Saving your rust welded axles

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A very high percentage of us AWD guys have the issue of a rusted shut rear axle -to-hub problem.

In acts of desperation we hammer to hell the axle, mushrooming the end, or messing up the threads beyond repair or other parts around.

Dsmtuners member:housegsx mentions the method in his tutorial here: http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/art...lace-rear-awd-hub-assembly-wheel-bearing.html

But I would like to show this step with a little more detail, so others can understand the effectiveness of this method in an alternate way if you will.

parts used in this tutorial:
autozone"OEM" brand: p/n: 27032/ axle puller (does not contain threaded bolt)
O'reilly's "evertough" brand p/n:67032 (contains threaded bolt)

I made this combo because the bracket in oreilly's does not fit the 114.3 studs without modification. the autozone one fit fine. (both have same thread pitch for bolt)

BIG NOTE: you do not want to attempt to just power tighten the black bolt to "push out" the axle, IT WILL ONLY BOW/BEND the bracket and the axle will win, because the cast bracket cannot handle such force, instead ONLY use the HAMMER method.

 

[born2tune]

now you want to hook up the mentioned components as showed in the picture,
NOTE: purposely leave about a half inch gap between the lugnuts and the brake rotor, this is the space the installed bracket will travel through as it pushes the axle in.

at this point you can hit that black bolt with all you got, you WONT mushroom the axle, you WONT jack your threads up, you only WILL effectively hammer in/loose your axle without damage as it only precisely engages on the very center of the axle shaft.

in the 2ND picture you may notice the bracket is flush against the rotor, this means it pushed in the axle and has reached its maximum travel, you will have to re-tighten that black bolt until it contacts the axle, backs off the rotor again and creates that gap allowing you to re-blow the bolt with your BFH.

Continue that method until you completely push out the axle, I kept the rust wet with PB-blast, this helped with lubrication to ease the axle out.

in this 3RD picture you can see the combination of the bracket from one set and the bolt from the other. and a different point of view for those who didn't quite get it.

If you have any questions feel free to PM me, I receive the PM's daily and respond promptly.

Oh, if all fails this is the part number for the HUB & Bearing assembly: MR403968

and more food for thought is that these rear hub assemblies remain the same in EVO's 4-9. so sourcing used rear hub assemblies from an evo is more feasible than buying another old rusted rear hub assy from another DSM.