Urgent Help with a very rusty axle nut!

[CrabFish]

Was going to replace the rear bearing but got this.

There rear axle nut is so rusted it looks like it and the rotor/hub have become one.

Wonder if I can take off the axle nut and if the axle will still have thread on it for the new one.

My friend suggested taking the whole spindle assembly off together with the axle/hub/bearing and cutting the axle.

Really hope it wont come to that.





CURSE SALTY MICHIGAN ROADS!!!

[scooper]

did you try and put a 30mm socket on it? damn that's rusty!! If you have air tools you might try the impact first then go the breaker bar approach assuming the socket still fits. damn that's rusty!!

[CrabFish]

Yeah. 30mm Socket has nothing to catch onto, tried hammering it in - no success. I can get my hands on an impact wrench but I have a feeling it will just strip the nut and ruin my expensive socket.

[flyfishvt]

For all the time and trouble its going to take to deal with that thing you'd be better off getting a whole different trailing arm and just say F### it with that one. You should be able to find a trailing arm for around $100 maybe less if you search hard enough. I don't think you'll have enough viable threads to work with when you're done and those nuts are on there with about 200 ft/lbs. Even with a clean nut its a task to get them off. A rusty nut isn't worth dealing with.

[paniolo]

yeah, I think I would just go straight to a salvage yard trailing arm and axle.

[scooper]

or maybe you can try a 28 or 29mm socket and see if it holds. If all else fails get another hub/trailing arm. Damn that's rusty!!

[CrabFish]

Ordered new axle from rockauto. Not giving up on this trailing arm just yet. Will try to dremel the nut off and slide the axle backwards out of the bearing.

[DrinkCoffee]

If your not going to give up on getting the nut off, I think your only option will be pb blaster, heat, pb blaster, heat, pb blaster, heat, tap socket on with hammer, etc.

[motion]

I'd go with the dremal and split the nut, being careful when getting close to the threads.

[ckpitt55]

holy hell that looks terrible, almost as though someone put a weld bead around it haha

what several other guys said -- i think at this point splitting the nut with a dremel is really your only option. if you get the half shaft out, try to find the proper die for the threads, youre going to need to re-cut them.

[rahul]

thats almost welded

[3B2M8Wi]

Did u not have the center caps on for the wheels wow! I live in michigan and mine are no where near that rusty!

[740i325e135i]

Crabfish, I have a similar problem as you show above. What did you end up doing?

[M3AN]

Nice one, six odd years - good search-foo.

But the advice given to the OP above is the same today as it was long ago, replace the entire half-shaft and trailing arm assemblies, that's irrecoverable.

[XnWarden]

That might be recoverable. Use a blow torch and get it hot hot hot. Spray pb blaster on it and then place the socket on it and whack it with a hammer. Repeat that until the rust has been knocked off

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[Moron95M3]

Crabfish, I have a similar problem as you show above. What did you end up doing?

I would weld a socket onto it (after cleaning some rust down to shiny metal).
If that fails, or breaks, next, would be the little air gridner, air chisel, real chisel, and big hammer.

[DubNub]

Grab dremel and cut-off wheels for it. Approximate where the nut is and grind one side then try to hammer out the nut. I had to do that with strut bolts that were rusted on.

[jmo69]

I would find a socket that is the closest fit, heat the nut to cherry red with an oxy-acetylene torch, pound the socket on ( the nut should expand for a better fit) then hit it with a good impact or a breaker bar.

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