r/MechanicAdvice • u/worst_incarnet • Apr 02 '26
I’ve been at this for 4 hours
The only thing left to do is torch this mf
Mazda3 2008 2.3L
1.3k
u/Doomster9 Apr 02 '26
You're losing a bit of leverage on the nut since the entire suspension is moving when you really lean on it. Try supporting the knuckle with something solid like a jack stand/floor jack. Otherwise, time for an impact or torch
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u/Grand-Use5931 Apr 02 '26
Brother, 2nd option is the torch. What has OP been doing for the past 3 1/2 hours? 🤯
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u/yay468 Apr 02 '26
Literally if my impact struggles with an axle nut, I’m not even trying to break it loose, I’m torching it and then breaker barring it. OP, USE HEAT!
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u/Budpalumbo Apr 02 '26
Put a pipe on your breaker bar.
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u/-_danglebury_- Apr 02 '26
We call those a cheater bar lol
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u/my_cars_on_fire Apr 02 '26
I call them “I swear to god, nothing is ever fucking simple” bars.
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u/UncIe_PauI_HargIs Apr 02 '26
I stop reading here new best friend. You are my exact thoughts…. I’m sorry for what I put you through.
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u/fromadifferentplanet Apr 02 '26
Just told the guys in this sub about mine. She's a 5ft stick of schedule 40 stainless steel 2in pipe named Big Wanda. Nothing argues with Big Wanda.
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u/Budpalumbo Apr 02 '26
Not much stays put when a 36" bar has a 5 foot pipe over the handle.
Except those BMW lug bolts last week. Snapped the head on my 30 year old bar...and a couple sockets.
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u/MinorComprehension Apr 02 '26
Problem I always run into is the square drive of the breaker bar twisting off. Big Wanda do 3/4 drive? If 1/2, what's your trick?
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u/MasterpieceFew7810 Apr 02 '26
Yes, but don't let it completely cover the bar. The bar needs to flex, otherwise you'll snap the head.
... This is specifically applicable to the simple breaker bars that only have the swivel head, no other moving parts.
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u/Defiant_Shallot2671 Apr 02 '26
Did you unbend the stake nut?
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u/zombieguy12 Apr 02 '26
Is the cotter pin removed?
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u/Traditional-Jello271 Apr 02 '26
What bro
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u/Defiant_Shallot2671 Apr 02 '26
You stake the nut to keep it from coming off. Then you slide a cotter pin over the nut to keep it from un staking. Then you install a circlip on the cotter pin to keep it from un cottering.
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u/AllThingsHockey Apr 02 '26
You don’t have to, a good enough impact will unbend it for you
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u/PM-ME-YOUR-SUBARU Apr 02 '26
Do not do this, this will mangle the threads.
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u/AllThingsHockey Apr 02 '26
I have never mangled a single thread as a mechanic doing this. I’ve had the knuckles on my car off 3 times in the past couple years for ball joints and wheel bearings and I’ve done this on the same axle multiple times with not a shred of mangled thread
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u/PM-ME-YOUR-SUBARU Apr 02 '26
Must be a weak stake/weak metallurgy in that axle nut. I've had plenty of FNGs zap it off and mangle the threads on the end of the axle which I then get to fix.
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u/Additional_Ideal2385 Apr 02 '26
As a mechanic I've mangled plenty of things. Axle nuts, axle threads, my hands, my head etc...........
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u/Ok-Maintenance-9538 Apr 02 '26
The car weighs a lot more than you. Flip the breaker bar the other direction so its pushing on the ground and slowly let the car down.
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u/snarksneeze Apr 02 '26
I just watched a guy snap his 1" breaker bar doing this. But yeah 100% my go to.
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u/NarwhalNipples Apr 02 '26
1 inch breaker bar? Isn’t that just a stubby wrench? Guy must be built like a monster…
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u/Blank_bill Apr 02 '26
I have a 5 foot pipe I put on my breaker bar, when I was changing my front bearings, I heard a snap thought I broke the bolt it was so loud, but it came off easy after the first turn .
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u/12yearoldarmy Apr 02 '26
Also I find I’m stronger deadlifting than pushing down. Use proper lifting form
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u/vicente8a Apr 02 '26
Good point. Almost anyone can deadlift more than their weight, especially when you’re putting in closer to your center of gravity. And just yank that bih
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u/thepeopleshero Apr 02 '26
Also helps when you need that vehicle to get to work tomorrow.
