Removal of rear axle pinion nut. Defender 300 TDi

I have spent three days in total trying to remove the rear axle pinion nut so that I can replace the oil seal on the diff. The last attempt was to heat the nut red hot and then ensuring that the shaft does not rotate by using a steel bar and then apply torque using a ratchet, socket and a trolley jack (2.5 tonnes). The steel bar and socket wrench were 'bent'. Leaving it overnight and hitting the socket/wrench with a sledge hammer head (garage recommendation) did not make any difference.

A few notes:

The thread is right handed There is no split pin The nut is of the clench type ( The top of the nut is pinched in on opposite sides) I originally tried penetrating fluid with and without graphite (leaving it to soak overnight) There is no sign of any locking agent (Loctite etc) There are no locking tab washers There is no sign of rust or corrosion, the nut and washer are still 'bright' This is the hardest nut I have come across in 42 years of working on cars and its unbelievable.

Before cutting it off with an angle grinder (If I can get at it as it will have to be a small diameter one), am I missing anything before I do this?

Griff

Reply to
Griffith
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Griffith uttered summat worrerz funny about:

Nut splitter?

Drill out the pinched bits?

I read a similar thread on mud club - I understand Landrover have a special tool - though I could be confusing it with some sort of donut thing on the rear prop / pinion shaft.

Doing the job on the 101 was awkward. I built a tool that I bolted on to the propshaft flange which then comes to rest against the ground to stop the flange turning. Not difficult but time consuming with my tooling.

Lee D

Reply to
Lee_D

Thanks Lee for you response,

As the nut is 'recessed' I cannot get a nut splitter onto the nut. Drilling may be a good idea but I would prefer to cut off the nut using an angle grinder as close to the thread without damaging it.

I have put it on hold until I get a replacement nut and an angle grinder for Christmas.

Many thanks

Griff.

Reply to
Griff

Landrover do have a special tool which prevents the flange rotating by wedging it against one on the chassis rails, a diagram of the tool can be seen on the following page

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When I did mine I made something similar to the LR tool, then once the flange was locked I uses an impact socket on the largest breaker bar I had then jacked the end of the breaker bar up. It actually lifted the rear of the 110 of the ground before giving so I ended up jumping up and down on one of the rear steps to apply a bit of extra force before it gave.

Colin

Reply to
Colin Reed

On or around Wed, 12 Dec 2007 15:10:46 -0800 (PST), Griffith enlightened us thusly:

I assume you don't have access to a sod-of air impact wrench. You might try to borrow one of they battery-powered ones, which are amazingly capable if they're good ones.

Reply to
Austin Shackles

A battery powered one is unlikely to do much. My 1200 lb-ft 3/4" impact wrench *might* manage if it's that tight.

Reply to
EMB

I dont know. I know a saab guy who managed to get a stuck crank pulley bolt off by hiring the most powerfull battery powered impact wrench he could find. Came off straight away apparently - and this was after snapping breaker bars and jumping on scaffold poles wouldnt shift it.

Reply to
Tom Woods

Its not the same centres as a 101 on a Rangie I suppose, or he could borrow my tooling for the bastards.

Steve

Reply to
steve

Thats it whole point of the impact driver is the shock effect.Pre airtools the same effect was achieved with a BFO hammer and a quality spanner or socket on a straight bar the skin grew back years ago. I have fond memories of me old dad using unbelievable amounts of elbow grease in that manner but imprinted forever was when he called me over to watch him remove a void bush with an impact chisel instead of a drift and BFO hammer and oxy as he had for years, he was never one to shirk technology. Derek

It doesn't count as offroading if you don't get mud on the roof!

Reply to
Derek

On or around 13 Dec 2007 11:32:42 GMT, Tom Woods enlightened us thusly:

yeah, the decent battery ones are a lot more powerful than they have any right to be. Does need to be a good one, though - Snap-on make some beauties, but they suffer from the usual Snap-on problem, I can't afford them...

Reply to
Austin Shackles

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