LegacyBrad Posted November 23, 2010 Share Posted November 23, 2010 So I have a quick question for the forum. Which way do I turn the nut to loosen it? After looking at the new one it would indicate that turning it left (loosey) would do this, but I can't get it to budge, even after soaking it with WD-40 for a day and using a 4 foot cheater bar! After really going at it I broke tool #2...oh well its a craftsman. New ones are free. I hate taking my stuff into shops, really want to get this done myself. Pic is of passenger side 93 legacy wagon. Still want this thing off...:-\ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted November 23, 2010 Share Posted November 23, 2010 They are normal right-hand threads. Lefty-Loosey is correct. You need an impact or use a 1/2" ratchet and hit the end with a 4lb hammer (repeatedly) till the thing breaks free. Some PB Blaster (or Yeild if you can find some) can help. Let it soak in for a while before going at it. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flight_of_pain Posted November 23, 2010 Share Posted November 23, 2010 It is standard thread so yes, lefty loosy. Get a good cold chisel and a 3lb sledge. use the chisel and hammer to turn the nut by chiseling against one of the faces. I use this trick all the time to get flywheel nuts off of rotary engines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daredevil1166 Posted November 23, 2010 Share Posted November 23, 2010 GD said it. You want sharp, quick blasts on the nut. Don't just pull/push the tool with steady force. I wouldn't use a ratchet though. That's a good way to break the innards of even a good ratchet. Get another breaker bar. Put it on horizontally pointing to the left. Push down on it with your left arm and body weight while hitting the breaker bar with a hammer about 8" from the nut. The cold chisel method works sometime but you can also mess up the nut so that no socket can grab it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted November 23, 2010 Share Posted November 23, 2010 these can be a real pain. i bought a 3/4" socket set just for axle nuts. i've broken many 1/2" breaker bars, sockets, etc. my 900 ft/lb air gun couldn't get one off earlier this year, took about 6 foot of pipe. what is odd about that one is that i had installed it about a year before on my buddies car. i didn't make it that tight and a year doesn't seem long enough for corrossion/rust to cause it but somethign was keeping it from moving. if you're going to be doing your own maintenance like this into the future get a 3/4" ratchet for it and 6 feet of pipe to slide over the handle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bheinen74 Posted November 23, 2010 Share Posted November 23, 2010 (edited) NEVER use a ratchet on a axle nut. Breaker bar with cheater pipe, 1/2" or bigger. NEVER try with 3/8" stuff. done. oh, and your jackstand is not located in the right place on the 90-94 legacy. the correct spot is the spot weld sicking down on the rocker panel about 3-4 inches back from the mudflap. you will feel the reinforcment rib where you need it go to. the place you put your jackstand is TOO narrow, it could slp off in the front or back. Edited November 23, 2010 by bheinen74 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnceggleston Posted November 23, 2010 Share Posted November 23, 2010 harbor freight electric impact wrench not free, but cheaper than a shop. then go to auto zone and ''borrow'' a 32mm socket. works great. http://www.harborfreight.com/1-2-half-inch-electric-impact-wrench-45252.html my thread. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=116899 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted November 23, 2010 Share Posted November 23, 2010 I use my cheap Craftsman ratchet for the "hand impact" method. I have a couple of them and if I break it - oh well. It's just the right length for this method - thus the reason I use it. Breaker bar is too long to hit effectively with a hammer (too much flex). Yeah - maybe you will strip out the guts (I haven't stripped one that way yet but probably will in time) - but who cares if it gets the nut off. I don't abuse my Snap-On stuff like that but the Craftsman..... well it's Taiwan junk anyway plus they will give me another - no questions asked. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bheinen74 Posted November 23, 2010 Share Posted November 23, 2010 harbor freight electric impact wrench not free, but cheaper than a shop. then go to auto zone and ''borrow'' a 32mm socket. works great. http://www.harborfreight.com/1-2-half-inch-electric-impact-wrench-45252.html my thread. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=116899 that thing wont take off anything over 140 pounds.....not a useful tool, mine is for sale someone pay me 10 and pay for shipping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daredevil1166 Posted November 23, 2010 Share Posted November 23, 2010 (edited) Breaker bar is too long to hit effectively with a hammer (too much flex).GD Yep, they do flex quite a bit. That's why you push down on it to take some of the flex out, then hit it closer to the socket where there's less flex. I have two broken 1/2" ratchets. Both were the victims of axle nuts. Harbor Freight's 3/4" drive set is perfect for this stuff. I think I got mine for $44 on sale. Comes with sockets, breaker bar, extensions, and ratchet. Actually I have two, one metric one standard. Edited November 23, 2010 by daredevil1166 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vasy Posted November 23, 2010 Share Posted November 23, 2010 When I replaced my front CV axle 3 weeks ago, I was really surprised how easily the axle nut came off with my electric impact gun. It only took about 3 seconds. I had previously used the same impact gun to do the same job on my Nissan Maxima, it took 5-6 minutes of intermittent impacting before the nut came loose. My 96 OBW's axle nut had never been removed since it left the factory (I'm the original owner), but the Nissan's axle had been replaced by a shop a few years earlier. My guess is that the shop had over-torqued the nut. But 137 ft.lb of torque on my OBW should take more than 3 seconds pounding with my impact gun. So I checked the other 3 axles' nuts