Man am I having a heck of a time getting off the 36mm nut

[matthew1]

To be honest, I checked eBay before almost destroying this bar. They only go for $12-17-ish. Not an Egyptian relic.

Thus I suppose money is more important to me than sentimentality -- they were my grandfather's, an airline mechanic for Frontier and Continental in the 50's and 60's.

If you could feel shame over the Internet, this would be the time.

[wheelsup]

I'm confused did it snap? I thought it made it thru. Not sure why you are feeling shame!

[matthew1]

No, didn't break. I checked eBay before I started putting a million ft/lbs. on it. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't going to destroy a $100 collectors' tool.

[Choguy03]

Use anti-seize on those nuts and you will never have this problem again. I use it on all frame, control arm and axle nuts.

[matthew1]

Will do.

Ok, now this simple project has blossomed into a whole LF axle replacement, and I'll do the control arm while I'm in there since I just got a set (more on that later when I have time).

I think 14 years, half of them in Seattle and its wet and salty air, just made all the components I'm working with rust badly to each other. Every bolt is a battle.

Anyway, hitting the axle wouldn't break it free from the hub. I jacked up the control arm so the whole axle was in line even. Nothing moved. I'd been hitting everything for days with Liquid Wrench, mind you. Used my whole can on this project practically. The splines were just stuck like crazy to the hub.

So I used a bigger hammer. Duh. Problem was, my bigger hammer is a 40 lb. sledge, and I warped some threads at the end of the axle. #%FK. I knew this was a danger and purposely made sure to not do this, but I did it anyway.

I was due for an axle anyway... the boot was split, so I called Car Quest to see if they had any remans. The got one in 90 minutes from their warehouse. $71 with core. Deal. Cheap. Got a ride over to Car Quest from my dad. Got the passenger side too (no core, so $160 until I give them mine). That boot's split also. And why wouldn't it be? When it rains, it pours.

Took the axle out, came back with the reman. New 36mm nut included. Don't know the brand, I'm hoping it's one of the good WorldPac axles. Nothing on it to distinguish it.

So that's where I'm at. I'll have photos later. Oh, BTW, F.A.G. hub/bearings do not come with new female Torx bolts. You're on your own with that. Surprise.

[Nuttydriver]

Before you return your old axles as cores make sure the new ones are good. I ended up going through a bunch of trouble with my 98 v70 xc before I noticed it was a problem with the aftermarket axle. It also took a few days before it started making noise. I ordered another one from raxles.com and will put it in this weekend and let you know for sure if that was the problem.

[wheelsup]

Is this what you were having difficulty with?



You really need to get air. An air hammer with a pointy attachment would've made short work of that. Just rubbing it in .

[wheelsup]

Also IIRC you only tap it in "just a bit". You then pull the hub outward and away from the axle. The axle can't really go anywhere - it's still stuck in the trans. It might have a little bit of flex from the CV joints but not much IIRC.

[jblackburn]

Aren't suspension things FUN?!?

As much as I hated growing up in the South, I'm quite glad my car did.

[januwan]

[quote="matthew1"]

I think 14 years, half of them in Seattle and its wet and salty air, just made all the components I'm working with rust badly to each other. Every bolt is a battle.

You can blame climate partially, same period in the Bay Area, I could not take this nut off. Ended up going to friendly shop with good air gun. For the driver side I bought 1/2 inch Earthquake from Harbor Freight . It took few seconds with my pancake compressor. It is so powerful I only use it to unscrew bolts or nuts.