help with half shafts

[dude8383]

i still havent gotten these out, so i called the dealership to see what it would cost to have them removed. $440. FML. I guess im gonna keep banging on them caveman style.

Be careful though...you don't want to mess up the boots!!

[dude8383]

dude...just wanted to say thats a clean machine you have there!!

lol, thank you sir :up:

[Axxe]

Not enough heat.

[freeski27]

buy or borrow an air hammer. Gets the job done every time. just dont get a shitty ass one.

[Blip Bavarian]

i still havent gotten these out, so i called the dealership to see what it would cost to have them removed. $440. FML. I guess im gonna keep banging on them caveman style.

[txtorquemade]

Thats a good tip! I'm going to tackle mine Friday. Fucking things lasted 30,000 miles :(

This time I'm installing the bloody bearings myself because I just can't trust someone else to do them again.

dude...just wanted to say thats a clean machine you have there!!

[Mossman]

If its so hard to pull them out you need to do some serious spline inspection, and where needed clean all rust and possibly mangled metal with a small sharp file and/or wire brush for the rust. Then a liberal dose of anti seize. Or else you're gonna have a hell of a time pulling them back in, and the same problem removing again if need be.

The only time a half shalf has foiled me was a 95 parts m3. I didn't NEED it out just wanted it as a spare, and both sides were so friggen stuck in there it was unbelievable. IR air hammer didn't touch it, huge sledge and my rippling muscles didn't do a thing, I even threaded the nut on a few turns and hit it directly on there with absolutely no regard for the hub or the threads or anything just to get the most direct impact and nothing made it budge. Thank god that wasn't a car I needed to actually put back together.

[kway]

There's actually a tool that bolts to the hub and pushes it out. Then another one that threads on to the end of the axle to pull it back in.

It's stupid. An air hammer *might* get it, but if not you'll need to find someone with the tools. We even had a customer pull his trailing arms and bring them to us to pull the axles.

[dude8383]

Put your bearings in the freezer before install.

Thats a good tip! I'm going to tackle mine Friday. Fucking things lasted 30,000 miles :(

This time I'm installing the bloody bearings myself because I just can't trust someone else to do them again.

[DRTSRFR]

Put your bearings in the freezer before install.

[tcheb]

I just had the exact same problem about a month ago. If I had to do it again, I'd just bring it to a BMW shop.

One thing you need to know is that putting them back in is gonna be twice as hard. I ended up ordering a 400$ tool specially made for BMWs which broke in half.

What finally worked for me is a combination of banging on it with a mallet, pulling it with the BMW tool and pulling it the rest of the way with a high torque impact wrench on the nut.

[Blip Bavarian]

how big of a hub puller? the one I have has a 1" diameter threaded shaft.

prob about 3/4", but it has a sharp end to keep it centered. Instead it just bored into the shaft.

[nando]

how big of a hub puller? the one I have has a 1" diameter threaded shaft.

[Blip Bavarian]

you need a hub puller, a cheap gear puller isn't going to work.

tried a hub puller. It just started to bore into the threaded end of the shaft.

I guess Ill have to try and get my hands on an impact hammer.

[Elysian]

I've found an impact hamer best suited to get even the toughest shafts out.

This.