with a torque wrench, I torqued them to 140 ft.lb and they were all tight, none moved any when I tried to tighten them. It's a little weird. The nut I took off was properly staked at the factory but it was a little too loose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnceggleston Posted November 23, 2010 Share Posted November 23, 2010 (edited) When I replaced my front CV axle 3 weeks ago, I was really surprised how easily the axle nut came off with my electric impact gun. It only took about 3 seconds. I had previously used the same impact gun to do the same job on my Nissan Maxima, it took 5-6 minutes of intermittent impacting before the nut came loose. My 96 OBW's axle nut had never been removed since it left the factory (I'm the original owner), but the Nissan's axle had been replaced by a shop a few years earlier. My guess is that the shop had over-torqued the nut. But 137 ft.lb of torque on my OBW should take more than 3 seconds pounding with my impact gun. So I checked the other 3 axles' nuts with a torque wrench, I torqued them to 140 ft.lb and they were all tight, none moved any when I tried to tighten them. It's a little weird. The nut I took off was properly staked at the factory but it was a little too loose. i understand your concern, but if the nut has been on for 14? years with no apparent damage i would say it was just right. did you try to remove one of the other 3 to see how long that took? Edited November 23, 2010 by johnceggleston Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vasy Posted November 23, 2010 Share Posted November 23, 2010 i understand your concern, but if the nut has been on for 14? years with no apparent damage i would say it was just right. did you try to remove one of the other 3 to see how long that took? No I didn't try to remove them but I did try to re-torque the other 3 to spec (140 ft.lb) to see if they'd move at all. They didn't so they're as tight as they should be. Don't have a concern anymore, just curious why this one came off so easily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricearu Posted November 23, 2010 Share Posted November 23, 2010 I always use my craftsman 1/2" ratchet, it is more durable than those heads on the breaker bars. those crappy little pieces always twist off and I dont know why... I figured the gear teeth in the ratchet would go first. My friend's brother makes ratchet heads for craftsman in taiwan. im just keeping him employed lol. ps, the innards of a craftsman ratchet are all powder metal forged Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
987687 Posted November 23, 2010 Share Posted November 23, 2010 Craftsman ratchets take a surprising amount of abuse... I had a wicked stuck axle nut. It was an ea though, but same procedure would work. I used my 2' breaker bar extended to 4' with a pipe. I suspended my 200lbs anvil from the end of the pipe and jumped on it a few times. Cracked loose eventually! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bheinen74 Posted November 23, 2010 Share Posted November 23, 2010 i cracked a 1/2 mac ratchet gears on this, the little gear chipped. i cracked a 3/8 drive swivel from Home Depot and had it replaced with a different style. In the snow/rust belt we do break lots tools due to rust seize. you guys out west, probably dont have to break it so hard as us east of the missouri river where rust takes a cut on everything, vehicles, tools, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
987687 Posted November 23, 2010 Share Posted November 23, 2010 Stuff in the rust belt gets crazy stuck. I had a diff drain plug put up a fierce fight a few weeks ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster2 Posted November 24, 2010 Share Posted November 24, 2010 Harbor Freight sells an electric half inch impact wrench on the cheap. Cost less then $50, and works great. Better to squirt on PB Blaster and wait 15 minutes then work on it. WD-40 is not the best product to get rusty bolts to release. PB Blaster is much much better. I did the above a week ago using as described above. I had no trouble getting the nut to come off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hankosolder2 Posted November 24, 2010 Share Posted November 24, 2010 Are you replacing halfshafts and need the old parts as cores? If not, take a Dremel tool & heavy duty cut off wheel. Cut a slot in the nut (holding the cut out wheel parallel to the axle shaft)- get as close to the hub as you can without damaging it. A bit of penetrating oil in there and it should come right off. If not, you can pound a wedge shaped item in the slot (like a regular screwdriver) to loosen things up further. You can also try drilling through the "flange" on the hub end of the nut, but I don't want to advise you to do anything that could damage the hub. Nathan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Idasho Posted November 24, 2010 Share Posted November 24, 2010 Why all the fuss with impacts and jumping on bars?? Just slip a pipe over your breaker bar, place the socket on the nut, bar on the ground pointed towards the back of the car, then back the car up. It WILL come off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edrach Posted November 24, 2010 Share Posted November 24, 2010 Also, Harbor Freight has the same "no questions asked" return policy on broken hand tools (wrenches, sockets, etc.) as Craftsman. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
987687 Posted November 24, 2010 Share Posted November 24, 2010 (edited) Either it'll come off or something will break and since he's working on the right side, wouldn't he want to go forwards? Edited November 24, 2010 by 987687 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Idasho Posted November 24, 2010 Share Posted November 24, 2010 Either it'll come off or something will break and since he's working on the right side, wouldn't he want to go forwards? ah, good catch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unibrook Posted November 24, 2010 Share Posted November 24, 2010 (edited) .5" breaker bar + 4' extension pipe = silly flex, but gets that puppy off. Edited November 24, 2010 by unibrook Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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