"86 350X Rear axle nut. Its freakn driven me crazy!

[resqtool844]

MAN! I've beat myself to near death trying to get this mutha off so I can change out the bearings. I'm restoring this trike and the axle was feeln alittle loose so I'm trying to rebuild the rear, this thing will not come loose... It even appears that the previous owner had it apart before looking at the wrench marks on the nut. I've tried beating it with the right size end wrenches (24"), sticking it in a big vice and after 2 hours I've given up. I don't have a way to apply heat to it but I'm gonna take it some where and try to get it apart. Anybody know ANY other tricks???? There is no set (lock) screw, it appears its the stock inside lock nut with the big outside nut and I've taken the snap ring off. I hate this thing!

[KASEY]

the threads are backwards...

[Dirtcrasher]

You only hate it because you've never dealt with it before unlike in my case were EVERY lock nut is seized.

Did you download the manual? I forget but it may be left hand thread.

You have to loosen the lock nut, then thread in the wider nut and it exposes a clip. Then it all comes apart.

PB BLASTER/AEROCROIL/WD40 have never worked for me regardless of what others say. I'm talking about 25 years of stuck fastners I've dealt with.............

HEAT - Oxy/Acetylene that for about a minute and it will surely break free. You have road salt/rust and snow to deal with. Thats the difference from living in this environment to others.

[RodKnockRacing]

Its actually pretty simple once u do it I just did it today on my buddy's 350x

[harryredtrike]

get some heat on it,if you have to buy a portable hand torch kit get the mapp gas kind.heat is your friend

[AJZ_200X]

yes heat is your friend. Get that thing red hot and it should come off. They have opposite threads so they turn in different directions - see the manual. I spent hours and hours in your same situation - I was ready to pick up the whole piece of trailprotrailprotrailprotrailpro and throw it out....

[bobotech]

Propane won't do squat. Has to be a powerful gas like oxy-ace or mapp.
Just a heads up.

[KASEY]

Get that thing red hot and it should come off

wrong!!!! if you take the time to get it red hot,,,, the threaded piece will be the same temp swell together and you still won't be able to get it off,,,,,,,,,,,, heat the thinnest part of the lock nut FAST if its going to came off it will be then,,, before the threaded piece has a chance to heat up ,,,,,,,,,,,,

[MonroeMike]

http://72.52.143.80/~trikes/atc350x_85-86_servicemanual.pdf

[Ironbnder]

We need a thread in World Class Help on the principles of heating to remove parts. The basic knowledge of heat expanding and cold contracting must not have been tought in all High Schools across the country. You do not have to be a fabricator to know this stuff.

[Fungo Wizard]

Had the same problem, but a little penetrating oil and turning it the right direction did the trick. As mentioned here, it is a left hand thread so if you are turning it the right direction then heat might be needed.

[snakpacs]

brake fluid is the best oil to use to free up those hard to break free threads. use it everyday at work for rusted, over tighted bolts and nuts. a 3 foot long leverage bar is a good tool to have in the box too!

[Thorpe]

If you cant get it oxy hot, get it as hot as you can, and mash a candle into the hot metal. The wax will flow into the crack and crevis's of the threads and work as a penetrating lube... On my 350X I had a 3' cheater bar on the end of the wrench, and was using all of my 210 lbs to break the turd loose... Give it the business!

[dksix]

The part with the bigger circumference (axle nut) will grow more than the part with the part with the smaller circumference (axle) when heated, if the 2 steels are the same but that's not likely with an axle and a axle nut. How much the different growth rates will be, depends on the densities of the steels.

[outlaw85]

This is a very delicate job! Ive been there with ya! What I did when I could not get the nut to break loose, was apply a VERY THIN layer of thread lube to the nut, pull my truck up at a 90 degree angle to the trike, wrap a cable around the frame and DRAG THAT MUTHA sideways through the next TWO counties! Of coarse...this IS a LAST RESORT!! :lol:

[outlaw85]

no...wait! Thats what I WANTED to do! My bad!