bobby.is.rad

I'm replacing a wheel bearing, but my axle is seized to the hub. I was able to get the driver's side axle out of the spindle with a few whacks from a heavy hammer. No luck on the passenger side. I whacked it so hard that the axle spindle started getting dinged up. Tried soaking it in penetrating "rust breaking" lube overnight as well.

So I bought an OTC hub puller (this guy) and put so much torque on it that the pointy end of the puller went about an eighth of an inch into the spindle.

So what now? Should I just take the hub and the axle to a machine shop and let them try to press the axle out of the hub? Should I torch it?

Ryuu

I use a heatgun and then a can a air upside down to freeze it.. might contract enough...

cheddaboy

Damn. yeah i would torch it and hammer it out and get a new axle after that

bgoetz

Wow, mine practically fell off, the one that didn't came off with a few whacks of a rubber mallet. You should use a rubber mallet to avoid messing it up. Also try reconnecting the ball joints so the hub is more stationary (don't tighten them down just hand tighten the nuts) and the CV takes the full force of the whack.

Aurex

When you put it back together make sure to put a dab of axle grease on the splines to prevent this from happening again.

bobby.is.rad

I'm already going to have to dremel the end of it to get the spindle nut to go back on. Hopefully that's the extent of the damage as I do not feel like spending several hundred dollars replacing a part that didn't need to be replaced before I got my hands on it.

I did re-attach the hub assembly to the ball joints to get it to hold still before the big hammer whacking. Only thing I can think is that maybe all the heat from the rear brakes made something seize up in there. There was enough heat in there to loosen my lug nuts up a bit after each track session.

Guess I'll try a torch as a last ditch effort and if that doesn't do it the whole thing is going to a shop to get pressed out.

bgoetz

You may have damaged the splines, which is why it is locked on there. Hopefully the damage is just to the hub, which you will be replacing anyway.

bobby.is.rad

I finally got it to pop off after putting some heat in the hub and just torquing the crap out of the puller. It gave me a good pop, so I thought it was off. Took off the puller and gave it a few good whacks with a plastic dead blow hammer and it was still stuck. So I had to put the puller back on and press it almost all the way out. It was popping the whole time. Guess it was just stuck in there really good. Splines weren't damaged.

I wish I would have used the hub puller only and not a hammer and I wouldn't have to clean up the axle spindle with the dremel metal grinder. So for future reference if this happens to anyone else, just use the puller and don't whack it with a big heavy hammer. Odds are if a few solid whacks don't get it loose, you're going to need the puller anyway, so don't dig yourself a hole by damaging the spindle.

jpv027

I am using the same puller and still can't get the spline free. I got the hub pretty hot and used a decent impact on the puller and it didn't budge. Is there anything else I should try, or just more heat and more torque?

Thanks for the help!