Removing hubs from a 46 Ford, When do I cut?

unless it's a columbia rear end....................I'd find a new banjo

Kevin Lee has a tech somewhere on the HAMB about building a puller out of an old ford rim. Do a search for it.

 

Go to Oreillys and rent the proper puller.You get your money back when it`s returned.It will still take considerable pounding on the tool but I`ve never seen one fail.You have the right idea with the porta power just not enough power,maybe try an acetlyne torch on the tapered part. Good luck

 

Amen to that,one of the real weakness`s of the old Fords,first you shear a key and then beat your brains out getting the hub off.

 

Take two big hammers and hit the tapperd part of the hub on both side at the same time, that will shock it and then use heat and the puller....Works with tie rod ends as well...............Roach.

 

This is the one I use. You gotta have the right tool for this, otherwise you will do more damage than good.......

 

First, you should beg, borrow or steal a KR Wilson-style tool. These hubs need to be removed by pulling from the groove around the hub, NOT using the lug studs. Pulling on the studs usually distorts the hub/drum enough that you will never get it off or damage it more than necessary.
Second, you do not need to "split a die". Adjustable split dies have been made for 50 or more years, just for purposes like this. Google "split dies". They are still very common and can be bought almost everywhere.

 

This is nothing a Chassis Engineering leaf spring kit and a 9" Ford Pickup axle assembly can't cure.............

Ray

 

I have tried heat and hammers on the taper, maybe I should hit it harder.

That happened to me last time I pulled one of these. It was with the puller that bolts to the studs. It knocked me on my ass so hard I wasn't sure what happened for a couple minutes. Tools were scattered everywhere and the puller was completely apart.

I really want to use the original banjo and 3 speed. It all depends on how bad I fubar it trying to rebuild the brakes.

Anybody ever try this one? Looks pretty good, I'm waiting for a callback.
http://vintageprecision.com/products/hub_pullers/

 

Did you loosen all the adjustment out of the brakes? In other words, back off the adjustment all the way? Sometimes well-worn shoes will catch in the wear grooves and then rock and wedge themselves in the drum. Sometimes it's the answer.

 

That puller from "vintageprecision.com" looks to me to be as good or better than the KR Wilson puller (I had one of thse, but sold it when I got out of early Fords). Price looks good, too.

 

looks like it might work good. also i like the $598 EACH!! brake drums .

 

Tried again today using another homebuilt version of the KR whatever puller from a tech thread I found here. All was going well until I started really putting some torque to it and broke a 5/8 grade 5 bolt. Ran to the store and threw down on a grade 8 and nut.

This time when things got heavy, the 3/8 steel flange that went in the groove of the hub rolled out and curled the 1/8 in steel tube it was welded to with it.

Unbelievable how much torque this has withstood. Some of the axle threads are compressed and I kinda doubt the KR tool is gonna do this.

I was getting pretty frustrated, but now I find myself curious as to how much it is going to take and if it will destroy the axles. Next step is to buy the KR tool and remove them or bust. Literally.

Thanks everybody for the replies, I'll update with progress.

 

dude. hear is what you need to do. this has worked EVERYTIME for me and everyone ever. you need to take the nut off, AND THE WASHER, FLIP THE NUT AROUND so that the castle part wont let the shaft mushroom over. put whatever little puller you have on the hub with it pushing on the shaft, make it nice and snug. NOW, get yourself the oxy acet torches out with the rosebud tip. heat that fucking thing up RED HOT! on a few sides you dont even need to hit it, the thing will expand and go "BAM!!!!" and its off and all you gotta do is let it cool down and take the nut off.

trust me im 9999999999999999999999999999% sure this will work.

also, if you are trying to heat it with a propane torch, youre kidding yourself. unless youre trying to start up your next bonfire that is a total waste of time. you NEED and oxy acet.

 

Damn, I hate putting that much heat to it. I have put the heat to them already, not that much though... I have pretty much nothing to lose at this point. So here goes....

 

yep wrenching is an art and please don,t fuck it up

 

whats to hate about it?? its a thick ass piece of metal its not like sheetmetal, ive put heat on plenty of stuff and it always is usable afterwards.

