Nheywood90

Bought my xj about a year ago and I am changing out the wheel hubs and the bolts holding it in are basically rusted together. I have been soaking it in pb to try and help but still no movement anybody have any other ideas?????

HEAP of JEEP

Take a wire brush and get as much of that rust off as you can, then and acetone/atf 50/50 mix, and lots and lots and LOTS of heat. right on the hub surrounding the bolt. Here's a video of what I went through a couple of weeks ago. It took a LOT of heat to break them all free.

Nheywood90

Thank you I'm gonna try that now

DJeXeCute

Worst case scenario you grab new knuckles from a junkyard and pick up a few good looking bolts for the hub since there a strange dealer bolt.

drhoward1988

You need to be applying heat to the bolt. Will help free up some of the rust in the threads. Once you get them out make sure you replace them. Apply blue loctite to the thread and you won't have that problem in the future.

HEAP of JEEP

Everything I read... and I mean literally EVERYTHING... said to heat the HUB around the bolt, but not the actual bolt itself. Granted, all of that info came from the internet, but I heard they can't put it on the internet if it isn't true...

Seriously though, everything I read on the forums and the write-ups I could find, said to do the just the opposite, and only heat the hub. If they were wrong, and that's why it took so much effort for me, then I'm going to be a little upset.

Orlo

Heat the area surrounding the bolt to expand the object and allow some separation from the mating surfaces. Even with following all of the laws of thermodynamics, rust is a strong opponent and is not easily defeated.

HEAP of JEEP

Yup, that's what I read... Don't know the laws of thermodynamics... only know what I learn from others, and I had never read or heard anything about heating the bolt itself.

DJeXeCute

I would have done the easy route and grabbed knuckles from the jy for $10 and got a handfull of free 13mm 12point hub bolts

Crazy 8s

http://zeroth.cyborgs.us/laws-thermodynamics/




The Holy Grail of Modern Science is understanding whether the Universe is an open or closed system. Much like the cooling system in an XJ.

DFlintstone

Yes, 13mm 12 point, 1/2 inch drive socket. IIRC they thread into the hub, so if they break, you win! Make sure to smack that socket on there good.

Btw, there is a trick. (with the bolt out), you can fit a 3/8 extension in the hole, against the hub, other end on something there, then use the power steering to press the hub out. Had I had a helper to turn the wheel, I doubt if I'd have bent my extension doing that.

Nheywood90

Thanks for all the hep got it off and put the new one on. And now everything is just too quiet

Nheywood90

To pull the hub I put my jeep in 4 lo to keep it from spinning and then I used a front wheel drive hub removal tool that I rented from AutoZone.