and the other up because we were doin the brakes and the other wheel spinning on the ground haha. maybe ill geta better attempt once we finish the brakes. i broke the nut for the brake line....gotta get that fixed up lol.
thanks alot for the feedback :D

Posted: June 28th, 2006, 8:45 am
by twoie
I tried everything and eventually had to cut the nut off with a dremel tool

twoie

Posted: June 28th, 2006, 9:15 pm
by noreaga0221
The last time that bolt was off was probably the year the car was built.. remember that. :wink:

Posted: July 3rd, 2006, 9:39 pm
by hgallegos915
dam i had a HELL of a time with that nut.. i had to use a shisel thingy and a HUGEhammet to hammerit out.. aka damaged nut now.. had to get some spares.. wd 40 is my friend.