How the hell did you do it? post your story!!!

 

Well, my first attempt was with an ordinary screwdriver and hammer.. the kind of tools you find in the local K-mart that have the inscription " Made in Taiwan" written all over them.. I got them from my mother last Christmas and was waiting for the golden opportunity to finally get the chance to use them.. This was my golden moment and mom would have been so proud of me when I tell her that I actually fixed my car with that very tool set she gave me!

Things didn't work out as planned.. I tried to hammer and chisel that darn hub nut off, but that thing wouldn't budge.. I remember reading in this very forum about what to do with a stuck nut and people recommended letting the nut soak with penetrating oil or even WD-40 and then the nut would break loose.. well, I didn't have any penetrating oil or WD-40, so I looked around the house to see what I could use as a substitute.. and low and behold, the answer was right there in the kitchen cabinet. A can of my mom's PAM non stick cooking spray! I figured it must be able to work.. its a spray and has oil in it! I coated that stubborn nut with that whole can and let it soak in for a few hours..

I returned in a few hours to make a second attempt at getting that stupid nut loose, but the PAM idea didnt work out so well because this time when I went to chisel the nut off the screwdriver slipped right off the nut from all the PAM and I ended up smacking my face into the hub assembly.. I now have marks in my forehead from hitting the protruding lug nut studs..

I knew that ordinary tools were not going to get my job done.. I had to think of a better idea.. as I sat there bewildered staring at that nut an idea had crossed my mind.. a construction crew was just down the street from my house and I remember seeing a worker using one of those big pneumatic hammers to break apart the concrete sidewalk.. Bam! That was it.. I bet that big hammer would get that hub nut off!

To make a long story short, I confronted the worker and asked him if he could help me with my dilemma.. we carted that 400lb hammer over to my garage and mounted that puppy right on top of that nut.. he told me to take a few steps back because at times "bertha" ( thats what he called his hammer ) would have a mind of her own and jump all over the place.. no sooner than I took a few steps back, he had pulled the trigger and hammer pounded that nut with force I had never seen! that nut broke loose and shot straight across the garage like a bullet!
I thanked the friendly construction worker and he went on his way..

I did manage to get the nut off the axle, but in using the pneumatic hammer I ended up breaking the nut, fudging up the axle threads and breaking my front rotor into peices.. I guess I'll take it to the shop next time i attempt something like this..

 

Holy ****!!!!!

I guess my day wasn't as bad as yours

 

I just unstaked the nut, and used a breaker bar with a long pipe on the handle.

 

Yep, tha'ts all I did too. I removed the indentation, and then used a long breaker bar to loosen it. It's all about torque baby...

I really wouldn't want a jack hammer that close to my car...

 

that's what I was doing, half inch ratchet (good quality too) and a 4ft pipe slipped over it...ratchet snapped like a twig

 

Damn, I used a 4ft 1/2 drive with an extension breaker bar that added another 4 feet. It came off with ease after that.

art

 

Airtools....

 

Air tools are the way to go. If you dont have a setup, just drive over to the local gas station. They should be able to take the nuts right off, then just have them semi-tighten them back on for the ride home. Nothing like air tools for **** like that. "buda buda buda buda wooooooo" end of job.

 

that would be a good Idea...if the car was actually running right now

I'm gonna try a breaker bar one more time, if that doesn't work, I'll look into renting some air tools

Thanks for all the ideas.

 

If you don't have access to air tools, go to a rental yard & get a 1/2" electric impact gun. I don't even unstake the nut. The electric gun works fine. I was too cheap to buy a compressor & stuff so I ended up buying a electric one. FWIW, now that I own the electric gun, if I had to do all over again, I would buy air tools.

 

FAWK!!!!!!!!! broke another breaker bar....this is ******* lame...I'm gonna go rent a compressor.

 

Consider heating up the nut with a propane torch to expand the metal..

You will get more torque from breaker bar than you would with a 1/2 inch impact gun.. If your breaking bars I highly doubt an impact gun will help unless its 3/4 inch or more.. good luck..

 

my thought is that the instant tourque of the impact gun will break it free...not the actualy tourque in #'s....we were putting an estimated 600ftlbs on that bastard....

I was afraid to heat it up because I don't want to F up the wheel bearings.

 

I got the impression you are using a ratchet and adding an extension to make it into a breaker bar. The ratcheting mechanism can't take that kind of torque (as you have found out). Sears has a breaker bar with a 1/2 inch drive, but no ratcheting mechanism. That thing is my best friend. It is usually sufficient, and will take a pipe when more persuasion is needed. Been using it for over 10 years, haven't broken it yet. I think they go for about $20 or $30. Can't remember exactly.
Otherwise, what they said: air compressor with an impact gun.

HTH

 

actually THAT is what broke the second time....1/2 in breaker bar...NO ratchet

thanks though

 

Went and got the 300 complete air tool kit from walmart. Has a 5hp 13 gallon compressor with a bunch of attachments, including the all mighty impact wrech. My impact wrench opened a can of whoop *** on the hub nut. I actually tried to remove it with conventional tools. No success with the help of my freinds. Could always WD-40 it over tight then hit it again with a big *** socket wrench with extension, like someone mentioned above its all about torque .


[Modified by Zynentech, 2:54 AM 10/10/2001]

 

I hope to open a can of whoopass on it this weekend...thanks man