Wheel removal for wheel cylinder replacement advise

[Jeeper10]

I'm a stubborn newbie to larger vehicles with a lot of shade tree mechanic experience on normal civi vehicles looking for advise. I have a leaking wheel cylinder rear passenger side. I have an adequate jack and will be purchasing some 6x6 lumber in place of jack stands per the advise of a fellow member as I will be on grass/gravel. I'm debating on the best way to remove the lug nuts. I've considered purchasing a large impact wrench, renting one (if available locally), or purchasing one of those torque multipliers. Anyone have an opinion on these options or other ideas? I intend to soak the heck out of the lugs as they appear to have been on there a while. I don't find any good videos on YouTube on any of this type of work. The wheel cylinders look normal enough. Thanks for the advise fellas (and ladies too). Cheers

 

[rosco]

The most elementary way to get to that wheel cylinder is to leave the wheels where they are & take the axle out & wheel bearings loose, etc. You have it jacked up to do that/& parked, etc. Get a sheet of plywood/osb & grease a track so the wheels, tires, drum, hub assembly can slide on the greased track. Then lower the assembly down on the greased spot, just to take the weight off it, and slide/pull the assembly off, & roll them out of the way. They will go back on that way too. There are variations of this trick which have been employed when plywood is scarce, but more dependent on the size of the bucket of grease.

 

[Jeeper10]

This sounds like an interesting idea. How does the axle get removed, via clip/retainer removal in the pumpkin? Or are they retained some other way and splined or something? Thank you for the idea.

The most elementary way to get to that wheel cylinder is to leave the wheels where they are & take the axle out & wheel bearings loose, etc. You have it jacked up to do that/& parked, etc. Get a sheet of plywood/osb & grease a track so the wheels, tires, drum, hub assembly can slide on the greased track. Then lower the assembly down on the greased spot, just to take the weight off it, and slide/pull the assembly off, & roll them out of the way. They will go back on that way too. There are variations of this trick which have been employed when plywood is scarce, but more dependent on the size of the bucket of grease.

 

[Floridianson]

Yea trying to pull off the drum and tires off on a sheet of plywood and trying to get it all back could be a real pain. To me just plain dumb. Just remove the tires and rims like you were changing them then you just do the drum by yourself. If you think it is to heavy just get a friend and you interlock your right hand / fingers with soldier B left hand / fingers. This makes a nice cradle and also with two people one of you can hold the drum in place and not let it sag till the outer bearing is in and holding the drum from sagging that can damage the inner seal. Too bad you were not on the pavement then the wheel dolly is the only answer to help with weight and make the job easy and quick.
The axle is easy just remove the bolts from the end of it and pull out.
If you are new to this and are guessing please just pull the tires off and deal with the drum alone or with a friend. You don't want to mess up and have to remove everything again.

 

[Recovry4x4]

I agree with both posters. The plywood and 20# of grease works but is sometimes finicky. Removing rolling stock works better but is more work. Eventually you need the equipment and experience to change a tire, might as well gain it in the yard rather than along a highway.

 

[TGP (IL)]

You need to go to the TM section and download some manuals and do some reading.
Tom

 

[Tow4]

I would get a Harbor Freight 3/4" impact wrench. They are about $99 but you always go to HF with a 20% off coupon. That has worked for all the trucks I have except my M915A1. They put those lug nuts on tight. I picked up a torque multiplier off Ebay for ~$50 for the stubborn nut/thimbles.

If you can borrow a wheel jack (not sure of the correct term) you can pull the wheels/hub/brake drum together and save yourself the labor and hassle for removing all the lug nuts and wrestling with the tires. All you do is pull the axle and remove the two large nuts. The full procedure is in the TM.

This is a picture of my M929 when I had to service a dragging brake. This is a 5 ton but the process is the same for a Deuce.

 

[VPed]

This sounds like an interesting idea. How does the axle get removed, via clip/retainer removal in the pumpkin? Or are they retained some other way and splined or something? Thank you for the idea.

The axles are part of the flange that is bolted on the hub with the eight bolts, 3/4 head size. Bearing retainer nuts are next, exposed when the axle is pulled. Second on taking a look at the technical manuals.

 

[pigpen60]

Pallet jack works to pull wheel hub as an assembly.

 

[FloridaAKM]

I got one of those jacks from GL last year, but have not used it yet. Thanks for the pictures as to how to use it on a non concrete area!

I would get a Harbor Freight 3/4" impact wrench. They are about $99 but you always go to HF with a 20% off coupon. That has worked for all the trucks I have except my M915A1. They put those lug nuts on tight. I picked up a torque multiplier off Ebay for ~$50 for the stubborn nut/thimbles.

If you can borrow a wheel jack (not sure of the correct term) you can pull the wheels/hub/brake drum together and save yourself the labor and hassle for removing all the lug nuts and wrestling with the tires. All you do is pull the axle and remove the two large nuts. The full procedure is in the TM.

This is a picture of my M929 when I had to service a dragging brake. This is a 5 ton but the process is the same for a Deuce.

