Spent the entire day trying to change my wheel bearing. 2001 Ram 4x4 passengers side. I couldn't get the nut off with just a 1/2 breaker bar so I went out and got 6 feet of iron pipe to use as a cheater bar. I broke the breaker bar. So then I got a 3/4 inch breaker bar. I sprayed the sh*t out of it with penetrating oil, still no go. I heated it with a torch for a good 10 minutes until it was turning red. With the 3/4 bar and 6 feet of cheater bar I still can't get this nut to budge. I was actually bending the iron cheater bar. What is the next step? Please tell me I don't have to cut off the axle and get a new one. Thanks.

~Eric

 

Heat and a big breaker are the answer, I just did mine 2 days ago, it took a lot of effort even with a 3 ft pipe attached to my 3/4 in drive breaker bar. It eventually gave though. I found steady pressure more useful than trying to jar it loose.

Keep using heat and penetrating oil. You may want to try letting it soak overnight. How are you holding the shaft from spinning? 4wd? I found that using a bar between the lugs then blocked by the ground helped hold it solidly. I was replacing the hubs at the same time so i wasnt worried about hurting the studs though.

 

Dumb question, as I have not worked on 4x4's, but are you certain you aren't tightening the nut? As in, are the threads reversed?

 

There's a couple different ways to hold the axle from turning. One is to put the truck in 4wd. The way I did it was to put a streel pry bar thru the yoke of the axle between the axle and the u-joint. Turn the axle until the pry bar hits. And a big impact wrench always helps.

 

soak it with pb blaster overnight. that helps some.
you're still probably going to need an impact wrench. if you don't have one, take your socket and drive to a tire shop. have them break it loose, then oil the axle and put it back on tight, but not too tight. about 100#. then drive home and take it off.

 

I did mine about a year ago when i first got my truck. I spent a whole day trying to get it off with a 5 foot cheater bar, a propane torch and lots of pb blaster...and a huge impact.... I drove it to a neighbors and he heated with and oxy/acetyl torch got it beat red, and me him, and my dad broke it loose with a 6 foot cheater on the breaker bar.... the bad news was the axle threads were so stripped out i had to buy a new one. that was drivers side, now my ball joints are going on the passenger side, im waiting till i can afford a new outer stub if needed. hope this helps sorry for the length

 

Just a suggestion as i used this method to loosen a lug nut once that wouldn't move, but, what about putting a pry bar on it that catchs the ground and actually engage 4wd and move the vehicle under its own power the way it needs to turn. Worked Perfectly on the lug nut removal as I could jump up and down on the 4-way and it wouldn't break loose. My gf even got on it with me! Just a suggestion.

 

Good suggestion VW but from experience I know for a fact that they are standard threads and not left handed. So therefore that is not an issue.

The trick that I did when I had to pull my front end apart (u-joints). I soaked the **** out of the hub nuts with PB Blaster for a couple of days and then took it up to the shop I work at and worked at it there. I left the tire on so that it wouldn't spin and I went to it with a 1/2 inch impact. At our shop we have constant 100 psi air pressure thanks to two good sized air compressors. I just put the impact on it and let it work for about 5 minutes and eventually it spun right off.

Since then I have had the axles out again to do the ball joints and they broke right loose with a breaker bar. I would suggest putting some anti-seize on the threads so you don't have to mess with it so much if you need to take them off again. Just make sure to torque it down properly and put the cotter pin in!

 

Thanks guys, I guess I will give it another go. I'll soak it in PB blaster and I'm off from work again on Wednesday so I'll have a crack at it then.

I just bought the truck maybe a month ago and the dealer gave me a new hub and told me he didn't have a chance to have it put on. But the first time I went at it, there was no cotter pin installed at the end of the axle so I'm thinking he tried to put it on but wasn't successful. From what I can tell then entire truck is stock with 153k+ miles on it so I didn't expect it to be easy.

 

Good luck trying to bust a nut. Err, that didn't sound right....