One side is done, but the other not. I used braker bar and over an hour sprayed generously the nut with WD-40. Tried to get leverage by putting long pipe over it, but even then braker bar bends so bed I am afraid to snap it or brake it and hurt myself or scratch the car. I also tried hitting it with a hammer while keeping at the pressure. Nothing I could think of worked.

Car is not drivable since my clutch is shot, so can't take it to the shop. Is there any other way to get that sucker off before spending huge money on air tools, which I really can't afford, but probably will have to.

Please help me out here!!

Thanks!

 

OK, I tried another thing, heated it up with propane, but unfortunately still could not get it off.

Are you guys really out of options... come on....

 

wow, really the only way i've taken off axle nuts is with an impact gun. it would be really hard with hand tools, even a very large breaker bar. never heard of heating something up with propane before. try another rust penetrant like PB Blaster. It seems to work better than WD-40. If you can, borrow someones small air compressor and an impact. what brand of breaker bar are you using? if it starts to bend, i usually don't worry about it...just needs more power to snap that sucker loose. Well, good luck to you, hope it works out.

 

Thanks for reply man! Braker Bar - it is OEM brand from Autozone.
Most likely I will go tomorrow after work to Home Depot. I saw on their website that they have some affordable stuff: small compressor ~ $100 and impact wrench ~$50. Still trying to keep my sanity, my Max is sitting dead third week already and it is very hard to manage without the car.
However, if someone has still some ideas, please post them!!!

 

I am surprised you got one axle nut off. I actually tried to loosen the axle nut with a very long 1/2" breaker bar and like you, I thought I was close to snapping the end! The impact wrench hit that nut like it was nothing. Although that $150 may seem like a lot of money, it is a worthwhile investment, especially if you do any suspension work at all. Airtools is definitely my favorite part of my tool chest because they have made doing things with the car sooooo much easier--even just rotating the tires. Alternatively, you may try a rental place but a day's rental is a significant part of an into compressor/wrench price.

If you do buy a compressor, get the biggest one you can afford. $50 will buy you a decent impact wrench but don't go any cheaper than that.

 

this always works for me.
-wrap the joint of the bar with a rag and some tape in case it brakes the pieces won't fly away.
-set the breaker bar on the nut, so it doesn't require anyone to hold it.
- Now lets hope your legs have enough power to push the bar down. But don't just get on top of the bar. You need to give it a good hit with your foot like if you are about to smash the face of your worst enemy
Good luck!

 

craftsman breaker bar. you said the one you have was starting to flex, its no good.
set it so that it wont fall off the nut and stand on the end of it. bounce once or twice it will come off. even though it is an axle nut it shouldnt be that tight. lastly make sure you are turning it counterclockwise.

i replied to the wrong post, this was meant for VLAD. his breaker bar was flexing. the OEM brand from autozone.

 

I used that same breaker bar when I couldn't find my father's 3/4" bar. I found a piece of pipe that fit over the handle and slid it all the way over the length of the bar. It didn't bend and the nut came loose.

Are you dumping the axle? If so, you can go get a cold chisel and cut the thing off, buy a new nut (if the axle doesn't come with one) and you'e done!

 

Thank you guys. Where you say about giving a push with my feat while I stand on top, that is how I managed to brake it loose on the driver side, but on passenger side that did not work and I did try hard.
Axle is new (3 months old) so can't cut. When I was doign axles however I took it to the shop before to brake nuts loose with air gun... I will keep you posted how it went when I get back from work today..

p.s. you guys participate practically in my every post about this broken clutch saga... I should get beer for all of you in Hooters

 

if you've sprayed it down and heated it up and still can't get it off, I've come to one conclusion, YOU need to GET YOUR WEIGHT UP!!!...hit the GYM

Seriously...just give it some elbow grease (more) and you should be good

 

That nut broke my last breaker bar. I put a pipe on the end and jumped on it. SNAP Fortunatly the nut loosened at this point.

My air tools wouldn't break my passenger side loose.

 

Craftsman breaker bar: I will have to check that out. The 1/2" Harbor Freight that I have LOOKS solid but definitely started to flex when taxed.

 

A combination /choice of these:
1- "cheater" pipe, slid over the breaker pipe to give more leverage
2- genuine penetrating oil as PB Blaster, Forget WD40, it's only a solvent.
3- use a jack under the breaker bar: instant 2000 lb pressure if not more.

 

I’ve been in the same predicament as you fairly recently. My tough bolt was on the drivers side. Here is what I did.

This idea is similar to someone elses jack lift suggestion. If you have a hydraulic jack, instead of using it to push on the bar, try this.

- 1st jack your car up from the front with a hyrdolic jack.

- 2nd place the breaker bar so that the end is pointing to rear of the car. To help with perspective, you should have to pull the bar up to get counter clockwise torque.

-rotate your rotors, and stick a screw driver In there so that you have to pull up on the bar a good bit before your able place on your jack stand. This helps to get a good bit of tension before the next step.

-get in front of your car and release the air pressure to lower your car. Try it slowly 1st. As the car drops, tension should increase on the breaker bar. A little bending is ok.

-If this doesn’t work the first time, jack the car back up again and release the pressure a little quicker this time to get some torque going. Play with the height of the stand too for more tension.


2 or three times of this, with some good tension might work for you. The trick is to use the weight of the car to help get that stubborn bolt off. The vantage point from the front of the car is also good if the bar or socket gives, your less likely to be hit by something.


Good luck! Hope this helps

Capitone

 

That is a great idea with lifting the car! But kinda late, I broke the bar.
I went to home depot very enthusiastic about treating myself to some air tools, but it turned out that in order to operate impact wrench I would need minimum 26 gallon tank, which was about $360 and way out of my budget. Plus I cannot imagine how I would fit it in my moms Civic, that I drive sometimes around. So I got 5 1/2 feet long pipe, but after few tries, some wd40 and 10 minutes heating up with propane it did not take the pressure and snapped.

I guess I will go to Autozone, get some PB blaster and new bar, however I doubt I will succeed.... Now I am really in dead end....

 

Ummmmm, I am so furious, PB Blaster did not work... and I broke second braker bar....

 

Couldn't you just rent the air tools you need from Home Depot for a day?

They have a rental section in all their stores for power tools and stuff.

 

I asked them, they did not. They said some company across them probably did but they were closed by that time. I thought about this, but actually my uncle is coming tomorrow morning with tougher braker bars (for trucks) and longer pipes . If all goes well, I will start assambling car tomorrow ...

 

Unbelievable!!! We pulled the job. I know some guys will go like what a big deal changing the clutch but for me last 3 weeks were so nervous and anxious that I am simply happy!

The problem was the TO bearing. One of the ears broke or got cut off and eventually got mamed there.

We managed to take transmission off without removing passenger side axle, after we broke third braker bar...

THANK YOU ALL FOR SUPPORT! Now another 2 days to put it together and I am back on the road!

 

Well Congrats man. I totally understand. Took me 2 days to change my Dam Axles because of that one stubborn passenger bolt. I was stressed that WHOLE weekend. But I kept at it and figured out a way to get it done. DIY stuff is funny this way. Glad you accomplished what you set out to do

 

I was there too bro. Dropping the tranny was the biggest project I had tackled at the time and it was such a relief to have things go smoothly. Car is driving great again and life is good!