2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission How do I get out the 4 x 12pt. bolts ...?

[TMitch]

holding the wheel bearing assembly in?

I finally decided to change the loose lower ball joint on the driver's side front wheel of my 1997 3500 4x4 and I methodically dissassembled everything until I got to the 4-12 pt. bolts that hold the wheel bearing. I have 4 new one to put in so I am not worried about destroying the old ones to get them out.

I put a 12 point socket on the first one and it's so rusty it just ripped any bite it was getting into rust dust. I tried the next one and it slipped too so I gave up while I was still batting . 500.

I need some hints on how to get them out... . please. There's not a lot of room in there to do much but I'm willing to try anything.

Thanks.

 

[**ICEMAN**]

i have these for situations like that



http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes&vertical=TOOL&pid=00952166000

 

[AMink]

Did you soak them good with penetrating oil? Maybe even over night.

 

[Joseph Donnelly]

Soak with Kroil or Mopar rust penetrant and use a high quality socket. I have used Craftsman and Snap-On sockets--a new one, please. Use 14 mm, it is a bit tighter fit than 9/16".

 

[JRichard]

Well, on my old truck, a chevy 2500 4x4 6. 5 turbo diesel truck, the bearing is held in the same way i beleive, with 4 15 mm bolts on the backside. I got 3 of the 4 out no problem, and proceeded to round it with a 15, hammer on a 9/16, break the socket and round it, then a 14, 13 and by then it was so destroyed that i really couldnt do anything with it anymore, so i had to break out old faithful -- the torch, i just very carefully slagged the head of the bolt out bit by bit (you'd better be decent with a torch to try it) and then pulled the hub/bearing out. Heat wasnt an issue since i was replacing the wheel bearings anyway.



Just my . 02



Jake

 

[TMitch]

I knew they were going to be tough coming out so I have been faithfully soaking them with penetrating oil for the past couple of weeks. I have 4 new bolts so I made sure I used the correct size socket 14mm but the heads of the bolts are just too rusty and the 14mm just rounded off the head. I don't have cutting torches at home so I'll have to take it into the shop at work if I decide to burn the bolts out but before I do that I'll have to order a new wheel bearing which will take 2 weeks to get here. I'm serious about it taking 2 weeks to get here, I'll have to phone the dealer, who will probably have to order it and then he will have to ship it to me way out here on the Queen Charlotte Islands. Couriers don't work well here and they charge a fortune so we usually ship by mail. The lower ball joint is really bad right now so I don't want to drive it. I think my next step will be to phone my friend who is a heavy duty mechanic about 1 hr north of here and see if he wants to tackle it. Whatever I decide to do it won't happen quickly because I really don't have a lot of the resources available that you guys who live in the city do.

My big worry before I started this was that I was going to wreck the axle seals and then have to pull the diff to change them but I didn't even get that far. I thought I was well prepared by getting new bolts ($8 each) just in case they got chewed up coming out. Thanks for the advice, I'll keep you posted.

 

[Tardog]

What about just heating them up and letting them cool down and/or putting a wrench on them right away, heat does wonders. When ever i had to send someting fast and not too big I always got the supplier to put on Harbour Air/ or one of the other seapplanes that fly out of Rupert for me. It is very reasonable and it gets there in an hour 1/2.

 

[TMitch]

Job complete

I took my truck up to my buddy's shop an hour north of here (he's got a lift) and we did everything yesterday. It took 5 hours and at times I'm glad he was there.

Everything went according to the book until he stripped the heads on the 2 bolts that I hadn't already stripped. He didn't want to burn the heads off the bolts with the torch as he was afraid it might boil the grease out of the wheel bearing and destroy the seals so we ground the heads off the bolts instead.

We left the axle nut on to pull the bearing assembly and axle out so we didn't seperate the bearing (been there/done that before) and it took a while but it finally came out. From there we changed both upper and lower ball joints and the U-joint. The lower ball joint was ready to fall apart, the top one was still good, the u-joint was ready to be replaced also. I also replaced the dust shield and spacer, both were really rusty. It was alot nicer working up in the air instead of on the floor. I wish our environment was not so corrosive, a stock Dodge muffler lasts about 2 years if you are lucky. My 4" S/S was shipped a week ago and should be here sometime this week. I think I'll head north to do the work on the lift, it will be alot easier.

Thanks to all who replied for the advice.

 

[Tardog]

And I hope you had a well deserved beer (or ?) afterwards. Ya the north coast can be incredibly corrosive. Sometimes when we ship tool boxes and materials north on barges we are always amazed how fast the brown stuff will grow and over take anything metallic, Would it be any easier if the 12 points were very tough from the get go, to just grind the heads off right away and deal with them after?

 

[TMitch]

I think I'll be generous with 'fluid film' on the bolt heads and see if I can keep them from deteriorating for the next time I have to go back in there. It's definitely easier taking them out with a socket than grinding the heads off and then getting it all apart and taking the remaining studs out with vise grips. My truck only has 66000 miles on it but our environment is very harsh on vehicles. My neighbour has a friend visiting from the interior of BC and he has a 97 also with 75000 miles on it and it looks like it has brand new running gear compared to mine. I guess if I rinsed it off with clean water everyday and then parked it in a heated garage I wouldn't have this problem but that's not feasible for me. The rear calipers on my wifes new CRV seized up in 6 months with 6000 miles on it. I pull the wheels every oil change on our vehicles now and clean the calipers. At least I got to go fishing on Saturday so the whole weekend wasn't wasted under the truck.

 

[Ron Bissett]

holding the wheel bearing assembly in?

I finally decided to change the loose lower ball joint on the driver's side front wheel of my 1997 3500 4x4 and I methodically dissassembled everything until I got to the 4-12 pt. bolts that hold the wheel bearing. I have 4 new one to put in so I am not worried about destroying the old ones to get them out.

I put a 12 point socket on the first one and it's so rusty it just ripped any bite it was getting into rust dust. I tried the next one and it slipped too so I gave up while I was still batting . 500.

I need some hints on how to get them out... . please. There's not a lot of room in there to do much but I'm willing to try anything.

Thanks.

Some things that work some times. Penetrating oil ,then use a drive type wrench ,the type you hit with a hammer and it turns the bolt , two hit the head a few times to loosen , Three turn the wrong way (tighten ) after using the penetrating oil use a cheater bar (three foot pipe) if you try to hard the head will ring off , if that happens no torch needed. Heat then splash cold water on the bolt . Impact wrench , Drill out some of the bolt after center punch then try to turn out , A easy out could be tried but if it brakes in he bolt a electric burn out machine would have to be used to get the easy out, out as they are very hard steel . Others may have more ideas. Ron Bissett in Metro Louisville KY

 

[TMitch]

Thanks Ron,

The bolt heads were just to rusty to allow the socket to get a bite. I was concerned about heat on the bolts and wrecking the wheel bearing seal and then having to replace a wheel bearing assembly so in the end the grinder was the easiest way to get it apart.

Your tip about tightening and loosening is a great one that I have used with excellent results particularly replacing rusty brake lines. Once that rust bond is broken you're home free.

Thanks to everyone for all the tips - TDR comes through again!