Hey guys,

I started working on my car this morning and I got brick walled by a stuck axle nut. Firstly, I noticed that the nut wasn't staked in and the CV boot and axle nut looks relatively fresh for a '94. Secondly, when I try to undo the nut, the rotor spins. Even with the brakes on, I can't get the nut to budge. I tried putting the tire back on and jacking up the breaker bar, but that didn't work either.


Any ideas?

 

Tire on and on the ground (in gear or park)....breaker par and a piece of pipe over the bar......stand on the pipe and do a little bouncing

 

Heating the nut w/ acetylene or propane torch will help.


good luck

 

So I broke my breaker bar. Any other ideas save bringing it to a shop?

 

Either get an air gun on it or with the tire on the ground get another breaker bar and add a pipe extension. Of the hundreds I taken off I have never been able to get one off. Use heat if doing it by hand but I reccomend not starting with heat if you use an air gun with sufficient air supply or you may gall the threads. You can also try driving the car with the breaker bar on, reverse for the drivers side and forward for the passangers side, although that is the end all be all method if you don't use air and want to do it at home. Otherwise take it someplace that will loosen them for you, re-torque them, re-punch the set and then you can drive it home and should be able to do the work you wat to do. Good luck.

 

Thanks guy. Upon inspecting the car with the wheel off, I noticed that the front passenger inner CV boot area was covered in what appeared to be grease. I'm guessing that the boot is bad, so I might need to replace the axle.

That said, I was thinking of just removing the knuckle together with the axle and bring it to a shop to have them get the nut (and axle off). Any idea if this will work?

On a separate note, I also noticed that on the inner tie rod, the boot closer to the outer tie rod is completely ripped. I missing a good 3" of it in the middle. This is probably a dumb question, but should I be concerned?

 

Can't think of anything that would prevent you from pulling the knuckle and shaft...getting late so take that how you will.

If the inner tie rod boot is torn, I would replace as soon as you can. Dirt/sand will get on the tie rod and then "eat" into the seal on the rack....thus causing a PS leak. I suggest an OE boot from the dealer, the aftermarket ones just don't seem to fit well and people have all kinds of issues trying to get them to work.

The inner boot isn't that bad to do - I did this on my 95 a while back, used an OE (dealer) boot. The only tricky/time consuming part was getting the vent tube off the old and back onto the new one.

 

Decided to call it a day with nothing accomplished. Looks like the "fun" will have to wait for next weekend.

Question: If the nut is so doggone hard to get off, how will I be able to get it back on tight enough...?

 

With tire in place, the torque can be reached w/ a breaker bar or HD torque wrench.


good luck

 

So basically use my weight on the breaker bar w/ extension?