removal of flange cone washers front hub

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Apr 14, 2013
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series 80.... need help on removing last 5 flange cone washers on the front axle hub. Have beat on it with brass bar to no avail. Time for blue torch? Any better thoughts???
 
Double nut the studs and back then out.
 
Double nut can work. You can also get stud pullers that work very well too.

DO NOT try pulling studs out without using PB Blaster or similar and/or heat. If you try backing the studs out and they don't want to go, they will snap off.

If you haven't, you can also bang on the flange where the cone washer seats as well as on the stud directly. Sometimes hitting in another location helps.

I spent an hour on 6 of mine the other day. Heat, PB Blaster, heat, banging, stud puller, heat... It finally worked and they all came out. I have a thread on rebuilding the rear axle where I complain about it more there...
 
I wish I could credit whoever told me this tip, but I forgot...

Use a small phillips screwdriver or chisel to tap into the cut in the cone washers. They'll pop right out. This is how I removed more than half of my cone washers.
 
OTC makes a handy dandy set of pliers that makes getting them off a lot easier.
Once they are unseated the pliers pluck em out.
An old set of regular pliers and a grinder and you could make your own.
 
I found using a brass hammer on the stud worked better for me than the brass drift. That being said, it sounds like yours are pretty stuck and the above recs should help.
 
And, I do mean POP. One of them shot across the garage, and I was able to find it.

Leave the nut on the last few threads of the bolt to prevent the cone washer from launching.
 
Brass hammer also and PB blaster. Anti seize the cones when you reinstall them. If you have problems with them gettig stuck half way on the studs on the way out, turn them out with channel locks.

Also for re installing them. I put them on the studs and put a 12mm deep socket over them and tap them in.
 
I didn't have much trouble using a brass punch on my 125K LX. Just keep whacking at it (loosen the nut but leave it on). I expect they'll pop out eventually.
 
Brass drift, hammer, needlenose vice grip, done son

Sent from this fast HTC thing using IH8MUD
 
many thank's to you all for your advice on how to remove the flange cone hub washers. I used a combination of your advices, double nut the studs, phillips screwdriver and some CRC Freeze Off to get the washers off. Since the
studs had been beat on many times. I replace the studs & the cone washers. I did coat the washers with anti-seize
paste. Hopefully the 100 pads will give me 20K or more miles before I have to redue the brake pads again.
 
Double nut can work. You can also get stud pullers that work very well too.

DO NOT try pulling studs out without using PB Blaster or similar and/or heat. If you try backing the studs out and they don't want to go, they will snap off.

If you haven't, you can also bang on the flange where the cone washer seats as well as on the stud directly. Sometimes hitting in another location helps.

I spent an hour on 6 of mine the other day. Heat, PB Blaster, heat, banging, stud puller, heat... It finally worked and they all came out. I have a thread on rebuilding the rear axle where I complain about it more there...
Hi all, Just thought I throw my hat in the ring here.. I broke 3 sets of wheel studs in as many weeks. I kid you not. The seats for the wheel nuts were in bad shape and the nuts could not be centered properly. It was the spare wheel from when I bought it hmmm. Anyway, here I was on the side of the road and could not for the life of me get those frigging cone washers off. On the third time the studs broke I came to this thread and tried all that was suggested, heat belting the crap out of them, brass drifts etc NOTHING. One suggest thing go for the flange with a hammer, like a home run hit.. Nope. nothing. So, TWO hammers. A mash hammer and a builders hammer with fairly hard face. Hold the mash hammer on opposite side of flange to where cone nut is. IE 7 o'clock with the mash hammer held against the flange and 1 o'clock for the strike... Strike one medium blow and POP, off came the cone washer. Rotate 60 deg AND... POP off came the next... 100% success. 6 cone washers in less than a minute.. AFter endless bashing and belting, heat etc on 3 occasions.... NO I don't believe that these previous attempts did anything and just to be sure I went to the other side and off they all came...
I hope that help and I would love feedback..
 
I have used a 'Thor' copper mallet which I have had for about 30 years, the 'thud' it delivers has never failed to remove the most stubborn flange cones, I have used it to remove brake drums on other vehicles as well, pretty much anything that a normal hammer would damage.

Regards

Dave
 
I much prefer hitting the flange over directly beating on the stud. Hitting the stud can bend it, mash it or deform the threads. Sharp raps on the flange with a steel hammer or with a drift has always worked for me. I leave the nut on loosely so the washer doesn't become a projectile. I've had success with hitting both the side of the flange as well as the face of the flange next to each stud.

I really like the air hammer idea in the video above. Seems that would be about foolproof.
 
I much prefer hitting the flange over directly beating on the stud. Hitting the stud can bend it, mash it or deform the threads. Sharp raps on the flange with a steel hammer or with a drift has always worked for me. I leave the nut on loosely so the washer doesn't become a projectile. I've had success with hitting both the side of the flange as well as the face of the flange next to each stud.

I really like the air hammer idea in the video above. Seems that would be about foolproof.

The problem when hitting the flange is if you have locking hubs you have no flange to hit.
 
Sharp raps on the flange with a steel hammer or with a drift has always worked for me.

Be careful of distorting matchine mating surfaces, steel on steel.

Regards

Dave
 

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