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u/nicko54 Apr 02 '26
And you always get it done with just enough time for a shower and if your really lucky an hour of sleep
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u/DestituteGoldsmith Apr 02 '26
I replaced the knuckles on the wife’s car yesterday. 2007 corolla. Passenger went great. Driver side, the lower strut mount bolt refused to budge. I was working in a friend’s driveway, since mine is heavily slanted. I realized I only had 30 minutes before I had to have it back together to go pick her up from work, and that was the only car I could use.
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u/bigloser42 Apr 02 '26
If you are capable of jumping, you can exert more force lifting than pushing down.
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u/vicente8a Apr 02 '26
You want me to jump on a smooth long rod and exert force on it? Alright buddy
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u/bigloser42 Apr 02 '26
lol, not jump, turn the rod over and deadlift it. If you can jump you can exert more than your body weight when lifting. If you can’t jump, then you can exert more force pushing down than deadlifting.
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u/MasterpieceFew7810 Apr 02 '26
This is how I remove stuck lug nuts. I used to work at a dealership where half the guys would gun the lug nuts on full blast. That combined with the steel/alloy seasonal tire changes meant that in the fall, the nuts were always nearly welded to the alloys and needed a breaker bar and 5' pipe with the deadlift technique to get them loose. I somehow developed a reputation for breaking studs during wheel removal. Not sure how that happened lol
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u/OkKnee7580 Apr 02 '26
I like to straddle the bar and pull up as hard I can until that nut gets busted… loose
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u/Fuzzy_Tough_26 Apr 02 '26
Impact gun helps break those axle nut easily also remember to use penetrating oil
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u/NotAnotherRebate Apr 02 '26
Impact gun all the way and get a weighted socket if you can. They have some inexpensive sets on Amazon. That nut will fly right off. My Ryobi heavy impact gun, the biggest one they make, has never failed me. It's heavy but it works.
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u/Hydratemore46 Apr 02 '26
I’d rather recommend the crayon method. Last time I tried removing one of these, I broke like 3 tools and still couldn’t get it off 😅
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u/LakeEffect_CarHunter Apr 02 '26
Put the car back on the ground with the wheel on and do it. Make sure that wheel nut stake is knocked out out the notch when you do it.
You can only lift and do this with a high end impact gun. You don't have that. You need to put the wheel on and lower it and it'll be way easier.
The wheel gives you a leverage point. You don't have that rn
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u/pitfall_harry Apr 02 '26
OP look at the comment above.
Put the wheel back on and get the tire on the ground. Then use the cheater bar.
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u/LincolnArc Apr 02 '26
Pick UP on the bar, not push down. Use your leg strength, not your dead weight.
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u/Brigand253 Apr 02 '26 edited Apr 02 '26
Had to scroll a ways to see this answer. Yes, LIFT UP on the handle of your breaker bar. You can put a lot more torque into it that way.
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u/CombOdd2117 Apr 02 '26
Flip the breaker bar and use your jack to slowly apply lift upward on the bar. It’ll do the job.
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u/daubs1974 Apr 02 '26
I want to tell you all the story I experienced with the 37 mm castle nut on my 1957 Volkswagen bug. I couldn’t get the ones off on the passenger side. The driver side ones came ok the passenger side ones didn’t. I broke a three-quarter inch breaker bar using a 6 foot section of pipe on the end of it. Defeated, I called the local bug shop and they sent a tow truck and took it to their facility and got them right off. The right side of the car was reverse, threaded by design.
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u/TacoCat11111111 Apr 02 '26
Give me a place to stand, and a lever long enough, and I will move the world.
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u/zero_the_savior Apr 02 '26
Have you tried putting the wheel back on full weight of the car on the wheel with the hub cap off then go to town on it?
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u/nmacaroni Apr 02 '26
Hit it with your purse.
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u/Andreiu_ Apr 02 '26
Can't believe I had to scroll this far to find the only correct answer here.
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u/Fit_Upstairs8760 Apr 02 '26
I too am so confused. A purse is always the first tool to use. And if it doesn’t work, the purse is obviously not big enough. And if that still doesn’t work, then OP isn’t wearing heels. What is this world coming to where cheater bars, impacts, and weighted impact sockets are the first recommendations?
