I think removing the heat shields is a great idea, but the one thing I would recommend is to remove them PRIOR to removing the plugs, as there can be a fair amount of dirt/debris inside of them which can easily fall into the spark plug hole if pounding and prying went on with the plugs removed.

Last time I did a tune up I had to clean that area out with a screw driver and shop vac before I could even get a socket on the plug . Thats when I decided that they were a bad idea... all they do is hold debris in there.

 

^ yes, that would be much better. but he's to the point of using a BFH or air chisel, and the tubes are going to end up totally mangled. it might be a better idea to go ahead and remove the spark plug before it gets mangled too.

it would be a real good idea to blow them out with air, including some gouging with a screwdriver, followed by more blowing. followed by using great care not to drop pieces of metal down the cylinder....

 

+1 on the big impact gun... i could not get mine off with a 3/4 inch breaker bar and a pipe, then i used a good 3/4 inch impact gun and it came right off no problems.

 

I have done way to many of those hubs and ujoints...No one wants to hear it but the tool i have used the most is the torch. Cut the nuts off and get new ones..Thats what i have had to do when my 1/2in mack inpact could not get the job done.

 

Anyone around the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area with an urge to help another dodge nut? I just dont have a big enough impact, and im sick of going to Sears to replace breaker bars and extensions! I run a garage in Prescott, Wi., and i cant talk the owner into buying a 1" impact, so im goin nutz. Sure would be nice to get some help with this s**t!

 

A good 1/2 " impact will get it done. You have to soak the nut with Cyclo penetrating oil for instance and set the impact to forward and reverse repeating this process and it will come come loose.

 

All ive got is a Snap On 1/2 in impact. It actually moved a lil bit, but wont move anymore either way. Im thinking the threads in there are done for now...... Gonna stop by a couple of shops and see if someones got a bigger impact, like a 1" or somethin, not much else i can do till then! Id hate to have to cut them buggers off, then the threads, if they arent shot already, probably will be after that. I cant wait till its over..... Then i will never have to mess with em again. Got some good greasables to go in once its done.
Ill be damned if i dont pump those through at least once a month!

 

we're still talking about the big axle nut right. if it will move a tad, then try rocking the nut back and forth on/off/on/off. that should do it. if not, i'd heat the nut up with a torch and keep trying, and if that didn't work i'd take a cutting torch to the nut and just cut it. sacrifice the nut, but try to save the shaft.

 

That's what I'm saying. If it moved at first and now doesn't, the problem lies with the compressor not the gun. As some of you know I have a major rust issue with the components on my truck. A couple weeks ago one of the rear leaf spring shackles rusted in half. I kept soaking it with cyclo and reversing and forwarding the impact, about 10 minutes of doing this process the nut came loose. And before I even start soaking any bolts or nuts, I use my 1/4 angle grinder with a wire wheel to clean the exposed threads of the bolt. (or axle shaft in this case).