pulling rear axles - sj413

[luke25]

Just got my lockright auto locker and I'm trying to put it in. Have to pull the rear axles out to get the diff out. The left one came out easy. The right one is in there unbelievably tight. I rented a slide hammer from hire pool the biggest they had and whacked away for a couple of hours and no joy except for stripping the thread in the slide hammer. Tried putting the wheel back on and whacking the tyre with a big bar but it is still stuck. Anyone got any ideas for getting it out. I'm highly tempted to just put it all back together and either put the locker in the front or just flick it off on trademe.

[cool__bananas]

sounds like the spline could be twisted or it might be too short for the diff and the diff spline is wedging the axle spline, thats what hapened to one of my trucks once, we had to use the BIG slide hammer and make sure it was fully square on

[luke25]

So if its twisted or wedged the axle will be dammaged even if I get it out with a HUGE slider hammer. Might just cut my losses and put it in the front. Pity though I was hoping to play silly buggers on the roundabouts in the rain as well as the obvious improvement offroad...

[turoa]

try chaining one end of the housing to something solid and the axle to another vehicle and drive off slowly

[lilpigzuk]

I use a sledge hammer and chain/or rope around axle end and swing the other way. usually pops out after a few swings..... make sure its steady on axle stands

[MNC]

Reckon it would be fun to try and winch it out. Have you got a mate near by with a big winch on their wagon?

Like the other said you better tie down the rest of the vehicle.

[lilpigzuk]

it needs a shock load, ie pops out when it lets go. unless you tie other end of axle too something solid....

[MNC]

it needs a shock load, ie pops out when it lets go. unless you tie other end of axle too something solid....

OK, how about a snatch strap then

[cool__bananas]

thats what me and doddzee tried, welded chain to the axle and hooked it to a truck. and welded another chain to the housing and put it around the pole. it stoped the truck dead (isuzu elf tipper). it wouldnt come out cause it wasnt pulled out perfectly sqaure

[MNC]

it needs a shock load, ie pops out when it lets go. unless you tie other end of axle too something solid....

OK, how about a snatch strap then

STAND BACK!!!!

[luke25]

I honestly don't think the chain and sledgie will give it any better then what the slide hammer was doing but I'll give it a go. I like the idea of winching it or pulling it out with another vehicle. I could use another vehicle or get an army unimog to winch it or an army tirfor winch.

The biggie for me is if I do use extreme force and get it out am I likely to find that the splines etc are too dammaged to put back in cos I don't really want to go replacing axles etc when it still works fine at the moment

[icekayak]

We had a similar issue with a vitara... we spend hours trying to get it out and took it to one mechanic who couldn't do it either, but took it to a suzuki/4wd mechanic in the end who got it out with a bigger slide hammer and a bit more technique/experience (I'm sure we had just weakened it and almost had it out )...

Only other thing I can suggest which has worked in the past was bolting the ends of a chain through two of the wheel studs and leaving a loop/slack in the middle then using a big bar to pull the slack out of the chain.
As you say I don't think it will generate much more/any more force than it would generate with the slide hammer (or a sledge hammer) but we had trouble attaching the slide hammer due to stripping threads on it, so it acted as a good of attaching it to the axle...

In our case it was just rust around the bearing etc etc the splines went back in fine...

[luke25]

I've given up - I reckon I'll break something if I try any harder so I've just put it back together and I'll live with my open diff.
Locker is on trademe now for anyone interested: http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing ... =172463314

[Heath]

What about heating the axle casing where the bearing sits and then hitting it with the slide hammer (or pulling with the hammer)?

[mudbugga]

when i had trouble doing mine I used a hi-lift jack to get it out. Put the jack against the chassis and some chain around the hub and used the hi-lift as a puller. Worked a treat.
Heat would be the best way to ease it up as well. Not too much though.
Worth a try anyway.