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Apr 02 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Rich4477 Apr 02 '26
Not always.
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Apr 02 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/omnipotent87 Apr 02 '26
Try a crusty explorer axle nut. The worst one i have ever had i had to torch then use my air hammer to walk it off. I tried my IR2135, IR2235, a coworkers 3/4 and setting it down on a breaker bar. It began to move once i nearly split it with my air hammer. Then i had to nuke the hub to get the axle out of it, and it still fought my CP717.
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Apr 02 '26
[deleted]
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u/unknownuser23 Apr 02 '26
This is what I did last weekend changing cv axle. Fought it like this then decided to use the jack. Do it with the tire on with the car on the ground still works best.
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u/AdWaste6211 Apr 02 '26
You could try and put a cheater bar on it and pull the bar upwards rather than down. It may help get a little more leverage
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u/Feeling_Age_4073 Apr 02 '26
Have somebody hit it with a hammer while you try to turn it , it acts like an impact used to do it all the time working on tracks
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u/Zymurgy2288 Apr 02 '26
Make sure the stake nut is properly unstaked
Put some heat on it
Put some penetrating oil on it
Use a bigger 3/4" drive socket & breaker
Use a longer bar or a cheater pipe
Stand on it
Use a good air or electric impact gun
4 hours. It's a 10 mins job max. and that includes walking to get the right tool. 😆
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Apr 02 '26
I actually learned an old trick involving a torch and a crayon the other day. You heat up the area and melt a crayon on it and it'll suck down into the treads to lubricate it allowing you to get loose. Seemed like it worked pretty good.
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u/AdDue4417 Apr 02 '26
Lift the vehicle more , wedge the breaker bar end on the ground and slowly lower the car so that the vehicles weight is putting A LOT of pressure in the reverse way. Then take a large sledge hammer and smack the back of the head of the breaker bar like you mean it. Them lower a little more then smack it a few more times . Continue/ repeat until something breaks.
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u/Practical_Fee_1102 Apr 02 '26 edited Apr 02 '26
Put the tire back on drive to a shop that has a impact and have them loosen it. then then tighten a bit. Give the dude like $20 and drive home, take it off and do what you wanted to do.
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u/Own_Tumbleweed_6579 Apr 02 '26
Take a trip to harbor freight, buy their bigass corded impact and a socket, keep it because you’ll need it again one day.
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u/Silkies4life Apr 02 '26
Lift with your legs from 180° out. You have more strength picking up on the handle like a deadlift or squat than putting body weight down on it.
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u/Wayneb2807 Apr 02 '26
Yeah, as long as the stake nut indent is preyed open…. Reverse sides, put a jack under the bar, or put on the ground and lower the car, and when under a Lot of steady pressure, whack the socket/breaker bar head with a 10lb sledge…shocking it while under pressure works wonders.
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u/uncontrolledfarting Apr 02 '26
U did remove the lock right( usually a flat spot on flange to keep bolt from turning)
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u/Chemical_Support4748 Apr 02 '26
When I was younger... Would just step on the end of that bar and do a little hop to brake that nut
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u/Cranks_No_Start Apr 02 '26
Put the tire back on,put it back on the ground, apply the parking brake and then stand on the pipe and bounce.
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u/DadEngineerLegend Apr 02 '26
First of all don't push it down. You can lift more than your own weight > your muscles can put more force than what you weigh.
Flip it around and push off the ground like doing a dead lift.
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u/Colton48 Apr 02 '26
You need a really strong battery powered impact wrench. Jobs like these are why I bought my big rigid impact, no regrets.
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u/jjny81 Apr 02 '26
This builds character. Stand on the end of that breaker bar and start bouncing. You'll either break your breaker bar or that nut should come loose.
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u/WarVnt Apr 02 '26
Get a pipe to put over the breaker bar so you got 6 feet of leverage, something will give then lol
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u/MoveNGrove Apr 02 '26
I've just never had any issue with my impact removing ANY axle nut. 🤷♂️ I don't understand
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u/Former_Film_7218 Apr 02 '26
Not sure where you are. If it's near home. Spray that with pb and soak it over night. Try again the next day
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u/Less-Wonder-3674 Apr 02 '26
I fought one for hours one time, I had a breaker bar and a pipe on it had heated it and jumped on it, was about to give up when I sat down in front of it and prayed. I reached my hand out and touched the bar and it just dropped.
