Axle Nut fun

[StevenCrowtown]

So the incessant clicking of the halfshafts became concerning to the wifey, so I got a couple replacements to put in. Having the day off today, my brother and I went out to put them in.

And that's when we discovered that Hercules was the last person to do halfshaft maintenance on this car.

OEM torque specs are 180-184lb./ft. depending on which resource you go by. He broke a breaker handle yesterday trying to loosen the axle nut. And today we had a made in america S&K breaker handle flexed about 5 degrees from straight with a cheater pipe on it and using heat on the axle nut. So it has gotta be in the 300-400lb/ft range on there. I could see how this way overtorqued nut could put undue wear on the wheel bearings.

For CYA purposes, we tried to crack the passenger side axle nut and it's the same situation. It doesn't move at all, with cheater and all.

So I'm gonna take it to work tomorrow and have a buddy use his 1100lb/ft max impact on it. Will report back when progress is made.

Just thought as a PSA it might be worth investigating if others are about to change halfshafts. These mfr's are TIGHT sometimes!

[F22Chris]

The impact will take it off easily. I doubt they're on there with 3-400 pounds.

Maybe invest in a 3/4 bar so you can put some beard into it! But either way, the impact will work.

[Fleetw00d]

I had the same experience this evening. Broke my 1/2 breaker bar with a 2 ft cheater pipe. I've had the same problem with nuts that I put on with 180 ft-lbs (broke two 1/2 breaker bars on one nut - one of the replacements is what broke today). It is rust/corrosion in the threads and contacting surfaces that result in the large torque required to remove it.

Last time I drove down to my local Tire Discounters where it broke free using their impact wrench. They tightened it, I drove it home, and was able to easily remove it there. I'll do the same thing tomorrow.

[Granite CB7]

I've broken so many 1/2" dr breaker bars over the years on axle nuts I finally upgraded to 3/4" dr (it's a 1" dr slide bar but stepped down to accept a 3/4" dr socket). It's very sturdy and has a great feel to it due to the lack of torsion. Upon reassembly, I ALWAYS heavily grease the axle nut threads + flange face as well as the splines. I've witnessed axles seize to the hub via the splines due to rust, not fun especially when the axle needs to be saved.

[F22Chris]

I would not recommend chassis grease on the axle. I would use a little bit of anti seize on the splines only. Grease on the threads will give you an improper torque reading, and could result in the nut coming off.

Im not arguing with your success Granite, just don't want bad stuff to happen.

[illinois_erik]

rust blah..

[cb9love]

when I start getting tired of breaking breaker bars or chasing down mackdaddy impact guns, I put a 1/2" drive breaker bar on the nut and grab my trusty Honda knocker (6lb sledge) and smack the handle of the breaker bar until it frees it's self(impactawrench). This works in junkyards and on other busted and rusted Honda's, no special tools or skills.

[Raf99]

Both of mine did this too. Steps I took:

1. Broke a 1/2" breaker bar with cheater bar on it
2. My air impact gun would not work on it
2. Bought a 1/4" breaker bar (huge thing) + heat + cheater bar. nope
3. Rented a 1/4" 900ft/tq impact gun, nope
4. Took whole front knuckle with axles out of car, took to shop where he used heat and 1200ft/lb gun. nope....
5. Took to another shop who used heat + water + heat + water and 1200lbs gun, finally!


Best of luck

[93redcb7]

ive broken many 1/2" ratchets, breaker bars on axle nuts and crank bolts. what i ended up changing to is a good pipe wrench around the socket with a pipe on it. But i now have a 800ft lb impact

[sonikaccord]

http://www.amazon.com/Ingersoll-W715.../dp/B006GFQMAU

Hasn't failed me yet. I got tired of breaking breaker bars.

[Tishock]

Like you mention in your earlier post, I always suggest for those without impact tools to take it to your local shop. Have then zip it off and re tighten it before taking on this project.

My 3/4 breaker bar and 4 foot cheater pipe haven't failed me yet. But like Sonikaccord's Ingersoll I went with one of these to make life easier. I dont know how I lived with out it. Its awesome to have this kind of power anywhere I need it.

[92LxCoupe92]

I used a 3 foot 3/4" drive strong bar that sucker hasn't failed me yet!

[cb7 calling]

I've broken a lot of everything. Cut the nut with a cutting wheel on a demmel then drive a chisel into the cut you made breaking the nut. You can do this with the wheel off car in the air.

[Granite CB7]

I would not recommend chassis grease on the axle. I would use a little bit of anti seize on the splines only. Grease on the threads will give you an improper torque reading, and could result in the nut coming off.

Im not arguing with your success Granite, just don't want bad stuff to happen.

No worries, it's all good I guess it really comes down to location, I deal with alot of rust from winters, salt and brine. I'm a real stickler on exposed threads-inner to outer tie rod connection, alt + p/s tensioner hardware, auto kickdown cables, throttle cables, castle nuts, radius rod ends etc...all these items and much more get sprayed periodically with fluid film but grease and/ or oil do the trick too. I always enjoy taking my stuff apart again just b/c it always comes apart very predictably w/o any corrosion issues. I even grease the lug studs on the hub and the balljoint tapers as well, been doing this for 10+ years now. I know I am totally against the grain on this issue but I have been disgusted with how many leave things "dry" to seize, rust and corrode. Rear toe adjusters are a perfect example of this, they should've been greased up from the factory as water can penetrate the small openings and follow the bolt. I always stake my axle nuts too and sorry for the

[StevenCrowtown]

update

Well I checked the opposite side for S and G's and it was he-manned on there too so I took it to work yesterday and had a guy use his 1300 lb/ft max matco gun on it and it took like 2 seconds a side to knock them loose. He ran them back on enough to run it home and my bro and I changed the passenger side yesterday and the driver side today. The drivers side had ball bearings missing from the outer joint. But after replacing both and having absolutely no trans fluid come out we checked the fluid and it was definitely down a bit.

Went to the parts store to take back the axle nut and bought a quart of trans fluid. no leaks, no clicking, no more hard shifts up/down.

Coincidentally the left axle i replaced on my 91 was from a 93. it had the ring on the inner joint for ABS but as mine doesnt have it doesnt impact the use of it at all in my application.