Hub puller DIY

[ebinmaine 70,815]

I've been asked several times in open threads and by PM how we remove stuck hubs. 

 

PLEASE POST PICTURES OF YOUR OWN PULLERS. 

 

This thread will be used to highlight some info and link other threads that show good examples. Please do "mention" people with good pullers!!

 

 

 

First and foremost. 

 

DO NOT USE A 2 OR 3 JAW PULLER.  

 

This thread is being created specifically to prevent the catastrophic damage and extra time of destroying a good hub. 

 

 

 

Several key points: 

 

PATIENCE IS PARAMOUNT.

Your hub took DECADES to rust in place. It will take some time to remove it.  

 

HEAT 🔥 is usually necessary. 

 

Good quality PENETRATING OIL is necessary.

No offense to anyone else but "PB" is proven no better than water.   Please stop using it as such and try another brand. I've been thanked by several people over the years for that advice.  

 

WD40 Traditional Formula is NOT a penetrating oil.

WD Corporation does make a good one though. "Specialist" is on the can. 

 

Kroil is likely the best penetrating oil spray on the market. But it's very expensive. 

I use and recommend the old formula Liquid Wrench or above mentioned WD40 "Specialist" Penetrating Formula. 

 

Home shop made penetrating mixes can include:

ATF and acetone. 50/50. 

Melted wax. 

 

 

 

Here are several threads that show excellent options for DIY pullers:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Search words. (ignore). 

 

Hub. Hubs. Puller. Pullers. Pulling. Cast iron. Brittle. Information. Pic. Pics. Picture. Pictures. 2 3 jaw. Good. Better. Best. Safe. Safer. Type. Types. Design. Designs. Home. Homemade. Remove. Removal. Stuck. Penetrating. Oil. Penetrant. Wax. Kroil. Liquid Wrench. WD40.  PB. 

 

 

@Cee245 @squonk @953 nut @pfrederi @gt14rider @Achto

[ri702bill 9,001]

And my version, using the large HFT bearing seperator and a Snap-on fine pitch jacking screw...

 

 

[Achto 28,806]

I've made a few pullers using the same design. About a 12mm plate with the bolt pattern drilled out and the jack bolt hole drilled & tapped in it ( some that I made use a 3/4" nut welded on it for the jack bolt). 3/4" ready rod with a nut welded on one end for the jack bolt. @ebinmaine has one of them. They seem to do a good job and mine has held up well so far.

 

Here is one testimony for a stress test. Hub was soaked down with my favorite penetrating fluid in a can SeaFoam Deep Creep for a few days before any attempt was made to remove it. I have a long bar passed through the mounting bolts to keep the hub from spinning, and a long breaker bar on the jack bolt.  The breaker bar was brought out after the impact wrench had failed to make any progress. Extreme pressure on the jack bolt and hitting the inner base of the hub to create vibration for a few hours proved fruitless. I applied as much pressure as I possibly could on the jack bolt, sprayed it down with Deep Creep again and left it sit over night. Next morning I could get another 1/4 turn on the jack bolt, with this spark of hope I went back to tapping on the base of the hub for a bit to create vibration. This gained me another 1/4 turn on the jack bolt, tap some more, another 1/4 turn, etc... This process continued until the hub was only hanging on by about a 1/2" then I was finally able to put the hammer down & just use the jack bolt to pull the hub off. 

 

[rmaynard 15,933]

My puller made from old hub and readily available hardware.

 

[JoeM 7,942]

this idea failed on the first hard to pull hub. The internal threads stripped. Harbo Fright purchase.

 

Ended up using an old hub drilled out the thread and welded a nut to the hub. picked up a long grade 8 bolt and it will take all the onions you can give it. 

[WHX?? 50,783]

I started out with a shot 520 hub Lowell gave me but have since gradiated to one like Achto's. 

Couple things to mention here on hub pulling.

First and most important is never try to pull the older "star" style or three bolt hubs by pulling on the flange.  Get behind it with a bearing collar. Fine for the later thick hubs or older styles that have the "feel" for coming off easy. 

 

Pull the set screws and get lube in there. Give it a shot every day for several days. A week is better. 

 

Couple of fails... 

 

If the purpose of pulling is to split the tranny I have since used the "one side method". 

Feel out the side that may come off the easiest. Perhaps a side with a leaky seal. Split the cases, disassemble the tranny & differential. The diff gets disassembled inside the cases with the offending hub still attached. The axle then comes out with the hub and  goes to the press. 

 

Keep the jack screw and contact point WELL GREASED. 

Edited Sunday at 01:44 PM by WHX??

[953 nut 58,024]

[squonk 42,593]

Heavy plate, heavy nuts welded together and a 7/8" Fine thread bolt with nuts welded to it. The fine thread gives the threads more strength and gives you more pulling power. Think low gear instead of high gear. 

 

[cafoose 3,387]

Here's my experience, I measured the distance from the puller to the hub as in the third pic on the first post all around to ensure I was pulling straight and square to the hub. Even with this, I had to heat with my rosebud torch

 

 

[WHX?? 50,783]

6 minutes ago, squonk said:

The fine thread gives the threads more strength and gives you more pulling power.

Agreed ... pit fall with Dan's kits is the coarse jack screw but the only place to get that fine thread hardware around here is off McMaster. 

[squonk 42,593]

1 hour ago, WHX?? said:

Agreed ... pit fall with Dan's kits is the coarse jack screw but the only place to get that fine thread hardware around here is off McMaster. 

That's where I got the hardware. I got the screw long enough to make another one if I ever wreck it

[JoeM 7,942]

9 hours ago, squonk said:

fine thread gives the threads more strength and gives you more pulling power.

And a little oil or grease on the threads helps too!

[WHX?? 50,783]

36 minutes ago, JoeM said:

 

And a little oil or grease on the threads helps too!

 

11 hours ago, WHX?? said:

Keep the jack screw and contact point WELL GREASED

Now didn't I say that Joe? 

Worth repeating tho ... 

Edited Monday at 12:30 AM by WHX??

[JoeM 7,942]

7 hours ago, WHX?? said:

Now didn't I say that Joe?

Com'on uncle Jim......You know we just look at the pictures!