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How do I get this nut off??

Hi everyone,

I've come across a hub nut I've not seen before on my 2001 Mercedes CL500. See picture:

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I can't understand how this works. It seems they've bent a couple of the nut's tabs over the end of the drive shaft into two little recesses that have been cut into it (arrowed). I've prized the tabs out to allow the nut to be undone, but then I thought I've never seen a hub nut made of metal soft enough to bend with a screwdriver! Also, I'd have expected a nut with the amount of torque this will be done up to to have a conventional hex head, but this one has 12 pointy bits around the circumference which are far more prone to stripping than a plain 6-sider. I admit I'm not much of a home mechanic, but can anyone explain how I should proceed and if I need a special tool to remove the nut? Many thanks.

Paul

Reply to
Paul S. Barford
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Isn?t that just a locking cover on top of the actual nut? I think you need to prise that off and the actual nut will be beneath it.

Tim

Reply to
Tim+

They are a common enough in situations when you don't want the actual nut to come undone. I've seen them in loads of different places

Reply to
RobH

As the actress said to the Bishop? Brian Brian

Reply to
Brian Gaff (Sofa

That is the actual nut, it is bi-hex 12 point.

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Use a standard bi-hex 12 point socket.

All jet engines are bolted together with bi-hex nuts and bolts. 12 point socket on 12 point nut has twice the drive flanks and area compared to a

12 point socket on a hex. The head can be smaller and lighter as every gram counts.

As are turbo compressor nuts.

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is PITA as all my 8mm sockets are 1/4" drive and full hex, so a special bi-hex socket had to be ordered. I don't have any 3/8" kit and

1/2" starts at 10mm.
Reply to
Peter Hill

Id start by sourcing a replacement one first: that allows access to a far wider range of removal options...

..when I lived over a racing and rally garage, they had a huge oildrum into which any bolt or nut that was removed went. They *never* reused them, on te grounds that new bolts torqued up to the standard were

- as reliable as possible

- the most easy to undo in a hurry.

In your case splitting with a dremel looks possible

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

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