Rear axle nut

[exodus0784]

Are these things reverse threaded or something? Bent and broke a ratchet on this thing yesterday!

Do I just need to borrow a giant breaker bar?

Also, what's the torque spec on these?

[petrified.rabbit]

sounds like your having fun.

they are not reverse thread, are they pinched, crown, or insert nuts?

step up to real ratchets? I know they have some torque on them but not that much.

[ontarian_frog]

They are torqued to about 140 ft-lbs. It would be wise to get a 1/2" drive breaker bar for it. Make sure the parking brake is applied or the car on the ground to loosen it... The axle is very flexible.

[exodus0784]

Yeah, looks like 148ft-lbs is the exact spec. I hate not having "real" tools. Get in that mood. "All right, going to pull that drum off and check the shoes and it'll be ****ing awesome and I'll get it done quick and right" ... and then I get my ass kicked by some nut.

Rabbit: It's a pinched locking ring doodad, made sure to hammer that out before I went wrenching.

Tried the car on the ground, with the brake... no luck with regular wrenching... OK... busted out the 5lbs BFH... no luck, then the jumping started... no luck, OK FINE! HULK TIME... wrench straight up, started pulling... *creek* then the gear in the ratchet sheered

Think Autozone has a 2' breaker bar for like $25... on loan-a-tool. I'll try again this weekend if the weather holds out.

[petrified.rabbit]

sounds like a good idea. worst comes to worst do what aircooled vw guys do.. put the breaker bar on, with a long long cheater bar.. and then drive the car in which ever direction you need to.. you wont move the earth, and the weight of the car (should) break the nut.. (although they are rwd)..

[exodus0784]

The impact gun made quick work of it. (Un)fortunately, the brakes looked fine. Plenty of lining left, and the drum was smooth as can be.

I now believe that my pedal height/unstable braking may be due to the adjuster on the passenger side not working correctly. I noticed there was a lot more thread showing on the drivers side, and the driver side drum was more difficult to remove compared to the passenger. It didn't feel like the passenger side shoes were in contact with the drum at all, whereas I got at least some resistance on the driver's side.

I hit it with the little bit of brake cleaner I had, and the pedal seemed to firm up a little bit, I'll pick up some more and hit both of them good this weekend.

Anyone else run into something like this? Am I going in the right direction with just cleaning the assembly, or am I doomed to have to pull the whole assembly off?

Definitely glad I don't need to dump $80 into shoes and turning the drums... once I get this squared away, it's time to see what I can do with that pesky pitch mount.