Help! Rear Hub Trouble!

[corpsman]

okay, so I I've been trying to pull the rear passenger side hub on my cj3a. I sprayed kroil on the axle stud and the puller bolt.  after installing the puller and tightening down the lug studs, I proceeded to tighten the puller until I could do it no more by hand.  then I started hitting the attached adjustable wrench handle (because I don't have the handle that goes on the back of the puller) with a small sledge.  it didn't seem to budge.  so then I went to a long handle sledge, alternating back and fourth between tightening up the puller, and hitting the back of the puller bolt.  I have put what I consider to be a massive amount of pressure on the axle stud.  I fully expected to see the gap between the drum and the backing plate to increase, but no change so far.  at this point, I'm wondering what to do next.

[corpsman]

after I created this thread, I was sitting here thinking what to do next.  I kept remembering what my dad would always say when I was a kid and something wouldn't come off or was being stubborn...  "you gotta get tough with it".  so, I went back out to the shop, took my sledge and hit the end of the puller bolt about 5 times as hard as I could, and about 2 seconds later, it popped off and landed about 2 1/2 feet away.  it probably would have gone farther, but it hit my jack stand.  I had so much pressure on it that I was wondering if I had done something wrong.  I guess sometimes in just takes a lot of pressure and a really big hammer.

[Ryan_M]

After I read your first post I was formulating a warning to you in my head. By the time I got to your follow-up post I realized it was too late. Here it is anyways: HOLY COW! BE CAREFUL!�

As you found out the rear hubs have a tendency to launch across the garage (or into your shins, pets, other vehicles that may be parked nearby...). Do yourself a favor next time and leave the axle nut loose but still in place. It will contain the hub if it tries to fly away.

And yes, you need a BFH and a lot of oomph behind your swing. Here's my hub puller. I did not personally inflict all of the damage on it but you can see from the wear it's meant to really be pounded on.

[athawk11]

Rear hubs are always fun...not.  You did everything I would have done.  One thing that also helps is to back off the shoes with the adjusters on the back side of the backing plate. 

To help future removals, I coat the shaft surface with a very small amount of grease.

Tim

[Ryan_M]

You did everything I would have done.

You guys both did better than me. On my first attempt at this after a couple days of messing around with all the wrong tools I threw in the towel and took the entire axle down to the machine shop. They removed both hubs....for roughly the same amount of money it would have cost me to buy the right puller in the first place.� Live and learn�

[corpsman]

well, thanks for the attempted warning anyway.  the tighter I got that thing, the more I realized that it was an increasing possibility that it was going to fly across the floor.  at some point in the process, I put on safety glasses and stopped walking in front of the hub.  yeah, I think i'll put a thin layer of anti-seize on the axle shaft when it goes back together.

[dat]

glad it didn't get stopped by your shin,   that would leave a mark

[corpsman]

glad it didn't get stopped by your shin,� �that would leave a mark

thanks!  me too!