Stuck Axle Nut - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

kevinwscott · 11-21-2009, 12:14 PM

On several other 1990 Camrys I have removed the axle nut without any problems. However, right now I have one that will not come off. In fact I have busted two 1/2" breaker bars. Any suggestions. It would not bother me to cut the nut off. Just not sure how to go about that.

Frustrated

fredk · 11-21-2009, 12:39 PM

A red Ingersol impact gun will take it right off

TVISMR2 · 11-21-2009, 10:16 PM

More WD40/PB Blaster & a longer better quality breaker bar. Shouldn't be too hard to get off. Sure you're going the right way?

EDIT: Wish I had a quality impact gun. My Craftsman gun sucks. Can't even break off gorilla'd on lug nuts sometimes.

camrygt4 · 11-22-2009, 01:08 AM

all of the above or a blowtorch, if you heat the nut up it will expand an come off.

Mike Gerber · 11-22-2009, 04:00 AM

"More WD40/PB Blaster & a longer better quality breaker bar."

Use PB Blaster, not WD-40. WD-40 is great for many applications, but is not a good penetrating oil.

Mike

TVISMR2 · 11-22-2009, 10:40 AM

Well most people have WD40 laying around but not PB. In that case WD would be better than nothing.

kevinwscott · 11-23-2009, 09:47 AM

I appreciate the suggestions from everybody. I forgot to mention that I had already put a lot of Liquid Wrench on it. In fact the first thing I do as soon as the axle nuts are exposed is to spray them down with Liquid Wrench even if they don't need it.

The two breaker bars that I busted both had lifetime warranties.

All things considered (cost) I am going to try the following.

Heat the nut up a lot with a torch and then give it another try while it is hot. I will post how I make out with this.

Kevin

kevinwscott · 11-30-2009, 12:50 PM

Well, I finally got it off. Heating up the nut was taking to long. All I had to work with was a small propane torch.
The final solution was to take a cold chisel and a 4lb short handled sledge hammer to it. I went in on it at an angle and started pounding as if I was trying to get it off. After about 10 minutes I put my under powered impact wrench on it and it came right off.

Doctor J · 11-30-2009, 01:33 PM

I can imagine what happened to the wheel bearing during that time
One time I had to drill two holes 180 degrees apart into the face of the nut; this helped me to split the nut into 2 pieces

elomaea · 01-29-2010, 10:00 PM

I used Chesterton 723 Sprasolvo Penetrating Oil (for Industrial use only) taken from my job and sprayed
it a few times over 2 days and used a buffing wire wheel to remove surface rust on the threaded axle shaft.
Breaker bar and my full weight (275lbs) downward push with my foot while holding the 30mm socket straight 'popped' it free. My problem is do you need to torque these back on with a torque wrench or just 'nice and tight'? Since its a loaded wheel bearing perhaps a torque value is required. Any suggestions?

Mike Gerber · 01-30-2010, 02:52 PM

"My problem is do you need to torque these back on with a torque wrench or just 'nice and tight'? Since its a loaded wheel bearing perhaps a torque value is required. Any suggestions?"

Yes, there should be a torque spec for that nut, and it will be pretty high. If I had too take a guess I would say about 220 ft lbs, but that's just a SWAG. Most techs would just hunker down on it with their impact and feel that's tight enough. What I suggest you do is go over to the top of the Camry forum at AutomotiveForums.com and download the generation 2 Toyota factory service manual stickied at the top of that forum. Refer to the suspension and axle section for the exact torque spec.

Mike

elomaea · 01-30-2010, 08:38 PM

Thanks for the info. I will look it up at www.camrystuff.com This web site has all factory manuals
for anyone to read. Nice website, I recommend it.