mx5cartalk.com

G'day wise ones,

Can someone please tell me which direction you are suppose to rotate the nut in order to get it off the rear axle nut?

counter clock wise

they are torqued to about 170pounds/ft so they are floweringly tight, the big forum advises using 3/4" sockets and a loooooooooooong breaker bar or, more preferably, an air wrench.

A job for the local diff guy. Whist it is apart, bang on a few new boots too.

yea mine was tigheter than a nuns pussy.

I had a 1m extension braker bar with an 85Kg Craig jumping on the end of it to get it to open. The other side was just as tight. The car ended up being lifted off its jack stands with the lift.
I used 1/2 inch socket set but I have heard them braking when attemting to open theses bolts up


another solution would be to go to a tyre place get them to open it with a rattle gun. Then drive it home semi tight......but slowly.

I forgot to mention... the halfshaft and hub is off the car already... so its going to be even harder to remove the nut.. I've tried a 1/2" drive on a rattle gun with no luck.. this nut is TIGHT!
I've got no way of securing the shaft to prevent it from rotating with I break the nut with a bar..

hand brake.

What do you mean by hand brake Stan?

Apply the handbrake. If it slips.....may need a bit more ajustment. If it still slips.......I have no solution then.

right.... just re read your post......the halfshaft is off the car......the nut is on the shaft but in no way attached to the car? handbracke isn't going to help you. no matter how well adjusted.

my appolgies

if i'm imagening this correctly......you may need to cut it off with an angle grinder

One of the secrets to removing tight fasteners is heat- ie the nut will expand. From what I have gathered home rattle guns may not have enough torque/ grunt- businesses have big guns and lots of air. You could hold the half shaft in a vice with soft jaws or simply take it to a mechanics shop.

so how did you go boost.....did you get it off?

Even with a 4ft cheater bar on the breaker bar, the hand brake couldn't hold it.

Get someone to press on the foot brake, to apply even more pressure, this got the nut off for me.

But I think in this case I don't thing the halfshaft was attached to the car

But if you can get the half shaft out, it means the nut is already off right?

Unless one side (diff side) is off only.

Not neccecaryly.....picked it up 2nd hand & the bolt has kind of rusted to it.

If the hub is still on the halfshaft get a bar (pinch bar, breaker bar piece of pipe) between 2 of the wheel nuts/studs, then use the socket and breaker bar with the nut as a pivot.
Imagine a pair of scissors, with the nut as the fulcrum point.
If you can get them close enough together (like cable tie the 2 bars together) and stand it vertically...
Get a big boy (the chunkier the better) to jump on it.
It works with my 100kg's worth of... knowledge