stuck half shaft
 

I'm trying to pull the diff but one of the half shafts won't come out of the hub assembly. I've smacked it a few times with a hammer with a 2x4 in between to no avail. Any ideas how to break it loose without damaging it?

Hit it harder lol Have you already gotten the other out? If the other one is still sitting in the hub you might be squeezing everything too close together and you're reaching the minimum width. Or hit it harder. These things are fairly tough, just don't muck up your threads/bearings.

If the hub end with the splines is the problem, spray it liberally with PB Blaster and let it sit for awhile and smack it. Spray it again and wait, then smack it. Spray it again and wait, then smack it. You get the idea.

If you are talking about the flanged connection, try turning it 180 degrees, and tap from the other side. Continue turning it around tapping on each side.

I'll give that all a shot. Sounds like I need a bigger hammer.

thanks,

I would go bigger hammer right away as you might mushroom the end of the half shaft.

What I suggest is you put the stock nut on it and over tighten it a bit with an impact gun to break up the corrosion in the splines, THEN pull out the bigger hammer.

I had this problem. PB blaster worked really well. It literally fell out after a few minutes without even hitting it.

Reverse the nut and put it on just the end of the shaft so it doesn't become mushroomed when punding. The wood block absorbs some of the impact strength.

I've just pounding the thing like 10 times with a 5lb hammer and it's still locked. Just to make sure I'm not being stupid, there are only five nuts holding the half shaft in place, the big crimp nut locking it to the wheel hub, and the four that lock it to the diff, right?

Have you gotten it to move at all or is it stuck in the "sticking out of the hub" position? The reason I ask is because you can get the half-shaft to move out of the hub but to get the half-shaft completely OUT of the hub you need to disconnect the hub from the control arm so you can pull it outwards and that will allow you to remove the last few inches stuck in the hub...

If it is stuck completely in the hub fully extended, inset the locknut so it is flush with the end of the half-shaft spline and whack it hard with a hammer... Next trick is use a propane torch, torch it for about 10minutes and whack... Should come out...

It's stuck in the 'sticking out of the hub' position. It hasn't moved at all.

I didn't have to disconnect the hub from the control arm to get the passenger side out. I did have to disconnect the strut from the hub unit though.

I sprayed it with some PB blaster and it's been sitting for an hour or so. I'm about to go out and get mean with it. Wish me luck.

EDIT: Well, that didn't work. Now to see if I can find a torch...

I wouldn't torch it... it'll probably mess up the wheel bearings.

is the other side already disconnected from the diff and hanging down?

Yes it's disconnected and hanging.

I don't know what else to do though besides torch it. I have been hesitant to do that because I'll probably at least cook the bearing grease requiring a repack, but I have HAMMERED on that thing to the point of beginning to damage the hub, tried the impact wrench and bp blaster. The only other idea that I have is to get a gear puller and see if that will force it out.

Any other suggestions are welcome.

I'd try a gear puller before a torch. I think I had to do this with one side on mine.

Is it still attached to the diff?

No, it's not attached to the diff. Will this matter somehow?

And I'm correct that the only two places where it's bolted are at the wheel hub and diff? There's no hidden snapring or something holding me up? It really feels like I missed a bolt or something, but I can't see it and the other side came out easy.

You're correct. There is the 4 bolts holding it to the diff, and the one big bolt holding it to the hub.

Before you destroy it, you could remove the whole hub with the half shaft stuck in it, and take it to a machine shop and see if they can press it out for you. Or better yet set it up so gravity will help you get the pb way down inside the splines.

I know it sucks, I had a caliper bolt break off and it turned an hour break job into a 4 day battle. :)

If it was still on the diff then you wouldn't go anywhere.

Lunchbox has some good advice there. I say take the whole thing out, then use PB + gravity, then try a gear puller. Use the PB from both sides.

I would NOT go bigger hammer right away as you might mushroom the end of the half shaft.

What I suggest is you put the stock nut on it and over tighten it a bit with an impact gun to break up the corrosion in the splines, It's the corrosion that's holding (read weld) it in there and over tightening the nut is a leveraged way to break it up. THEN pull out the bigger hammer and a few raps should for sure knock it loose.

Dont know if you have a decent air hammer and round bit but i work at trans shop so i get stubborn axles on a regular basis and this normally does the trick.

I've done that several times already with no luck. The half shaft is now toast because I've pounded the crap out of it with a 5lb hammer. I went to Walmart today and got some dry ice and put chunks of it on there until the hub was covered in frost with a gear puller tightened to the breaking point hoping that the cold would shrink-break the weld, but she no worky.

I'm going to try and pull the whole hub assembly with the half shaft off, assuming that it'll fit through the subframe hole and try the gravity assist PB method. If that doesn't work, I'll have to take it in somewhere and have the shaft pressed out, or scrap the whole thing and get a new hub assembly sans shaft.

This has really turned into a major PITA. :(

I don't have an air hammer, unfortunately. Maybe harbor freight has an electric one.

I've had my share of problems with getting the axles out. I would suggest a puller.



Did this once, fucked my nut up.

I also hammered the shit out of one until it came, had a hell of a mushroom but it came out! This was a turbo axle too, so that probably wasn't the best idea...

You mean a gear puller? I did try that when I was doing the dry ice attempt.

S4/S5 TII/NA? I have a pair of low mileage S5 NA shafts if you need a replacement or two.

Is it mushroomed out yet? Post a pic.

S5 NA but I've got the TII full swap on order from Japan2LA. Thanks for the offer though.


Yeah, way mushroomed. Before I went after it last night, it wouldn't fit the nut, now it definitely won't. I was kinda hoping to sell it. :(