I am hoping someone out there can help me with this...

I am trying to do the front brakes on my 95 Accord EX, and I can't get past step 1 of removing the spindle nut. I had unstaked the nut already, and here is what I've done so far:
- 18" breaker bar with 3-foot cheater - broke the breaker bar
- PB Blaster soaked the nut for days
- Drove around and continued to soak w/ PB Blaster
- After soaking w/ PB Blaster for weeks and no luck, took a propane torch to the nut and heated it up for a while
- Broke a second breaker bar after all that

Still, when I go to do this with a third breaker bar (that I refuse to snap!) I can't get the darn thing off.

Someone told me this might be "threaded the other way" and I should maybe try clockwise to remove it. I tried clockwise a few times thinking maybe it would break the nut free even if it was the wrong direction, but NOTHING happened.

I had unstaked the nut as best as I could and it's not a PERFECT circle, but it's very close. Would that be part of the problem?

In the FAQ here at Honda-tech, the person who did the GREAT write-up on how to do the brakes said to "use a chisel" if the nut won't come off. I'm all set to go out and get a cold chisel, but won't banging that nut with the cold chisel cause damage to the axel or even to the transmission??? I want no part of damaging either of those!

I tried to find a nut splitter but none handle a 36 mm nut, they are for smaller nuts, usually less than an inch. Seems there are some industrial nut splitters that would do it but they are thousands of $$$, so not an option.

I was thinking of taking my Dremel to it with a metal cutting disc and cutting mostly through the nut - is that practical? Can it be done or is that nut too thick? After getting mostly through I could use a cold chisel and it would be minimal pounding.

Any other ideas? I'm at wit's end! I would take it to a local mechanic but I don't know if their torque wrenches will even work, or even if they would, I feel like they will tell me they won't just break the nuts free but will tell me they have to do the whole job, which defeats the purpose; or they'll ask for some ridiculous amount.

Any ideas? Any help at all would be greatly appreciated, I'm tired of my several vibrating brakes!

 

try to get the nut as close to round as possible then get a beefier drive breaker and 36mm, then get a 4 foot iron pipe. at that point you should be able to lay down about 800 lbs-ft (assuming you weigh nearly 200lbs), which is far greater than the axle nut should need to loosen up.

 

how can I get the nut any rounder without damaging the threads inside? I'm hesitant to pound at it any more with a screwdriver so I don't damage the threads.

I'm currently using a 1/2" drive breaker bar, do you really think a 3/4" will make that much of a difference??? I weigh over 250 lbs so with the 3-foot cheater and my latest 24" breaker bar (1/2" drive) I don't know why it's not busting the thing loose.

So will the bigger drive really make that big a difference? If you are sure it will, I'm willing to try it.

 

Find a freindly shop and ask them to bust it loose with an impact.

 

ive always used a dull chisel to get to the edges of the staked area. 3/4 is a considerably difficult drive to break, and with an additional 250lb-ft on it if you use a 4ft cheater you will be putting down 1000lb-ft of torque...a spec many impacts fail to meet. i use swift applications of force as well with it.

btw what brand are you using that you keep failing?

 

I don't even know the brands of the ones that broke, but one was from AutoZone and was around 20 bucks and the other one was from harbor freight and was around 10 bucks. Both are 1/2' drive.

So I'll try a 3/4' drive breaker bar and I guess I need a 3/4' drive 36mm nut, and all this is probably gonna run me about $50 (hopefully not more), but if it works it will be worth it. I know you say that they are hard to break, and if it works out I won't care but I just have a feeling it won't work; but I'll try it anyway.

Yeah, I used a chisel also to unstake the nut. It's just not perfectly round, no matter what I do. The chisel is too wide to get deeper and I just can't get the thing perfectly round, but it looks round enough to come off.

I'll try the 3/4' drive and let you know what happens. Of course there's always the chance that I'll just take it somewhere before then and see if they can torque it off.

I just have the feeling that these spindle nuts are only going to come off by cutting and splitting them off...

 

I had the same breaker bar from Autozone when I was doing this job. It broke on me also. So don't feel bad about it.

A better breaker bar and an extension would help your greatly. So try it out. Don't worry about the nut's thread being damaged. The actual thread on the shaft starts much more inside.

Use short burst of the breaker bar. More initial force that way.

 

You can borrow a 24" 1/2" breaker bar from AutoZone that is MUCH nicer than the units they sell on the shelves. Used one to break my crankshaft pulley bolt free.

As others have said, 3/4" is another option.

I broke my 1/2" cheapie cast breaker bar on the axle nut. A good Ingersoll Rand dual-anvil 500 ft-lb impact wrench took it right off. Helps that it bangs is back and forth, instead of just in one direction.

Other option is to take a drill and drill the nut parallel to the axle shaft. Drill holes on the two opposite sides of a nut. Then carefully cut in closer to the shaft without cutting in to the threads. This will both relieve some of the pressure on the nut and allow you to split the nut if you have to.

Good luck! Mine was a battle, but I got it off, despite the previous owner giving up and leaving the original rotor on the one side.

-E

 

Just take it to a shop and tell them to use the biggest air impact wrench they have. It's been my experience that an impact tool of a given torque will remove nuts that a constant torque on a breaker bar can't touch. The shop might not even charge you for the service. Make sure they dial down the torque before putting the nut back on though.

I got my nuts off (heh ) with a 300 ft/lb impact wrench once I cranked up the air pressure beyond spec a little bit.

Also, put some grease on that thing when you're done. I have an indescribable hatred of corroded fasteners.


Modified by guymontag at 1:18 AM 7/29/2008

 

do you have car jacked up? If so put tire on should have cap on rim to place socket thru hole and then try with your breaker bar it should be 200% easier to take off with weight of vehicle on spindle. Had this issue with a 94 accord it sat for about 4 years and nut was rusted. what in my case i shouldnt tell you this. but i broke the axel lol with my 3/4 impact the spindle nut and piece of axel came with it lol. I couldnt believe my eyes didnt make me feel very safe.