Most mangled axle nut I have ever seen.

[wildBill83]

So the CB7 I just bought was worked on by a moron and apparently a dope head. Anyway he did some of his own "maintenance" if you can call it that... This is one result of his "handy work".

I can't get it off and I'm about to either grind it off losing the core on the axle or remove the entire knuckle and have a shop remove the nut from the axle stub. Think it is possible to grind a slot in the top and bottom of the nut and then use a chisel to try and split the nut? I've seen mangled axle nuts before but not one that is this damaged ever. The car does not drive so driving to a shop is not an acceptable answer.

Any suggestions?

[Punkrampant]

Torches and impact?

[wildBill83]

Torches and impact?

I have tried propane, I ran out of MAP gas, and I don't have immediate access to my oxy/acetylene. The impact isn't working though on it's own.

The threads are mangled and the bolt is mangled to the threads so that they are almost one piece of metal.

I'm afraid of heating with MAP or oxy/acet because I don't want to ruin the bearing. I may have my friend bring the oxy/acet over to give it a blast though.

[Jarrett]

Just a thought, but if you were considering doing a 5-lug conversion on either car in the future then now would be an opportune time to swap out knuckles. That way you could take the knuckle and axle out all as one and not worry with any grinding.

[wildBill83]

I have more time than money Jarrett, I would love to do the conversion in the future to my coupe, but the sedan is going to stay 4 lug and have my refinished SE rims on it. The only opportunity I have for any kind of knuckle conversion is from Jeremiah, but only in September or so if I still live in Texas by then.

My goals were to swap transmissions between cars but seeing as I'm either moving to Houston or Iowa soon I have shelved that idea for the time being and a manual to automatic swap is fairly engaged because of the wiring as you can imagine. Right now I'm just focusing on what I have listed in my MRT for needed repairs.

[toycar]

Cut a groove into the nut with a dremel or grinder, then hammer through with a chisel to avoid damaging the axle.

You'll make a groove first, and after a few smacks with the hammer th crack will bust through and the nut will be loose enough to work it off

[reklipz]

Cut a groove into the nut with a dremel or grinder, then hammer through with a chisel to avoid damaging the axle.

You'll make a groove first, and after a few smacks with the hammer th crack will bust through and the nut will be loose enough to work it off

That is actually how you remove the bearing race while replacing the bearing on the same wheel. Great idea! It may take a couple of different sized discs to get through that much material without scaring the axle or hub though.

[wildBill83]

Well I tried that, the nut is too malleable and does not crack it just deforms further onto the axle.

I'm just going to cut it off I think, or just replace the whole damned knuckle.

I'll post a photo of my progress, it is now MORE MANGLED than before...

[reklipz]

Can you cut a slit/slot/hole into one of the faces of the nut, near an edge probably, stick a screwdriver or rod/bar into it and beat on the other end to try and get some torque? I don't know; the photos to me make it look like you would probably be able to thread the nut right off of there. I suppose that's not an option considering what you said about beat up threads.

[wildBill83]

Yeah, nothing is going to put more torque on it than the 6ft breaker bar I tried. It's not threading off for sure. I also tried an 8ft bar on my 2ft breaker bar. Also you cannot weld anything to it that will hold the torque due to the softness of the material.

The nut was basically smashed into the threads and the threads that were exposed beyond the nut are destroyed so even if I could get it to budge it would be crossthreading all the way off.

Here is what it looks like now after trying to break it off with a chisel, I tried both sides:


It's 104F out now so I'm taking a break.

[2winRB25]

Yeah, that is a pretty messed up axle nut.

No oxy/acetylene set up? That must suck.

Cut all the way through one side of the nut. Then try to break it loose. If you can't cut all the way through then take your chisel and put it in the groove you cut. Then beat the opposite end of the chisel with a hammer to break/crack the nut down in the groove. Then spin it off. Your not trying to spin it off with the chisel, your trying to crack the nut.


edit: Also no heating and cooling in a garage must suck too. Its 98* here and its 66* in my 20x20' shop. Concrete floors help a lot in the summer with keeping the temps down.

['93CB7Ex]

air hammer will get it off. ive gotten one worse than that off with an air hammer with a chisel bit. shit cut it right off.

[wildBill83]

I was using an air chisel. it comes off tomorrow.

[toycar]

cut the groove a little deeper and try again. It will work, I swear to god it will. The nut is a lot deeper than a bearing race, and you really have to cut deep into a race for this to work.

Think about the force generated by the nut though. It has an outward effect on the nut, meaning the thinner the nut material that is left, the easier it will crack. Once it cracks, it will spin off no problemo.

Cut deeper, beat the shit out of again.


no good, cut deeper again and smack the shit out of it some more.


It WILL come loose doing this, I promise it will.

[steelbluesleepR]

use your air hammer at an angle to try and get it to spin counter clockwise and thread itself off.