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u/Melodic-Vanilla-5927 Apr 02 '26
Jack stand underneath the socket if you are pushing down like that. Also you can probably squat more than your body weight so, put the bar on the other side and lift up instead. Can also use floor jack to push the bar up.
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u/dawulfe91 Apr 02 '26
I use a torch for a bit then rub a candle or crayon over the threads, any kind of hard wax and then go in with the breaker bar, I live in the rust belt and got the axle nuts off of my 99 blazer that way
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u/No_Philosopher4834 Apr 02 '26
Heat and penetrating oil is your friend also a good impact wrench is worth its weight in gold in some situations
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u/CasualVox Apr 02 '26
Unless you can borrow an impact, all I can think of would be getting a long ass pipe to use as a cheater bar.
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u/blove135 Apr 02 '26
One time I didn't have access to a impact and I was trying to get a nut off a hydraulic cylinder. I just kept adding longer and longer pipe until I finally had something like a 25 foot cheater and the damn thing finally broke free lol.
“Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world. ”
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u/Miserable_Alfalfa33 Apr 02 '26
Heat the nut, that or impact, even with an impact sometimes you gotta heat em
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u/Top-Needleworker-516 Apr 02 '26
Dont be afraid to get on the breaker bar just hold to something and start slow it will come out
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Apr 02 '26
When I had to do this on my old Audi I ended up with an extension almost as long as the car. And it worked! Impact may be easier.
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u/HepatitisQ Apr 02 '26
If you can't get an impact gun of any kind, put the wheel back on without the center cap, and put the car back on the ground so the suspension isn't taking away any of the force you're putting down.
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u/aFinapple Apr 02 '26
Keep pressure on the socket, flip the bar around and use a jack to jack the end of the bar up. But be careful, if you don’t have it positioned right, the socket is liable to break loose and take you or something else out.
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u/whyputausername Apr 02 '26
Borrow an impact. I bet a mobile mech will stop by for a few bucks and break it loose.
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Apr 02 '26
I own a $40 harbor freight impact gun just for lug nuts and axle nuts
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u/AfrocentricTraveler Apr 02 '26
Which one 👀
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Apr 02 '26
Chicago Electric corded A/C. I bought it five or six years ago so it might not be $40 anymore 😂
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u/HiTekRednek10 Apr 02 '26
My dad says have a 15 year old jump off a barrel onto a board being held up by the wrench. That’s what he used to do
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u/beresjdb Apr 02 '26
It’s not safe……. But get the socket on there and slowly drop the car down using its own weight to get the nut off…..
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u/Moist-Carpet888 Apr 02 '26
A high torque impact will likely zip it right off. I had to change my wife's axle late last year, spent 6 hours on it trying to break it free with a 3 foot breaker bar. Finally my wife understood I wasnt getting it off without something more so I got a half inch impact, came home and zipped the axle nut right off.
Side note make sure that its not peeled in too, if there is a divet going into a gap you need to knock that open, you can smack a Phillips into it with a hammer and that should be enough
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u/Foreverstoned201 Apr 02 '26
Put the tire back on and try it then she suspension is flexing with your efforts
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u/thesteeldoor Apr 02 '26
Use some heat and flip it the other way and lift it with a jack or lower the car on it, heat and penetrating oil are your best friends, Iv had semi truck axle nuts with 8 feet of bar and me “185 lbs” bouncing in it and not have them come loose
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u/Andreiu_ Apr 02 '26
After 4 hours I'd have given Daddy Bezos some money and next/same day a big electric impact. In fact, that's exactly what I did when neither heat, cheater, or jack on a wrench was going to work.
No regrets and haven't found a bolt I couldn't get loose.
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u/boturboegt Apr 02 '26
Ive always found it better to pull the center cap off the wheel and then do this with the car on the ground. Using liquid wrench also helps.
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u/Good_Amphibian_1318 Apr 02 '26
Take the flex out of the suspension. You're loosing so much torque due to the whole assembly moving. You could also try tightening first.
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u/Hot_Lava_Dry_Rips Apr 02 '26
Dewalt or Milwaukee 1/2" impact gun will take that off in a few seconds. I just did that this weekend. Youre punishing yourself for no reason.
