iKhanh
07-14-2014, 06:51 PM
Over the July 4th weekend I started on the differential swap project. All was going pretty smoothly up until the removal of the last axle.
I knocked out the rear right side just fine. The rear left seems to be seized in the hub. Now, it's unbolted from the flange on the diff, so the end of the half shaft was just hanging below it at this point. 4lb mallet + wood square on the spindle end, and it still wouldn't go through. I went beneath the car and pulled on the axle itself while my friend would swing away with the mallet on the spindle, and I ended up pulling the axle out of the joint (oops!)... but it's still stuck! I've used a lot of penetrating oil; soaked it for a couple nights too. Tried a claw pulley puller thing, I forget what it's technically called, but it's the tool that has three claws that grab the back of the hub and has a large screw in the middle with a tapered surface that fits nicely into the chamfered end of the spindle, and all you do is keep torquing it down until it pushes against the spindle... well, that didn't work either.
At the moment, I have taken the knuckle out of the car with the axle still attached (albeit dangling since I pulled it out of its joint). I was planning to take it to a machine shop to see if they could hydraulic press it out, but I've read about how it can damage the hubs and/or wheel bearings. I've also read about taking a blow torch to it, but then now I wonder if it's gonna heat it up so much that the grease in the bearings start to degrade or something? Last thing I can think of is going to a salvage yard and hopefully salvaging a replacement knuckle w/ hub....
So! My questions are, what are my options at this point? Any advice, suggestions, anything? I want to minimize damage to all components.
I knocked out the rear right side just fine. The rear left seems to be seized in the hub. Now, it's unbolted from the flange on the diff, so the end of the half shaft was just hanging below it at this point. 4lb mallet + wood square on the spindle end, and it still wouldn't go through. I went beneath the car and pulled on the axle itself while my friend would swing away with the mallet on the spindle, and I ended up pulling the axle out of the joint (oops!)... but it's still stuck! I've used a lot of penetrating oil; soaked it for a couple nights too. Tried a claw pulley puller thing, I forget what it's technically called, but it's the tool that has three claws that grab the back of the hub and has a large screw in the middle with a tapered surface that fits nicely into the chamfered end of the spindle, and all you do is keep torquing it down until it pushes against the spindle... well, that didn't work either.
At the moment, I have taken the knuckle out of the car with the axle still attached (albeit dangling since I pulled it out of its joint). I was planning to take it to a machine shop to see if they could hydraulic press it out, but I've read about how it can damage the hubs and/or wheel bearings. I've also read about taking a blow torch to it, but then now I wonder if it's gonna heat it up so much that the grease in the bearings start to degrade or something? Last thing I can think of is going to a salvage yard and hopefully salvaging a replacement knuckle w/ hub....
So! My questions are, what are my options at this point? Any advice, suggestions, anything? I want to minimize damage to all components.