Bent Axle Housing - maybe?

[45Kevin]

During last year's trip to Cruising in the Woods I broke 4 of the 6 axle studs on the drivers side.
I don't know when exactly and only noticed it while unloading the trailer after we got home.
At the time the nuts just appeared to be loose so we snugged them down and I drove home.
Three of the suds/washers/nuts were missing when I got home.

Now today, 6 months later I figured I'd look into the problem.

At the time @Behemoth60 suggested that the housing was bent.
That's drastic, and I don't even know what kind of forces are needed to do that.

So today I thought I would start by removing the old studs and replacing them.

But my drills barely put a dent in the stud, let alone drill deep enough to get the extractor tool in there.

Any ideas for drilling grade 8 studs?

I'd like to try this route first before I tackle replacing the housing.

 

[mmcinnis]

Pull the axle out and see if any remnant of a stud is left. Then work on removing the studs with a pick or small punch. They most likely broke from getting loose.
Mike

 

[45Kevin]

I pulled the axle and they are all broken well into the holes.
I don't think I can be hammering anything in there without doing lots of damage to the threads.

 

[Behemoth60]

Left hand drill bit? It might not drill a hole for the extractor, but it might spin the broken stud bits out.

 

[45Kevin]

You can see how far in the holes that the studs broke.

I'll try looking for a left hand drill bit.

A shot with the axle removed.

 

[whitey45]

Might be easier to find a new hub! Thought they are the same as fronts?

 

[RustyNailJustin]

I would highly recommend going to an ARP Stud and using some blue locktite on assembly. Those break when they get loose.

 

[45Kevin]

Got back at it yesterday and had had great success at drilling into the studs to get my extractor tool to work.

I had enough spares to get the axle secured as it was, and we will see if they hold.

Fortunately I have a spare housing that I can install if these new studs break as well.

 

[BC40]

Might be easier to find a new hub! Thought they are the same as fronts?

45 FF rear hubs are different than the front hubs. Considered using ifs hubs to gain track width and do disk brakes on a 45 rear axle. Bearings are the same but the 45 hub body is longer to accommodate the outer bearing nut with oil seal.