Last Ditch Effort at Removing Rusted Nuts

[92saturnsl2]

I hate doing tie rod ends. This part of Kentucky uses just enough salt in the winter to make this job a real chore on a 25 year old car, but not enough that your car rusts away in front of your eyes.

This was pretty much a last ditch effort as all other attempts at heating, penetrating oil, 1/2" impact, etc. all failed. Made some not-so precision cuts in the nut, being careful not to go too deep and ruin the threads. Then stick a screwdriver in the slot you made and pry the two sides apart. Didn't think it would work, but it was actually quite easy. I still nicked a couple threads in one spot, not enough to hurt anything. I'll run a thread chase over the whole thing to clean rust and it'll be good as new. I figured the worst thing that could happen is that I'd be out a $30 inner tie rod, but that's still cheaper than taking it to a mechanic, which is just putting the problem on someone else. Not sure what else they'd try that I hadn't.

Curious what other tricks there are to remove these jam nuts that I hadn't thought of...

 

[spasm3]

That worked!

Heat and acetone atf soak.

 

[joegreen]

Amazon.com

 

[MasterSolenoid]

Ah, the success of a job well done / and you saved some money.
Don't forget to use Never-Sieze / I always make sure to over-do-it.

When I was younger, my Father showed me how to burn-thru a rusted nut using a cutting torch.
That was in the 1970's.
Now people are smarter and oil-undercoat.

 

[Astro14]

Amazon.com

Those work great, and I have one, but I don't think the OP can fit one over the tie rod end to crack that nut...

 

[JohnnyG]

I've done that a few times on different items using a dremel tool. For internal pipe threads, I've even used a bare hacksaw blade wrapped in tape, until I was able to buy a regular handle. Just cut out a notch and remove the small part, the rest is easy.
A word of caution on the never sieze. Last time I read that thread here on BITOG, the jury was still out on what to put on lug nuts. Some say that it throws the lug nut torque way off and can damage wheels.

 

[Trav]

I hate doing tie rod ends. This part of Kentucky uses just enough salt in the winter to make this job a real chore on a 25 year old car, but not enough that your car rusts away in front of your eyes.

This was pretty much a last ditch effort as all other attempts at heating, penetrating oil, 1/2" impact, etc. all failed. Made some not-so precision cuts in the nut, being careful not to go too deep and ruin the threads. Then stick a screwdriver in the slot you made and pry the two sides apart. Didn't think it would work, but it was actually quite easy. I still nicked a couple threads in one spot, not enough to hurt anything. I'll run a thread chase over the whole thing to clean rust and it'll be good as new. I figured the worst thing that could happen is that I'd be out a $30 inner tie rod, but that's still cheaper than taking it to a mechanic, which is just putting the problem on someone else. Not sure what else they'd try that I hadn't.

Curious what other tricks there are to remove these jam nuts that I hadn't thought of...

This is so common where I am I just did one and have to do another tomorrow. Smoke wrench does the job but so does a good nut spliter.
This is the one I got a couple of years ago, this thing splits them in a few seconds with no problems at all with very little force from a small wrench.

Hydraulic Nut Splitter

This is a good deal on a very good quality hydraulic nut splitter, it is sold by Sykes Pickervant but from what I found out its made in Germany by Gedore or Bahco. It takes very little wrench pressure to generate 5 tons of cutting force and has a angle head making it easier to work with. This...

www.bobistheoilguy.com

 

[Astro14]

This is so common where I am I just did one and have to do another tomorrow. Smoke wrench does the job but so does a good nut spliter.
This is the one I got a couple of years ago, this thing splits them in a few seconds with no problems at all with very little force from a small wrench.

Hydraulic Nut Splitter

This is a good deal on a very good quality hydraulic nut splitter, it is sold by Sykes Pickervant but from what I found out its made in Germany by Gedore or Bahco. It takes very little wrench pressure to generate 5 tons of cutting force and has a angle head making it easier to work with. This...

www.bobistheoilguy.com

Thanks, Trav!

Every time you post, I learn something...and then spend more money on tools...

 

[Trav]

You have some real nice tools though.