I'm working on my '97 EK Civic driver's side replacing the axle assembly.

I've gotten every bolt out including the lower ball joint and have the other end of the axle assembly out of the transmission, but I can't get the axle to slide out of the spindle/hub.

I've sprayed it with WD40 and left it to soak, I've tried using a hammer, used a long piece of wood and smacked it with a hammer, but it won't budge.

Does anyone have any ideas?

 

put the axle nut on but 2 or 3 turns from tight then smack the crap out of the hub you should replace the axle nut anyways to its not a big deal put the lower ball joint "stubb" back into the lower arm.

 

Take off them fake nails and beat that hub like u would have in jr high! Jk but yea u gotta beat it hard and replace the nut like said above

 

Does putting the axle nut back on just give me a bigger target to smack?

 

That's the whole idea - more surface area and reduced chance of mushrooming the end of the axle.

Brute force is the only trick to this. Back the nut off, and whack it with a sledge hammer.

 

^ this!

 

Well that didn't work... it ended up mashing the axle nut around the axle and I was barely able to get it off of the axle.

Any other ideas?

 

Success!

I (finally) found my short sledge hammer, put my back/butt against the fender and started smashing the axle with the hammer between my legs. The sledge hammer was definitely the difference. The only scary part was I didn't want to mushroom the end of the axle, but it didn't and it slowly came out. Thanks for the help.