Seized Axle Stub

[argottschall]

After about five years of sitting, I'm finally working on my old bug again. The rear driver side wheel bearings were shot, so shot that the outer bearing fell out in pieces when I starting pulling out the rear hub assembly. Now that I've got the hub disassembled, removed the rear disk, and disconnected the CV, I can't get the axle stub to slide out. It slides in and out about 1/4 inch but won't budge beyond. I've tried increasing force to get it out, from a rubber mallet all the way up to a full two-handed sledge, and the thing won't budge an inch.

I'm guessing it's seized in the inner bearing which, if the shape of the outer bearing was any indicator, is in pretty poor shape. Or maybe I'm just missing something???

Does anybody have any suggestions to get this thing out so that I can replace the bearings and put in a new stub axle (I bunged up the threads on this one pretty bad)? Any help is greatly appreciated!!!

Here are a few pictures for reference:

_________________
1972 Standard Beetle

[Dan the workingstiff]

Nutty idea..... what about a hole saw from the back side to get the cv mounting face off of it. Pull the c clip. Pound the whole assembly through.
_________________
'69 Beetle
'66 FG buggy
My other air-cooled's
'76 IH 1200
'75 IH 1200

[modok]

Put studs in the boltholes. Like 10mm cylinder studs.
Drill matching holes in a metal plate. 1/2 thick? or so

This is how you make a basic puller, or in this case pusher.
Once the puller plate is in place and torqued up, hitting it with the hammer is a good idea.

Hitting the axle with a hammer directly is NOT a good idea.

[jetmech]

well since your threads are messed up I assume that you are replacing the stub shaft, Have you tried a torch and a sledge hammer togeather. Make sure you have a fire extingusher close by because the cavity between the bearing is filled with greese.
_________________
74' Super Beetle

[Starbucket]

Jack that side of the car up and pour a 50/50 mix of ATF and Acetone in and tap it a few times and let it sit for 2 hours and try again.

[cbeck]

Looks like your inner bearing spacer has been wiped out and catching/binding on the stub axle. 2x4 and a bfh. Beat the axle in far enough so that when you pull the stub axle out, you can access the spacer. Dremmel, grinder, chisel. .... to remove the spacer from the axle, keeping in mind there are several more items the axle must slide thru to be removed. Or beat in far enough to remove the cv cup to access the snap ring and slide all to the inside as an assy.
_________________
My cut in half and rebuild thread
www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=647779

[Pez]

Had the same thing, heat, oil, nothing worked. Bearing was welded on. You are already to far gone and will need a stub axle so need to go ahead and just pull the trailing arm and get it on the ground. I used some extra 4x4's to prop it up and went to town with the sledge. Eventually it slowly came out. Reason you will need it off the car is each switch is going to get dampened by the trailing arm bushing and torsion bar spring plate flex, therefore you won't be able to get a solid hit.

Other option is get it in a press but the size of the stub axle flange makes supporting it a bear.
_________________
Always chasing Squirrel's.

[modok]

How come nobody knows how to make a puller?

Flywheels and brake drums get stuck too.
Sometimes a hammer is the right tool, sometimes it isn't.

[Starbucket]

[Pez]

[modok]

No welding needed. Just holes. In metal plate. Use the bearing cap as a template. Does not need to be any particular size, larger than the bearing cap is needed but so what if it's bigger? no problem.
You can buy bits of steel from welding shops that make railings.
They usually throw away parts smaller than a foot. 5$, maybe 10$ max.
10lb of scrap steel is only worth 1$, you will pay twice that then they should be happy to sell to you

Today I google.... "brake drum puller", I look at images. It's like a gallery of failure and bad ideas.
Somebody has chains welded to a jack.
I would not go near that. little bits of 1/8 plate welded together??, chains welded to a wheel going to a jack???

I didn't know man, I DID not know.
And I'm sorry. People who DO know what they are doing have been doing this for 150 years and NOT taking a picture of it so we gotta remedy that.
If not today, then tomorrow, if not this time, or next time. Monkey see monkey do world. If you've seen it done before then I bet you'd have it off already.

four 10mm studs, at ONLY 20ft-lbs, should develop 6000 pounds of force.

Maybe get a whole new trailing arm, not a bad idea.
Whatever you gotta do.
I'm not here JUST to stoke my ego by assailing you with my superior knowledge of farm equipment maintenance theology.
You want to change wheel bearings, then you might want to learn how wheel bearings get changed.
There have been many wheel bearings in the past and there will be lots in the future too.

[volksworld]

at this point i'd just put in a used trailing arm assembly...you're 4 bolts away from removing it anyway....by the time you buy a stub axle, bearings and spacer it could work out cheaper cause hopefully the bearings in the one you get will be able to be cleaned and repacked...they really dont go bad that often

[Pez]

[argottschall]

Thanks for all of the ideas! The axle stub is long gone, the threads were pretty rough and rusted already and my hammering didn't help.

I don't have any good steel on hand to make a puller but I do have a grinder and a cutoff wheel so I think I'm going to try cutting off the CV cup end of the stub with a cutting wheel and see if I can pull the clip and slide everything out. It that fails, I'll pull off the trailing arm and try that approach next.

Thanks everyone!
_________________
1972 Standard Beetle

[modok]

[runamoc]

Air chisels from HF come with many attachments. I've used the 'pointy' one and stuck it in the recess of the stub axle and 'hammered' the axle out. Able to reuse the axle too.

_________________
Daily driver: '69 Baja owned 44 yrs - Plan B: '81 Rabbit Diesel LS Deluxe - Plan C: '72 Ghia
Yard Art: 2 Sandrails
Outback: '69 Ghia - '68,'69,'70,'72 Beetle - '84 Scirocco, GTI - Pair of '02 Golfs-
VW Wiring = It's just wires

[AutoMechanic]

How about an air hammer?

[argottschall]

Finally got it out. I ended up cutting off the CV cup with a cutting wheel, then pulled the seal and circlip to release the whole thing. Once out, I realized it was the long spacer that was seized, not the bearing. Just got a new stub axle and bearings, etc. installed and everything went in perfect.

Thanks for the suggestions!
_________________
1972 Standard Beetle

[AutoMechanic]

Glad to hear it got done.