Front Axle Removal? - '85 250es

[Redaddict]

I'm desperately trying to find a way to remove my front axle on my '85 250es. I searched all the forums and have tried everything to loosen the front axle(PB Blaster, Acetone, CRC Freeze Off, breaker bar, and electric impact wrench). My last attempt will involve fire. Not sure how long to heat up the axle threads? My plan is to heat and cool. If I ever get the axle loose I'll let you know I did it. I really want to swap the front tire and replace the front brake pads.

[wonderboy]

Typically, it's not the threads that are seized. There is a sleeve that the axle bolt runs through. The sleeve is in between the inner bearing race of the two front wheel bearings. The bolt seizes along the length of this spacer. Of course, if the bolt won't turn at all it could be seized in the thread, but once that is loose, the spacer tube will be your next obstacle.

Another (crazy, but doable) option is to drop the fork tubes out of the triple. Then, assuming the bolt is seized on both sides you can turn the fork tubes against each other. One side will have to break free. Best case scenario is that it is the threaded side. Then with that fork off of the axle, you can try getting the wheel off of the axle. If the spacer tube is seized to the bolt, this will involve knocking out the balls from the front bearings to separate the inner and outer races. Then the wheel/tire can come off and you can focus on getting the rest of the stuff unstuck.

This is not a fun job...

[ps2fixer]

If you do the heat trick, you want to attempt to remove while it's hot, at least that's my experience with steel. AL doesn't color change, so it's a bit of a guess what temp you're getting things to. Also remember there's oil inside the forks, seals etc, so you don't want to go too crazy unless you expect to rebuild them anyway.

How long of a breaker bar do you have? Since the bolt is so long, it takes a bit more effort to get the torque to the threads because the bolt flexes a little. Clearly you don't want to go over kill, but a cheater bar (pipe, or anything to extend the handle) would amplify the torque you put into taking it off. I'd guess around 2-3ft long would be about the max you'd want to go for putting a lot of effort into it. Don't want to break the fork end or the bolt.

If/when you get it removed, don't forget to clean up the threads and such (wire brush/wheel), and personally I'd use never seize to prevent it from happening again. If the sleeve is the cause, sand down the rust. Ideally you'd zinc plate it again if it's rusty, but not everyone wants to go through the process to do that.

Good luck with getting the bolt out.

[Homeless Dave]

I just had this issue on an 87 Big Red. I put pb blaster on it every day for a week and I was able to use a breaker bar and get it loose.