View attachment 605877 View attachment 605878

 

[rosco]

Yes, a pallet jack works too. Tow4 still had to use a sheet of plywood to roll the jack on. I have all the jacks now, & a shop to use them in, but I was once "young and pennyless" too. I may be dumb Floridianson, but I learned the trick as a kid, helping a real mechanic. It help me by, several times. Alignment is better then you think - the axle is still horizontal. Often, its not with the jack system -they're tilted, and you can look through the hub. They slide better then you think too, but its messey. But if your "penneyless", its a trick that works! Regards

 

[Jeeper10]

Thanks all for the advice. It gives me some direction. I appreciate it.

 

[rustystud]

Yes, a pallet jack works too. Tow4 still had to use a sheet of plywood to roll the jack on. I have all the jacks now, & a shop to use them in, but I was once "young and pennyless" too. I may be dumb Floridianson, but I learned the trick as a kid, helping a real mechanic. It help me by, several times. Alignment is better then you think - the axle is still horizontal. Often, its not with the jack system -they're tilted, and you can look through the hub. They slide better then you think too, but its messey. But if your "penneyless", its a trick that works! Regards

I'm sorry rosco, but a "real" mechanic would not be using this trick. He would know the dangers of damaging the seals and his BACK if something went wrong. With the cheap price's of Harbor Freight tools anyone can remove their tires and brake drums the correct way. Plus you don't want grease of any kind on your tires !

 

[chestypuller1371]

The most elementary way to get to that wheel cylinder is to leave the wheels where they are & take the axle out & wheel bearings loose, etc. You have it jacked up to do that/& parked, etc. Get a sheet of plywood/osb & grease a track so the wheels, tires, drum, hub assembly can slide on the greased track. Then lower the assembly down on the greased spot, just to take the weight off it, and slide/pull the assembly off, & roll them out of the way. They will go back on that way too. There are variations of this trick which have been employed when plywood is scarce, but more dependent on the size of the bucket of grease.

heck that ice sheet i have on my driveway would be good for this.

 

[18operator]

I just went through all the wheels and brakes on my truck this summer. In my opinion, everything should be taken apart when the vehicle is new to you. that way you can do the proper inspection on all the parts that are being removed. Then after you are familiar with that vehicle, you can take it apart in sub-assemblies. Inspection is key!

 

[Floridianson]

I guess I am old school and try and work smart not harder. You won't save any time if you try the plywood trick and why fight a bear when you can fight a rabbit. As said you will need to pull all drums to check your hardware. Also you need a good tool to loosen all the wheel nuts and double check how tight someone else put them on. You don't want to have a flat and two of the nuts won't come off because you did not check your machine.

 

[AZK9]

... Also you need a good tool to loosen the wheel nuts and double check how tight someone else put them on. You don't want to have a flat and two of the nuts won't come off because you did not check your machine.

I completely agree!

After fighting with my wheel nuts over a span if weeks... a couple of days wrenching and spraying with a 50/50 mix
of acetone/ATF finally did the trick. The tool that worked best for me was a simple Ken-Tool lug wrench, a 5 foot pipe
as an extension lever and a lot of body weight flexing near the end of it. I bought and used several of the power tools
which had been successfully used by others, but in my case, the more traditional method was what saw the job done.

All my wheel nuts are free now, so if/when I experience any flats (which has already happened) I'll not be stuck in a
worse situation with tires that I can't remove.

To me... no matter: old-school tricks, new specialized equipment, powerful tools, etc... if it works in a safe effective
manner to help complete a task, I'll give it a try. IMO... if there's something that's been suggested as a tried-n-true
method that has worked for multiple folks here on SS, then I give it a lot of consideration, adapt to my own unique
situation and conditions... and usually give it a try. So far I've had a lot of success with that mindset.

Keep us posted Jeeper10!

 

[VPed]

I second the use of the Ken-Tool cross-wrench and a cheater. I used a ten foot cheater cause that's what I had but a few of the nuts seemed to have needed most of that. I also use a HF 6 ton jack stand to hold up the side of the lug-wrench opposite from the end on the lug. Once all were broke free from the initial state that they were in (as in kind of rusted to the wheels), I was able to use reasonable cheater length. By the way, I use the lug wrench and a short cheater pipe to tighten the lugs. My 200 pound weight standing on the wrench 2 feet from the cross-point equals 400 ft./lbs.

I will say that I was really fortunate that none of the thimbles started spinning before the outer nuts came loose. That would have complicated things.

 

[tsstout]

I use the Ken Tool geared lug wrench with it's 2 fairly short bars. For me it worked miracles... I had several lugs that wouldn't move and one thimble spinner.. This wrench dealt with it all.. It was kinda sketchy on how to use it at first, but once figured out, I'll not use any other....

 

[AZK9]

... I also use a HF 6 ton jack stand to hold up the side of the lug-wrench opposite from the end on the lug. ...

Good, important point!

I should have mentioned this in my previous post. Thanks, VPed, for adding that step.
The jack stand really helps to keep everything 'steady', especially when you're way out
near the end of the bar... balancing like one of the Wallenda's!



I actually climbed up a step ladder, so it was easier to position myself before stepping out onto the bar.

When the first of the tough, fused, 'almost-impossible' nuts finally began to 'squeak-from-movement' I was so
thrilled... I bounced a little bit to quickly and... a-l-m-o-s-t... slid off the pipe when it completely released!

I don't know why... but getting that job done made me (at least for about 15 minutes) feel like I could
conquer just about anything the deuce could throw at me. Ha ha!