Date:         Tue, 8 Mar 2005 18:35:17 EST
Reply-To:     THX0001@AOL.COM
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         George Goff <THX0001@AOL.COM>
Subject:      Re: 46mm socket for wheel bearing / Alternative
Comments: To: jbrush@AROS.NET
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"

In a message dated 3/8/05 12:58:09 PM, jbrush@AROS.NET writes:

<< Has anyone used the tool BusDepot sells to hammer the nut off. Sounds like
it might be a good idea, although it doesn't provide a way to torque it back
on correctly. >>

Sounds like a bad idea to me.

I've used a slugging wrench (for that's what it is called) to remove and
install axle nuts, but I never used it as it was intended to be used or, more
accurately, misused.

Slugging wrenches are great things and there is hardly a better way to apply
the high impulse forces of an impact to a fastener.  The problem with a
slugging wrench, in this case, is that the forces are also being applied to the
bearings.  I'm not certain of the proper term for the damage this causes, but it
is commonly called brinelling, a term which comes from the Brinell hardness
test.  So, I have never felt the compulsion to risk wasting the wheel bearings by
wailing on a slugging wrench with a beater.

I've made a dedicated extenuation to fit an axle nut slugging wrench.  It is
about 3 feet long and built kinda beefy since it's made of mild steel.  As I
have described before, I slip a rope stirrup on the extension at a point which,
when combined with my weight whenever I step into it, applies the correct
force for the specified torque.

One suggestion: use 6-point sockets for EVERYTHING.

George