Any ideas or tricks?

[TonyPgh]

I was regreasing my hubs today.
And wanted to service some other things.
I tried to remove the front axle fill plug. Before removing the drain plug!!
I cannot get it out. I soaked it with PB blast. No luck! I cannot get it off, even with a breaker bar.
It is starting to slowly round it out. So I stopped. Any ideas?

Also, I checked my Transfer case fluid. It is full, but I wanted to change it. How are you guys getting tranny fluid in there? There is no room at all to get to that opening!!

[RacerXXL]

Originally Posted by TonyPgh

I was regreasing my hubs today.
And wanted to service some other things.
I tried to remove the front axle fill plug. Before removing the drain plug!!
I cannot get it out. I soaked it with PB blast. No luck! I cannot get it off, even with a breaker bar.
It is starting to slowly round it out. So I stopped. Any ideas?

Also, I checked my Transfer case fluid. It is full, but I wanted to change it. How are you guys getting tranny fluid in there? There is no room at all to get to that opening!!

http://www.amsoil.com/catalog.aspx?GroupID=292

[intender]

I remember when i did mine that i was really glad i had a body lift. for the transfer case I went to harbor freight and bought one of their cheap fluid hand pumps. They have them at advance and auto zone too, but they are about twice the price.

http://www.harborfreight.com/multi-u...ump-66418.html

as for the fill plug, a lot of people seem to have trouble getting them off, but I am pretty sure I could have pulled mine loose with my fingers. the front and rear fill plugs were both barely on there. If yours is really in there tight and you can get to it without melting other stuff take a torch to it. if not get some stuff called crc freeze off. you might use a whole can on the one bolt, but it usually works. its pretty much compressed gas that comes out super cold and causes the bolt to contract a bit and allow you to get it loose.

[TonyPgh]

Originally Posted by intender

I remember when i did mine that i was really glad i had a body lift. for the transfer case I went to harbor freight and bought one of their cheap fluid hand pumps. They have them at advance and auto zone too, but they are about twice the price.

http://www.harborfreight.com/multi-u...ump-66418.html

Hey, I saw those before, good idea!!!

as for the fill plug, a lot of people seem to have trouble getting them off, but I am pretty sure I could have pulled mine loose with my fingers. the front and rear fill plugs were both barely on there. If yours is really in there tight and you can get to it without melting other stuff take a torch to it. if not get some stuff called crc freeze off. you might use a whole can on the one bolt, but it usually works. its pretty much compressed gas that comes out super cold and causes the bolt to contract a bit and allow you to get it loose.

I have some freeze off. I needed it for my spark plugs...ugh!
I will try that tomorrow. maybe if that don't work. I will try some map gas. I was afraid of throwing some heat under there. But may have no choice. The rear axle plug spun right out. This front one looks like it has not been off for a while.

[TonyPgh]

Ya know...I have always swore by PB Blast. Which I still like....However.
I used the Freeze it, and I'll be damn! It worked.
That stuff isn't cheap, but it does work.
My front axle was a bit low, but very clean, so I just topped it off.

That pump, I did buy at advance. I wished I would have bought one of those years ago! I drained and filled my transfer case in record time! Outstanding!
The drain plug was clean, fluid was not that bad. But I wanted Valvoline Max life in it, so its done!
I need to figure out what I can run through that hand pump to clean it out, so I can use it for rear end fluid too??

[robcarync]

Freeze off / freeze it is D-shiznit

[intender]

Originally Posted by TonyPgh

Ya know...I have always swore by PB Blast. Which I still like....However.
I used the Freeze it, and I'll be damn! It worked.
That stuff isn't cheap, but it does work.
My front axle was a bit low, but very clean, so I just topped it off.

That pump, I did buy at advance. I wished I would have bought one of those years ago! I drained and filled my transfer case in record time! Outstanding!
The drain plug was clean, fluid was not that bad. But I wanted Valvoline Max life in it, so its done!
I need to figure out what I can run through that hand pump to clean it out, so I can use it for rear end fluid too??

to clean the pump out, drained my rear end into an open pan and sit for about 5 minutes pumping the old fluid through the pump. seemed to do the job pretty well. the thing still smells like tranny fluid, but then again so do all of my tools that I used when changing it.

[TJTJ]

PB Blaster is good if you need to dissolve rust. The diff plugs are rarely rusted though, they are more typically just thread jammed.

When over tightened, so the threads jam, the freeze stuff works better than blaster because it makes the plug and the threads for the hole contract at different rates, breaking their bond....and hitting the PLUG directly shrinks it so its less tight in the hole. (Spraying the hole like you are trying to get the stuff into the threads works less well, etc...)

I have in the past also just welded some bar stock to the diff plug in question...and used the bar to then turn the plug out....works like a charm.

[xtacular]

The hole is a little bigger than 1/2"- it's 13.1mm. If you can get your hands on a square shank socket in that size, which is super hard, you can put way more torque on it. I've had to borrow one twice for my tranny and it saved me.