 

Get the KR WILSON!!! One of the best $120 I ever spent. By now, it's POSSIBLE you've done enough damage to that axle end and drum flange that'll make you wish you'd bought three KRs to begin with. If you've had this much trouble gettin' that drum off, you probably don't realize how much fun you're gonna have changin' that axle out. I truly hope your parts are OK. Best of luck to ya. DD

 

Dudes, if the car is in running condition[ Not your case] loosen the nut leaving 2or 3 threads start it up, floor it and hammer the brakes the wheel will loosen right up, it puts enough torque on the hub and key, it WILL walk out.thats if your eally don't have the right tool. Put a sun flower tourch on the hub at the axle, put the ____ heat to her That little hammer your using is to smash walnuts at Thanksgiving for the elderly. !0 lb hammer!! It a show of force here, it will scare the ---- out of what your banging on and give in . That does not imply bringing it on a date!! IF that fails use the torch and cut the rear end out and replace it with a nice posi. Barron von vasnic Rod Barrons East Coast

 

I don't know about the rest of you guys, but this is the point where I put all the tools away for about a week and do something completely different for a while.

 

If you'd put your location on the "Location" line, maybe somebody would offer to loan you their KR Wilson puller. Maybe you live next to me and I could loan you mine. Oh well.

Make double sure the brake shoes are loose. Or actually remove the nuts from the backing plates so the whole brake will come off with the hub.

 

A medium hit with a 10lb hammer will be much better than a 100 hits as hard as you can with a 2lb hammer. And that duck bill puller is only good for about 2000 psi of force.

 

I have encountered old Ford axles that just wouldn't let go of the hub. Have had success with this though. Back the nut off both axles so there is a small gap between the hub/drum and the nut. Find a friend you trust and have him tow you around a few blocks with you weaving back and forth and taking a few hard corners (this is why the trusted friend!). This will pop off hubs when all else has failed, don't back nut off to far or you're liable to wreck the key.

 

I am in western Colorado. Car guys are few and far between compared to, say, environmentalist wackos.

The brakes are backed off and not sticking, did that first. This is only the third banjo I have had, but I've build 9 or 10 hot rods, currently down to 5, so this isn't my first rodeo. As far as heat and hammers, I'm trying to overcome the caveman in me and do it right. Was going to torch it again longer but a friend stopped by, the beers came out, started snowing, and production ceased.

I just ordered the puller from Vintageprecision. I'll be cooling my heels for 3 weeks till it gets here. Time to finish rebuiding the 3 speed, assemble the engine, maybe get a little bodywork done.

Again, thanks for the tips, I remain skeptical that the puller will do it. Found the thread on the hotrod shop in Idaho that makes a real axle for these...

 

Hammers are for carpenters and bodymen, use a puller. I built a HEAVY DUTY puller for under $10. last week and it works without pounding anything. I'll post pics if you want when I get home from work....

 

Yep, post em. My homemade puller, I thought, was the shit for doing this. Turned out to be plain old shit, and a waste of time. I'm curious as to how others made it work.

 

You got it, give me a few hours......I hate seeing stuff being wrecked for no good reason.

 

Before you do anything else, take the castellated nut off the end of the axle, remove the flat washer, turn the nut around (castellations in) and thread the nut down flush with the end of the axle. After that get a decent, heavy duty puller meant to remove Ford and other drums from tapered axles, install it and turn it down as tight as possible. If the puller has striking pads on the forcing screw, beat it tight with a BFH. Then use the BFH (six pound minimum) to Give the end of the forcing screw a hell of a whack. Never failed for me, and I did hell of a lot of
Ford brakes back in the day.

Also, if you need to chase the thread (the upside-down castellated nut usually does a good job of chasing if the mushroom is slight) and, if you don't want to split a solid die, there are round dies with adjustable thread inserts that can be backed off then slid over the mushroom, adjusted and turned out. In the good old days no self-respecting machinist would have used a solid die. All dies were adjustable, and you got the thread fit you wanted, not what some manufacturer thought you should have.

 

Here, I quickly made a tech out of it....

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=575135

 

Had a terrible time on my '32's rear hubs with the same issue. Bent up my buddies cheaper puller. Ended up spending the dough, bought the KR Wilson tool (one that we both now own!), applied a TON of heat with my torch, and both came off.

The right tools do it every time!

Good luck.