drive axle nut
 

hey everyone i am working on replacing the hub wheel bearing assembly in my blazer but the issue im having is getting the drive axle nut. we have tried just about everything imaginable, we used a breaker bar to the put where it broke the ratchet head, we headed it up to the point it was red, we tried using an air ratchet and spinning it both ways, and we tried using a compressor that got up to 150psi and not even a budge. does ANYONE have any suggestions on what we can do. i have watched you tube videos on how to do it and they all made it look like a 10 year old could do it so please dont recommend one to me. thanks

I've heard of others having a tough time with these but not to this point. Mine came off very easy using an impact wrench. Being as that was what I was going to suggest and you've already tried it, soak it with PB Blaster for a few hours, use a breaker bar with about a 10 foot cheater bar and a couple of buddies jumping on the breaker bar.

ya i pretty much tried that and when we did the breaker bar broke

Use a 1/2" ratchet and a cheater pipe. Also make sure the wheel and tire is on and the parking brake is set. Once you break it loose you can remove the wheel and tire. This will keep the cv shaft from trying to wind up and tearing up stuff in the front diff. Also the PB Blaster works wonders.

lol again we tried that, the breaker bar we used that broke was a 1/2"

As a last ditch effort just replace the hub and the cv axle assembly. You can disassemble the outer joint and just leave everything in the hub and throw it all away. A replacement axle assemble new at the zone is like 60$ and don't require you to give them any core back. It may be worth it to just give up on it and destroy the old cv axle and replace it and the hub. Just my 2c that you might as well do the ball joints while you got it that tore apart since its pretty easy to do when your already in that deep.

Good thick cold chisel and a 2.5lb sledge, it will come off. Had the EXACT same problem on my friends eagle talon a few weeks ago, heated it up with a torch, broke a torque bar using a cheater pipe, small air compressor wouldn't budge it. Cold chisel and a BFH it was off in 5 minutes.

well replacing the cv axles does seem like a last resort so thats a good idea cause the cv axles are cheap and i have a feeling my ball joints are shot too. the only bad thing is im ganna have to do this on both sides. the sledge hammer is something i havent tried mainly because i have a horrible aim :X

On top of all of that many times when changing ball joints or hubs the disturbance of the CV joints causes them to go bad too. So after all your work you simply have to just turn around and do it all over again to get the CV axle out.

I understand nobody wants to spend $ that they don't have to. But i like to do things once and be done with it for awhile. So when i did mine i changed the hub,CV axle and both ball joints on each side. No problems for awhile i hope.

do you have access to a 3/4 impact gun?
or a good(snap on or mac) air hammer with a chisel bit?

so it sounds like to me that getting the nut off means that im ganna destroy the cv axles and ball joints. and no i dont have access to any of those that i know of

Bud just try the hammer and chisel. Even if you don't have one $15 and you'll get it off. Don't worry about your CV's if they aren't bad now they will still be fine after. If you don't think you can hit it hard enough and miss your hand use some vice grips to hold the chisel.

What i was trying to say is that after tearing into it that far its not much more $ to replace everything and be all done. Sometimes the cv axle will go bad shortly after you mess with other things like hubs and ball joints. I personally dont like doing things twice so i would change it all and be finished with it. I hope you are able to get the nut off and everything goes well for you.

I know what you mean for sure and I would possibly agree if he wasn't doing the work himself but if it could save him a couple hundred dollars and the CV's/BJ's lasted another 5 years as is why not? Not to mention if they are the stock CV's and in good shape they are going to be better then a $60 generic autostore replacement. And of course if he uses some anti-seize on the bolts and has to replace the CV in a few years down the road it isn't much more then an hour to do.

well i can give it another try i suppose but im getting to the point where im ganna send it in to get it done by a professional mainly because its starting to sound really really bad and i dont have another car...ik i could save money and do it myself but i dont really have the time to lol

Don't give in so easy:) Ten minutes with a cold chisel and it will be off.

well after many failed attempts...i cant really get it off myself it looks like i may have to take it in

I broke a breaker bar trying this myself. Only way you'll get it off, is to use a 1/2" Impact. My $30 impact from harbor frieght worked fine. Even though I doubted it would make rated torque.