I have a 96 cherokee classic and im replacing the wheel bearings/hub assembly. i got the axle nut off and the caliper off and the rotor off. i used a 13mm 12 point wrench on the three hub assembly bolts but i can seem to get them to budge. i sprayed the hell out of them with pb blaster and still nothing. any ideas? please help as mine are shot. thanks
CF Veteran
when i did mine the other day i had to beat on the handle of the ratchet with a hammer to break them loose but watch your eyes cause when the rust broke loose it come up and hit me in the face, once you get all three bolts off put the one closest to the front of the jeep back on a bit and put a socket on the end of it and then turn the stearing wheel and the socket will butt up against the knuckle and will pop the hub off, youll see what i mean when you get there. the hubs are usually rusted on really well!
CF Veteran
Screw the 3 hub bolts partially in and start at them with a BFH. PB blaster will help. They tend to rust weld in.
Junior Member
You need to heat the area around the bolts not the bolt with a torch and she'll come out like butter.
CF Veteran
Big azz breaker bar and a rubber mallet? I've had to warm em up with a propane torch before...
CF Veteran
do you have a 13mm 12pt 1/2 inch drive socket and cheater bar?
a wrench just might not have enough length to twist it loose.
i have removed some tough ones over the years. some had stripped the heads right off to the point i has to throw some weld on the head and use my jeep sockets. (easy out sockets).

but yeah, i do the socket/ratchet/steering wheel method all the time. works like a charm.
a wrench just might not have enough length to twist it loose.
i have removed some tough ones over the years. some had stripped the heads right off to the point i has to throw some weld on the head and use my jeep sockets. (easy out sockets).

but yeah, i do the socket/ratchet/steering wheel method all the time. works like a charm.
Member
24" breaker bar and a 12 pt socket for the bolts. 3 jaw gear puller works like a charm on the hub. no damage to the steering system
Newbie
I'm doing the same job and I got everything off but the axle nut. Thing is rusted to hell. Ive torched it, used freeze off, even tried cocacola for a few days to eat the rust. 17" 1/2" drive breaker bar with cheater, i even lowered the jack some to help hold the opposite tire still. I've done everything I can imagine short of an impact cuz I dont have one. How do I break lose this 36mm nut?
when i just did mine i was hangin off a 4 ft pipe on a breaker bar and it still wouldnt budge. sprayed some liquid wrench on it and used an impact and if came off like a breeze
Newbie
I already snapped one breaker bar and since I couldn't find anything to use as a cheater I went to the parking lot and temprorarily took down a parking sing lol... it was like a 10 ft cheater, but still nothing... I would love to try an impact, but I don't have access to one... This is my only means of transportation and one nut is keeping me from finishing... Maybe I'm missing something... is it cross threaded? Did I miss something I was supposed to remove? There either has to be some trick to is or the thing is rust-welded so bad It'll never come off...