Salvaging Axle Threads

[Gorecki]

Yes, while banging the hell out of an axle to get it from being seized to the wheel hub I caused a problem with the threads.

The axle was seized on the hub hard enough after a few fruitless attempts what got it off was part of a can of WD40 and ~20ish pretty hard whacks with a 4 lbs sledge hammer..and then I was still getting worried it wasn't going to come loose. But it finally did.

But now, I've whacked it hard enough I literally flattened the end of the axle a bit and the end started to expand in diameter as well as the first round of threads crushed in ever so slightly. Honestly, for as hard as I was hitting, I hit on target and square, but now the axle nut won't start threading back on.

So I'm looking for some suggestions for getting the nut back on outside of completely replacing the entire axle assembly. The thread damage is really minor so I've thought of :

Getting an air rachet and seeing if it will get the threads to bite (having doubts).

Getting my hands on a grinder and simply grinding down a small area of the outer edges of the axle making it smaller at the end. That way maybe I can get into the next round of threads that haven't been squished?

Any thoughts or suggests by those with greater experience on this little mess I've created?

Help would be greatly appricated as my car is on a stand until I get this fixed.

[TCO]

Get a tap and die set and go to work on it.

[Gorecki]

Get a tap and die set and go to work on it.

Great suggestion...and I was just at the store buying the sledge I caused the problem with.

Now, the ultimate question would be if anyone knows the OE axle size and thread pitch for a 2005 GP off the top of their head? Worst case I can take the nut with me and figure it out.

[Gorecki]

Ooookay. What I'm finding is the thread is M27-2.0 (27mm, with 2mm pitch). Hopefully that's correct, now I just gotta find a die that size.

[TheOtherNick]

Next time leave the nut on the end while you hit it. Then you wont roll the threads. I dont think you are going to find a dye that big with out spends like $50-70 which is a new axle.

[Gorecki]

Next time leave the nut on the end while you hit it. Then you wont roll the threads. I dont think you are going to find a dye that big with out spends like $50-70 which is a new axle.

Dually noted! I'm a little afraid the nut may have been messed up too doing it that way but I can't be certain of that. I'll still have to do one more wheel so I guess we'll see?

I've found snap-on dies for ~$11 (shocker for snap-on) but I've also found something called a 'thread file' which may very well do the trick for about the same money and is only pitch specific, not size and they usually have up to 8 pitch sizes on one file. Now...I just gotta figure out where I can pick one up and not have to order it.

[Rust]

If you can get a small belt sander and taper around the end of the axle just to the good thread
Gets rid of the crushed part and removes the bad threads. The nut, slight taper and some oil should be enough to get it re started.
Has worked for me many times. Depends how hard the steel is.

[Gorecki]

Well I thought I would put some final comments on this and wanted to say thanks to those who contributed their knowledge. So...this is how the resolution went.

I concluded the lower part of the axle threads were more compressed than the top. So to play it totally safe I planned to grind the axle back a bit and then rethread. So the end run I had to wait for a die to be shipped but all ended up a fairly clean result.

So I ground the end of the axle back a little more than 1/4" on an angle giving it more of a cone shape to the point of starting into clean thread.

Got a dienut from Snap-On for $10.90 (I highly recommend it) carefully started working toward the thread. As the axle was squished enough even the area before the existing thread that had been ground back still was large enough to need to cut totally new thread on the axle. The dienut isn't intended to cut new thread, but it did the job. I carefully worked it by hand and with a wrench until I got on to the existing thread. I worked the nut over the new cuts many times until it worked in and out smoothly with no catching.

Worked like a charm...first attempt with the actual shaft nut went right on as though nothing had ever happened.

I just figured filling in these details just might help someone else who runs into the same problem.