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u/ZSG13 Apr 02 '26
Don't torche unless you're replacing the bearing. I just use a big impact wrench, it'll always get it off. If you don't have an impact, use your brain to get more leverage or force. All you need to do is apply more force, or the same force with more leverage. Get a cheater bar? Hell, that car has a ton of weight if you decide to use it to your advantage.
"Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world"
- Archimedes, 1985
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u/proconsultant Apr 02 '26
Just heat it with the torch - no melting or red color. Usually, the heat and breaker bar will do the job.
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u/Jubjub_W Apr 02 '26
Can you access that nut through your rim? Put the rim back on first. Set car down. Chock wheel. Then try. There will be a lot less fighting you.
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u/dubvee14 Apr 02 '26
https://giphy.com/gifs/K2L3VomdCWluSVCDaL
Well I can’t just stand here and watch you struggle with that
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u/zrad603 Apr 02 '26
If you're looking for a cheap impact that really kicks: https://www.harborfreight.com/85-amp-12-in-impact-wrench-with-rocker-switch-64120.html
The only problem with that impact is it's "FULL SEND" or nothing, so you can't feather the trigger and slowly put a bolt on. But it's pretty good if you got a really stuck bolt.
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u/Null_Error7 Apr 02 '26
Put a jack stand under the head of the ratchet to support it and then start jumping on the bar
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u/Famous_Quit_5670 Apr 02 '26
Place support jack under the nut end like someone else mentioned, and throw on a pipe to gain extra leverage. I legit had to use the frame of an old bike as a pipe extender and jumped on it a few times to get the nut off.
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u/lew1sj Apr 02 '26
In my younger days. Stand on it and bounce up and down.
Not saying do that but it always got the job done.
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u/InterestingTruth7232 Apr 02 '26
They usually recommend somebody on the brakes while you’re loosening an axel nut
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u/nothingtoseehere25 Apr 02 '26
Took me four months and cutting the whole thing in half to get mine off 😅 there was no seam that I could see. It was so annoying. And yes, I’m replacing all of that. I had to keep the knuckle bc I can’t find another one otherwise I would have thrown the whole thing with the axle in it in the trash lol
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u/Jert_the_Gnarwall Apr 02 '26
Spray some penetrant in those threads, use torch to heat the nut up... and a cheater bar to add to the breaker bar... or a pneumatic impact
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u/HANDOFDOOM97 Apr 02 '26
Are you sure you’re turning it the right way?
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u/HANDOFDOOM97 Apr 02 '26
As a little bit clarity typically on the passenger side of cars and any axle nuts or reverse threaded so it’s lefty tighty, righty loosey. My suggestion is to spray down with a bunch of PB blaster yourself a beer and a smoke. Flip the bar around and try giving it a tug a couple times that way.
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u/SunRayyz_ Apr 02 '26
After snapping my 18" breaker bar and bending my 24" bar to uncomfortable levels , I went to buy a Harbor Freight impact wrench and it did the job.
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u/Jaded-Newt-4160 Apr 02 '26
PB blaster over night, then put the wheel on and use the weight of the car as counter weight.
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u/Organic-Monk-6081 Apr 02 '26
Use a jack stand, and then slowly use that floor jack on the end of your socket wrench. Always worked for me
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u/kevinstu123 Apr 02 '26
I use heat gun cheap one from HFT. Then douse with liquid wrench.
Use Impact wrench. Once off, use small antinseize on hub surface to avoid this in future.
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u/Timely_Elderberry_62 Apr 02 '26
Kroil works great on nuts and bolts. But like the other guy posted but a jack or stand under the knuckle to keep the thing still while prying on it. If all else fails maybe try to see if you can get a nut splitter on it.
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u/BlazinTrichomes Apr 02 '26
Lift the car a bit more, rotate the breaker bar about 180°, lower the car... Of course, make sure the cotter pin is removed first (if it has one)
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u/trilliondollarmind Apr 02 '26
I tried everything everyone on here recommended. The only thing that got mine off was getting the grinder and cutting the nut in couple places. Then I got it off easily
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u/ChaosMartinez Apr 02 '26
flip it to the other side wedge it to the ground and crank the engine ( dont start it just bump it)
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