Rear Half shaft nuts!!! ARGH!

[CoastGuardZ]

Yup, so here it is nearly June and I still haven't driven my Z yet this year!

I'm in the process of replacing the Struts, Springs and Bushings. Good news is that the Front is Finished... Yay!!! Not hard at all. Everything came apart easy and went back together easily. The Rear is another story. The transverse link pins were giving me a fit so I decided I would just do the struts and springs and hold off on the bushings so I could get at least a month of driving in before the snow starts falling again.

Now the problem is that I can't get the darn nuts off the halfshafts/axles/driveshafts. What gives? The ONLY tool that fits on them is an open end 14mm wrench. Not a socket, box end or even flare nut wrench will fit. I was able to break one lose by hooking another wrench over the first and with enough force... succesfully skined a knuckle too:hurt: . Broke another lose by squeezing a sawzall in there and cutting the lock washer... not easy.

I have been soaking them with PB Blaster and have even applied heat to no avail. Any other ideas folks? I really really really want to drive my Z again, especially with this brand spankin' new suspension.

[Zak's Z]

I tried to take mine off a couple of days ago..I used a propane torch, soaked it overnight with Releaseall, tried levering it with a hammer, and only managed to strip a corner of one nut. And I have sausage-knuckes too. I'll be watching thias thread for ideas too. Im afraid Im gonna strip a nut or lose a finger.

Zak

[dspillman]

Hi,

What I've done is to grind off outer edge of closed end of wrench so that it'll just squeeze in. Much better grip on that area of car that will bust a knuckle in a heart beat!!!

I have 2 ..one in the garage, the other in the trailer.

david

[webdawg1]

You talking about the half-shaft inboard nuts or the outboard nuts?? If it's the inboard nuts, I used about 2 or 3 long (read 6"-12" each) 3/4" extension bars and a big honking breaker bar so I was outside the wheelwell. That way you can get more room to operate and not skin up any knuckles...

webdawg1

[CoastGuardZ]

Zak- Nice to know I'm not alone in this one... look's like we might learn something.

David- This had crossed my mind, just couldn't bring myself to grind on my only 14mm wrench, but this sounds like my best option now- thanks.

webdawg- This is in regards to the outboard nuts (by the wheel).

I'll definately grind a wrench down because I've already destroyed a couple nuts through impatience.

Thanks fellas-

Nate

[ZSaint]

Go to a garage sale, swap meet, used tool place, or a pawn shop. You can find either a used 14mm or a 9/16 end wrench. ($.50 -$1.00) Grind the closed end down to where it fits. This will save your wrench from your tool set. It worked for me 20 years ago and I still have the modified wrench!

[CoastGuardZ]

Go to a garage sale, swap meet, used tool place, or a pawn shop. You can find either a used 14mm or a 9/16 end wrench. ($.50 -$1.00) Grind the closed end down to where it fits. This will save your wrench from your tool set. It worked for me 20 years ago and I still have the modified wrench!

First thing in the morning!:rambo:

[=Enigma=]

I used an old 14mm Snap-On combo wrench I had. The closed end side is very thin and I didn't have to do any grinding to get it to fit. This has come in handy a few times but obviously wouldn't be as cheap as the garage sale modified version. I suggest trying to find a hardended one that will still be strong enough after grinding away all that material. Of course, it will also be harder to grind.

[joefarnarkler]

I always use a standard issue Craftsman 14mm box-end. Havent had any problems, just rotate the shaft till there is enough room to reach one of the nuts, apply wrench and loosen. Ocassionally need to wack wrench with a hammer to start loosening process.

[CoastGuardZ]

I always use a standard issue Craftsman 14mm box-end. Havent had any problems, just rotate the shaft till there is enough room to reach one of the nuts, apply wrench and loosen. Ocassionally need to wack wrench with a hammer to start loosening process.

Ahh if it was that easy...

I too am using a 14mm Craftsman Combo wrench... The wrench will not fit at any point in the rotation. It sounds as though grinding is going to be my only option, outside of squeezing a sawzall in and cutting off the nuts which I would rather not do because I'm positive there has to be a better way.

Nate

[joefarnarkler]

Ahh if it was that easy...

I too am using a 14mm Craftsman Combo wrench... The wrench will not fit at any point in the rotation. It sounds as though grinding is going to be my only option, outside of squeezing a sawzall in and cutting off the nuts which I would rather not do because I'm positive there has to be a better way.

Nate

It is that easy on my car. Can't imagine why it isn't on your car.

Unless.....

As I mentioned, I use a box-end wrench (12mm X 14mm), not a combo. maybe that's the difference.

[CoastGuardZ]

Hey Joe. It must be that yours are the double box ends, 'cause my combo just can't get in there. Might also be the age of the wrenches too, they might have changed the casting or whatever just a bit.

Good news! Since there is a complete lack of pawn shops in this area, I swung by ol' Wal-Mart and picked up a set of Stanley metric wrenches. Again the boxend of the 14mm wouldn't fit but since these aren't my good (nor my only) set metric wrenches I took it to the grinder ( a la Zsaint). Didn't have to take much off, but I'll be damned not only did it fit but I was able to back the other two out with a couple of whacks from a rubber mallet in just seconds.

Thanks to all, Nate is happy! Next step... Transverse Link Pin removal!

Nate:cheeky: