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First I wrote:
So far I've applied penetrating oil, heated the inside of the end of the shaft
with a light-duty torch several times, but so far no good. I'm using a 4"
gear puller with a steel ring under the wheel to spread the pulling pressure.
I've had this momma cranked down so tight the plastic of the wheel is cracking
and I'm beginning to damage the end of the shaft where the nut threads on.
Then I received the following tips (edited a bit here for clarity)
--- Try tightening the screw again and then after removing it pulling the wheel off.--- Some pullers are designed to have a sharp blow given with a heavy hammer to the puller's shaft. You tighten down like you did, then wail on the puller shaft one or two times. This should pop the wheel loose.--- I would keep the wheel puller on (leave it under pressure). Keep applying penetrating oil every so often. Let the penetrating oil do the work. Takes longer, but it will eventually pop off.--- my dad all ways told me to leave the nuts on flush with the end when you do that kinds of stuff if you can. if you cant sorry to bug the list--- To avoid damage to the end of the shaft, keep the nut flush with the shaft end. And when you have to beat on a threaded shaft that has one of those slotted lock nuts, reverse the nut. ---- (side note from Steve: the design of my original M38 steering wheel nut won't allow it to be reversed because the other side is shaped to hold the small plastic horn button. In perfect hindsight, I should have waited till I had another, ordinary nut to put on the end of the shaft before I messed it up)--- I broke down and went to a gararge who had a commercial steering wheel puller.....best 20 dollars I ever spent..--- Its been on there for fifty years, its not going to give up easily!! My dad, the Army mechanic, said that they used to reverse the nut and two whacks with a hammer, while pulling up on the wheel, and pop the wheel came off. DON'T TRY THIS UNLESS YOU HAVE A NEW JEEP!! It won't work!! What I did was to drill and tap two holes near the center of the wheel near the shaft, leave enough room to put the nut back on upside down, put a plate under the puller bolt, bolt the puller to the two holes and apply pressure, heat and careful tapping with an appropriate hammer/mallet. I don't like the ring method described as it puts the pressure in the wrong place, too far from the hub.--- The operative word in removing an old steering wheel is patience. The 3Ps: Pressure, penetrating oi,l and maybe a prayer.--- The old wheels I have pulled off and engines I have unstuck have come off much better with a constant pressure being applied and left over night or even a few days. Every day I would spray a little penetrating oil on the shaft and the steering wheel and maybe give the gear puller a slight tap with a hammer just enough to vibrate the parts a bit. I have never had one yet that did not come off. I have also used a propane torch as you mentioned. However the part you want to heat is not the shaft but the section that contacts the shaft. (Steve-note: I found this is hard to do without seriously melting the plastic of the steering wheel hub) The metal will expand just a bit and put a wet cloth on the shaft or set a an ice cube on the shaft end and it will contract. Be careful not to be in line the the path of trajectory in case it turns lose with you looking down the shaft or you might have gear puller for some new teeth--- I had the same problem with my '53 M38A1 steering wheel. I tried just about everything mentioned in this thread but to no avail. I finally took a dremell (sp?) tool and cut the three spokes to remove the bulk of the wheel. I then took the tool and cut a vertical slice through the side of the wheel at the hub staying parallell to the threads as to not damage them. I did the same vertical cut on the other side of the old wheel hub and it poped right off. Took about 10 minutes to do this vs the 2+ hours trying everything else!--- ...Put a gear puller on it and keep constant pressure on it, then give the end of that gear puller's threaded rod the hardest whack with your BFH (large hammer). The combined pressure of the puller and the whack WILL make it leap right off the shaft. And please, wear safety glasses and you shouldn't need to call 911.---Steve's final note:
Hopefully I did not miss any messages... In my case it took a combination of many of these techniques (heating shaft, penetrating oil, maintaining and incrementally increasing the puller pressure over several hours, keeping the pressure from puller close-in to the hub,and a number of BFHammer-blows to the puller shaft) but it finally came off.
911 was not called and no amateur mechanics were injured in the making of this film. At least not badly.
Steve Johnston
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