seanliu

Can owners of the Hubtamer tool set send me a scanned file of their manual/instruction to me? If you can send me the hardcopy I promise that I will return it once I photocopy or scan it. Thank you. Email: sliu98@hotmail.com

Can anyone who owns an OTC Hubtamer Elite or Master tool set share the manual or instructions on how to use Hubtamer with me? I would prefer electronic version if possible (scanned file). I will return it once I copy the manual if the hardcopy of the manual is made available to me. Thank you. Email: sliu98@hotmail.com

On a 1998 Subaru Forester L. Is it possible to wiggle in the tone wheel behind the front hub; the wheel of the tone wheel seems slight larger than the hub (tone wheel is also called tone ring or toothed ring or Speed Sensor ring)?

Immigrate into the USA so you don't have to pay for those ridiculous taxes and VATs.

The pdf file with step-by-step detailed information including the tools and sources of the tools about front CV axle replacement is ready. if interested, PM to me with your email address.

I need to replace the front ABS tone wheel (or tone ring). Do I have to remove the front hub first in order to install the new tone wheel?

I will prepare a PDF file for the narrative of the experience I had with the replacements of two front CV axles (also called half-driveshafts). If interested, PM me and leave an email address so I can send it to you.

Does anyone have official instructions of OTC Hub Tamer Elite or Master Tool kit? I have several tools similar to most items in the Hub Tamer Tool kit. If anyone can send me a PDF file, that would be great! Thanks.

Finally after much struggle and trial-and-error, I solved this problem. I used a 8 in dike (diagonal cutter) with offset at the head. I used the dike to grab one stuck roll pin that is slightly stuck and pried the pin out of the hole and then I used a long pin punch with a diameter slightly larger than that of the inner diameter of the roll pin and drive the other roll pin out. And the rest was history. However, in an attempt to do the replacement of CV axle on the driver side, I accidently damaged the tone wheel (tone ring) for ABS sensor when I tried to drive out the old stuck CV axle from the front hub with a three-leg gear puller. Now, I need to remove the front hub to replace the tone wheel. Does anyone have practical idea of how to remove the front hub without removing steering knuckle? I have several tools for front ball bearing removal/installation from Harbor Freight Tools and supposedly hub puller/installer from the same vendor and a piece of weldment (the big curved piece used on the other side of the hub) that is part of the OTC Hubtamer Elite tool kit. I just don't know how to use the tools to remove and install the front hub. If you have OTC Hubtamer Elite or Master kit, could you send the scanned user manual to my PM? Thanks.

The one you can purchase separately from thetoolwarehouse.net for $64.95.

Have you done with it? Is the hubtamer OTC 6490, not OTC 6537?

I will try to use vise-grip first since I have few of them lying around. if that does not work, I will try to use wire cutters or dykes.

Someone suggested to me to use a pair of dykes (not lesbians) to grip the roll pin and then use leverage aginst the axle to pull the roll pin out. The dykes are wire cutter like tools, according to the source of the tip. Does anyone know what a pair of dykes are and where can I buy a pair? seanliu

John: Is that possible that the portion of the pin is collapsed and somehow "hooks" the splines of the output of the tranny? I remember that when the first pin stuck in the opening and I probed the hole with an undersized philip screwdriver from the other side, I noticed the screwdriver initially just barely passed the new axle's hole. I wiggled a little, then the screwdriver went through with some light resistance. I used a Lock Technology long axle pin punch designed for Subaru axle pin removal, the length of the punch is OK at the removal but too long for installation under the car (I can barely swing the hammer). Also you talked about force and patience, can you quantify them? I don't want to discover late that all I need is good and long repeated whacks to solve my woe. seanliu

Cookie: I will try one more time to hammer the sucker in before I drive away the car. I have basically exhausted my imaginations and probably others' trying to unstake the stuck pins. Thanks. seanliu

Cookie and Stumpy: The reason I am so desperate to pull out the pins (two of them on both sides) and the axle is that only very small portion of the pins in the axle. However, it seems to be deep enough to prevent the axle from pulling out. I rotate the hub when the front of the car is on the jackstands, it clears. I understand the pins is only for retaining the axle in case the other components of the suspension (lower control arm, for example) fail. Am I right (You can not pull out the axle without disconnecting the lower control arm from the hub even the roll pin is removed)? Nevertheless, I am more concerned with the safety issue. Subaru is one of the few car manufacturers that use roll pin to lock the axle to the output of tranny and I am wondering why (and also the odd number of the splines).

