Can't get the axle flange nut off to replace cv boots

[Bulk]

I have removed both the tabs and with a very large breaker bar I cannot get the nut off. I am very close to getting an angle grinder in there....

I have put in a shit load of WD-40 and still cannot get it to budge.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

[TwinTurboGTR]

The 12 pt 36mm nut wont budge??? Use your breaker and some length of pipe on the end to give you more leverage.

[TwinTurboGTR]

Don't use an angle grinder or a drift to get that nut off. Unless you plan on replacing the whole shaft, that nut will come off. How are you trying to take this off? Is it in the air and you are having someone hit the brake? Or is the tire still on and you are going through the wheel center?

Going through the wheel center will give you more leverage. Also, with that length of pipe, the longer the better. Just be sure to be careful. Doing this job one time, the socket exploded under the tension. Thank god the wheel was on otherwise shrapnel would have flew everywhere.

[Bulk]

I have the brake held on with a piece of 4x2 wedged against the seat. The hub is not spinning. I have the large breaker bar and I am using a separate hydraulic jack to leverage the breaker bar up. The breaker bar is bowing quite significantly but just won't budge........

[TwinTurboGTR]

Sorry for getting back to you so late. Spray with penetrating lube. Not wd-40. Liquid wrench or something like it. WD 40 just sits on top. Let it sit a bit and take a hammer and lightly tap around the nut. Douse that nut. Then try.

[civdiv99]

I stuck the wife in the car to stomp on the brake and stuck a 4' pipe on a breaker bar. But, 2 thoughts I have here from what you're describing:

1. Even though an entire new axle assy is only $60, I think grinding the nut off is only going to be the start of your frustrations, meaning if you can't break the nut loose, you are going to play bloody hell getting that shaft out of the hub if this is due to metal corrosion, etc. A lot of folks gotta get medieval on the shaft even without nut issues. I just tossed the half-shaft assy in the trash can and replaced it, so I didn't have to care about dinging up the end of it. But, If you are planning to reuse the axle, then:

2. Read through some of the threads where folks did the CV boot without removing the stub from the hub.

[TwinTurboGTR]

Yeah that is very true. Now I am assuming you have a hub puller. Even with it I found pulling a hub off the spline for the first time is rough. But the second time, it doesn't take nearly as much force to take it off.

If you don't have a puller, then what Div said, you"re gonna have to go in the back way. But since you intended on going in from the front... Nevermind, then you need an inner boot too and it's will be tight to get the joint off in such a tight space. How were you planning on getting the hub off?

[civdiv99]

It's a bit of a pain (ok, a lot of pain) but if you separate the outer joint then you can remove the hub and stub together and then remove the rest of the shaft.

The B & B system may be employed as required.

[SlickGT1]

My trick to that damn nut is a swift jump onto it. I got ok at it with a long ass pipe and a swift yank. Screw your jack jacking up the bar slowly, you will twist the breaker bar.

Put your wheel back on without center cap. Chuck the wheels and apply brake. Tension the breaker bar with pipe. Stand backwards to the pipe, you going to drop your ass and weight on it. Jump on the pipe with your ass. If will come off. You need to do this quick, not slow.

Wd40 is a water repellent not a lubricant. Common mistake. Happens all the time. You want liquid wrench, I stock up on kroil. That stuff is magic sauce. TTGTR has the right instruction for soaking process. Do these two things, and that basterd is off.

[Bulk]

Okay so I got it off. Went and Got a truck breaker bar and a 6 foot steel pipe. Sat on it and off she came. That thing had more chance of growing legs and walking to McDonalds for a Big Mac than staying on the axle.

Thanks guys.