need help removing wheel hub assembly

[morsini]

I got the drum off (rear wheel) with no problems. Now I got to remove the bolts on the assembly and they must be seized something nasty. I can't get any of them removed. At what point do I give up for fear of stripping them? Any advice? I tried that liquid wrench stuff to knock it loose but I just can't get it budged. Thanks!

2000 Corolla

[CJCride]

6 point socket 1/2" drive, long breaker bar.

[teppista881]

Also soak in PB Blaster for several hours. Not sure if that's what penetrant you used, but it helps to spray and leave it for a while.

[dimwittedmoose51]

I fought those things a month ago when I re-did our 99VE's suspension and brakes. Was lucky to only round off one of the 4 bolts on the driver's side and got all 4 off on the passenger side. The rounded off one came out when I used one of those Irwin/Craftsman stripped bolt head socket sets. As noted above, 6 points, 1/2" drive and lots of leverage. I cheated and used a cheapo 12v DC impact wrench(yeah, made in good ol' China) I bought at a huge flea market for $10 new. It really packs a whallop delivering a reported 240 ft./lbs. of torque, assuming it's somewhat cumbersome size will fit in your confined area. But, it's been well worth the $10 and ifit died tomorrow, I'd go find another one if I could. I imagine Harbor Freight has something like it. If you think the hub bolts are tough to get out in the salt zone, wait til you try to remove those 12" long rear suspension bolts that hold the trailing arms to the rear knuckle. My buddy's 600 ft. lb. air driven torque wrench couldn't budge it, and eventually a Sawzall and drill were necessary to clean that driver's side out. The Toyota dealer sells the new bolts for like $8 apiece, and you won't find one that long in any hardware store!!

As far as the rust penetrant, the PB Blaster is my favorite, but our Vanagon list just came up with a new homemade concoction they are swearing is the best ever. You mix 50/50 Acetone and auto trans. fluid. Haven't tried it myself yet, but that would likely be a potion you'd mix just what you needed as the Acetone would evaporate very quickly. I can see the theory behind it though. Sway bar links are a real trip too. Figure on grinding them off too.

Acetone, DiMethyl Sulfoxide(DMSO), and bleach all travel through your skin(forget the medical name for that), so it stands to reason that it could wick its way through rust also. If it carried the ATF with it, then that might just work. If you're not comfortable using high heat to loosen things rusty, then I'd forget about that part of it.

Found a set of 4 Bilstein touring grade struts for the Toyota on ebay for under $200 and they ride a tad stiff, but I can live with it.

Sorry for the long post

DM&FS

[morsini]

Two of my bolts were so rounded off that I had to get the Craftsman kit to remove it. Obviously will ruin the bolts. Can I just match up the bolt with one at the hardware store, or do I need a special bolt since this is getting torqued?

[dimwittedmoose51]

Morsini: It's been a while since I was under the Toyota, so forgive my feeble memory here. As far as replacing these bolts with something from the hardware store, I think you could get away with it, but you'd likely need the "hardened metric flange bolts" such as our local Ace Hardware store sells. If you have one that's relatively intact, you could take it there for length comparison, thread pitch, and IIRC, the Toyota bolt has a slightly smaller hex head on it than what I got at Ace; Likely to allow for accessing the bolts through the holes drilled in the hub. I used the Ace bolt and had no problems.

I didn't price the Toyota bolts from the dealer, but then not everyone is as lucky as me to have their Toyota dealer a mile from their house. I paid about $8 each for the hardened all thread that I made my long bolts out of for the rear knuckles, so using that price analogy, I would guess that the Toyota hub bolts would be comparably priced to what Ace gets for them. I just didn't want to wait for the special order time lag. Whatever you do, make sure you coat the hell out of the threads with Permatex anti-seize compund, available at any national chain parts peddler or your own local store. The next person that removes these bolts will thank you many times over!! Ace and NAPA has this stuff too, albeit higher priced. Some say that using the anti-seize on threads will skew the torque values(this was a wheel and tire guy that said this) by making the bolt tighter than what the torque wrench says it is, but you might want to google that topic and see what others say about it. I've never had a coated bolt/nut assembly vibrate loose while driving using this stuff, but others may have differing views. If you had trouble prying off your wheels from the hub-centric thingy on your rear drums, some anti seize there might be prudent as well after you wire wheel all the corrosion off. I don't recommend using the anti-seize on wheel bolts/nuts.

I don't remember if I told you I have a pair of the rear hubs new for sale since mine weren't in horrible condition. I'd sell them for about half of what I paid for them and I took them apart and put in higher quality synthetic grease, so they should last darned near forever. Pmail me if you are interested.

Good luck

DM&FS

[morsini]

this project will not die!!
I tried used the Craftsman bolt-out set. But I don't have enough room to fit a socket over it - no room on the right side.
Also tried using a small set of vice grips, but I can't get a good grip on the bolt-out. The only other thing I can think of is removing the brake pads and take an adjustable wrench to it.
Does anyone know how else to wrench the bolt-out?

[dimwittedmoose51]

Again, it's been a while since I did the job, but you may be stuck with grinding the bolt head off and then drilling out the 10mm bolt. If you do that, I'd start with a cobalt based drill bit(like the Ace Hwde. bits are) and step drill it first with maybe a 3/16" bit, then a 1/4", then 5/16", then finish CAREFULLY with a 3/8" bit. If access is tough through the hub holes, then you'll have to drill from the underneath side of the car and if you do that, I'd grind off as much of the exposed bolt that's extending inward. At that point, it might be easier to take the entire knuckle assembly off and do the drilling on a bench vise so you can keep the drilling straight to the original bore. I'd also have the proper pitch 10mm thread tap to clean things out when you get the 3/8" hole finished. Be sure to oil your drill bits often and be patient and drill slowly

You wouldn't believe the time I put in trying to get that long ass bolt out from the rear suspension to free the rear knuckle. Hopefully yours aren't that rusted in there. If you start spinning the rubber bushings with the wrench and cheater bars, then ya got troubles!! there's no such thing as too much PB Blaster!! Too much heat with propane or acetylene will melt the bushings and those rear trailing arms are expensive. There's a way to remove the whole rear suspension frame too, but hopefully that won't have to happen either.

Good luck

DM&FS

[dimwittedmoose51]

After re-reading your latest post, I believe that either Irwin or Craftsman make a bolt out unit with a hex head on the outside rather than a square drive for an extension and a socket. Still likely won't get it off that way, but adding tot the tool collection is what keeps me sane!!

DM&FS