My situation is the same as yesterday. P.B. Blaster has been used once and will try it again. I have not been able to take out the pins and so I cannot pull out the new axle. Does everyone know if the line-up of the holes are 180 degree off the"perfect line-up", what happens if someone hammers in a new roll pin? I am wondering if my line-up is 180 degree off or something else. seanliu

I am still struggling to get this thing over with. I am wondering if anyone knows about the hardness of the steel that the roll pin is made from. seanliu

I think you were lucky. I am beyond pulling the-axle-assembly-out stage. Small portion (I don't know how much or how) of the spring pin is in the output axle of the tranny. So without pulling pins out I cannot re-do the installation. I thought about prying the axle assembly out with a pry bar against the tranny but it does not seem to be working (I did not try very hard for obvious reasons). Regarding the duckbill-vise-grips-and-cold-chisel method, I practiced it on my other new axle assembly, I found, unless you can make the vise grips grip the end of the pin very very tight, you will only move the vise grips around with a wedge tool like cold chisel. This is even more challenging in the confined space. I can see the point of using this method, but when you use the vise grip, the tightness of gripping depends on how far you can turn the screw of the vise grips with your thumb and index finger or how strong is your hand to force the completion of tight gripping of an object. Am I wrong? seanliu

Ted: Are the duck bill vise grips the long nose slim-shaped vise grips? By the way, I find the way of removing pin with vise grips you suggested interesting. Did you clamp the vise grips on the end of the exposed portion of the roll pin and then used a cold chisel to leverage the pin out? I just gripped the pin with vise grips and twisted and pulled so the pin did not budge. I will try your method. Thanks. Any more innovative ideas? I thought about drilling with a power drill but decided that it was almost impossible to do it under the car, particularly on the passenger side. seanliu

Steve: Good insight! I noticed the old one is different from the new one but had not heard of anyone complaining so I did not keep the old one (I also noticed the old one broke off a small bit). My question for you is, how did you pull out the new pin? I am using a couple of vise grip pliers and was able to remove the stuck screwdriver but not the roll pin yet. seanliu

mwatt: I will do it tomorrow. Also I discovered that you can use a long extension of cordless power drill/screwdriver to drive the roll pin, of course, after I take out the pins and the battered screwdriver. I will post what happens in this board.

I will give it a try and do it tomorrow (I need to go out to buy a suitable one and the area I live is blanketed with 2' snow). Thank you. Any other ideas from other folks here?

I only paid attention to the chambered surface on the axle, not the splines of the tranny. If that is the problem, I might just keep hammering. However, I did a foolish thing, when I discovered that I could use a small screwdriver to drive through the holes, I thought I could try the other side with another roll pin. I did not realize that the screwdriver was way too small to give an accurate indication that the holes were perfectly aligned. According to EDRACH, guru of Subaru axle on this board, if the alignment is 180 degree off when you slide the axle in, the holes are partially lined up. So there is enough space for small screwdriver going through but not enough for roll pin to go through. So I have two roll pins stuck on both sides of the axle and I could not slide the axle out of the tranny (if I could, I can knock the pins out on the bench). And I made further mistake by trying to drive a small screwdriver through the center of a roll pin and now the screwdriver itself is stuck. Oh, man it is really bad. I don't know how to remove the screwdriver as well as the roll pins on the axle. Any idea?

I still have hard time to hammer in the pin (it seems to be stuck in the opening of the axle hole). I used a Lock Technology's Axle Pin tool designed for Subaru. There is little space where can swing my hammer underneath the car. By the way, is it a good idea to push in the pin with a bottle jack or floor jack? What is the possible downside?