riftshighway

Nothing is easy with this XJ. The rust and miles make a simple task (like replacing a steering stabilizer) a painful process, so that should give this question some context.

Most everything in the front passenger wheel area *should* be replaced, including the ball joints, U Joint and wheel hub. The project for this weekend was replacing the U Joint, but I was unable to get past the 13mm 12 point bolts, which looked more like melted chocolate than bolts, on account of the rust. 12 point bolts in the hub? REALLY?

The problem with these bolts is leverage; I have a feeling putting decent leverage on them will simply cause them to break...then I'm ****ed until I can drill them out. My impact wrench took the 36mm hub nut off with ease, but I can't fit any air tools back there.

Anyone have any tips for these three bolts? An air gun back there would make this a cinch...

skrewy

Just did both of my hubs on Friday I had plenty of leverage to get a breaker bar and a pipe on the end and break them free pub blaster and heat if needed will do it for sure

rtralabama

only way i was able to get em off after busting sockets and lots a pb blaster was to take a torch to em. it made em pop right out after that and couldve saved me hours tryna to get that thing to budge.

Cherokee89

You can do like I have done a few times with rusted 12 point bolt on hubs. Take an old socket and tack it on the bolt with a mig welder, then it it is easy to remove, cut the tack an tack it on the next bolt. Don´t get to overboard with the welder only 2 or 3 small tacks is needed.
Before I did this I was fighting those 12 point bolts for hours to get them off, now it takes only a few minutes on each. Of course you need to replace the bolts with new, I get mine at the lokal CAT service.

caronaxtr

I picked up a D30HP off craigslist that was rusted to no end, I soaked those bolts with BP blaster for a week or so and only needed a little heat to break them free. Gotta do that, once you start rounding those heads you're screwed.

I replaced with brandy new bolts off of rock auto. Only a couple bucke each & never seize. That'll make it easier next time for me or the next guy.

Good luck

jeepkid03

Just did the passenger hub and axle joint on a buddy's XJ this weekend. Being from New England I hear ya on the rust.

I sprayed some Kroil on the bolts the night before, then again before breaking them loose. Used a pipe and they came right out. The clips on the axle u-joint were a different story though. Those were pretty much rust welded to the inside of the shaft.

riftshighway

Here's what I did.

In preparation, I picked up a 1/2 inch drive 13mm 12 point socket at Sears for $5. My handy man set only has 13mm 12 point sockets in 3/8.

First, if you're working on an old, rusty Cherokee without an impact hammer, you're doing it the hard way. I've used every method to try to remove old, rusty bolts, but nothing so far has been able to withstand my impact hammer (rated to ~1,300 foot pounds of power) once I get it locked on. My buddy has an electric impact that works well, but the power difference between electric and air is night and day.

The issue with the bearing/hub/knuckle area (that I had last time) is that it's hard to get an impact wrench on the 13mm bolts due to restricted space. Enter the universal joint impact socket. I realize those sockets might be old news to some of you, but I spend most of my time at a boring job behind a desk, so I've gotta learn these things the hard way.

So, with the wheel, caliper and rotor off, I turned the steering wheel to expose two of the 13mm bolts, attached the universal joint to my impact gun and fired away--the bolts came out like they were installed yesterday.

Then I rotated the steering wheel in the opposite direction, exposing the remaining bolt. Again, came out without an issue.

After undoing the cotter pin and removing the spring-washer, I slapped a 36mm socket on the impact and removed the axle nut. Super easy.

I used the turning-the-steering-wheel trick to walk our the hub. I used blocks of wood, and it took about 20 minutes (because I was working on my own). It would be much easier if you have a helper, but it's possible to walk back and for to do it yourself. For perspective, I'm doubtful the hub assembly has ever been removed (~196,000 miles) and it popped out easily. Mind you, I didn't CRANK the wheel at any point. I have a feeling if you're careless, you might be able to damage the hub, but if you take your time I don't think there was any undue, harmful exertion on it at any point. just wait for a 'pop' and you can do the rest by hand.

My U-Joint press was essential for removing the old U joint...and even WITH it, it took me several hours to press out the old one and install the new one. If you can do it with a pneumatic press, that would be the way to go. Mine just looks like a big clamp. The self-help videos on U Joints show the right steps, but they don't show the press slipping, or attacking at the wrong angle, or the fat desk-worker just not being able to torque any harder. This was probably the most difficult part of the whole process. When I pressed out the old U Joints, the bottom portion literally exploded as I cranked down with my whole body weight. Wear eye protection during this part (or any part you're putting metal bits under a lot of pressure).

In all, it took about 5 hours. Knowing what I know now, I think I could halve that, but there are elements of this procedure that require hammers, brute force, and a little bit (that's a lie. A lot) of swearing.