Fed up - 4 hours trying to remove a seized spacer!

[MrPT]

Since it is bonfire weekend I thought I'd make the most of the cover of late night explosions by beating the living p!ss out of a spacer for several hours.

It's a 10mm hubcentric spacer on the left rear axle of my Z4MC. I'm trying to remove it to fit wider wheels with more aggressive offsets. The right rear came off with a heat gun and a couple of taps. So far on this one I've tried:

* pulling it of normally
* several healthy whacks with a mallet
* heat gun and then the above
* heat gun and then thin flat head screwdrivers hammered into the side
* blow torch then more whacks
* blow torch then screwdrivers
* blow torch then a claw hammer, hooked inside the extended hub like a crow bar

All the while soaking liberally with WD40. Going to bed now - pretty annoyed. There wasn't a smudge of anti-seize behind the one that came off so I'm guess that the remaining one is fused solid. Any hope of saving this spacer is gone now - it is thoroughly smashed!

Any more ideas? I guess I could cut the thing off with a dremel or angle grinder. I might buy some PB Blaster - people seem to rate that over WD40. Could also try spray-freezing the rotor before blow torching the spacer, or tapping some oversized bolts into the lug holes and using them to drive it out some how.

Grrr... 1am!

 

[Smartbear]

Try plus gas as its a penetrating oil whereas wd40 is just a water dispersant-heat normally helps but sounds like you've tried that, good luck!
Regards

 

[mr wilks]

Won't the heat be expanding the metal & making it tighter :?
Have you tried inserting something through bolt hole of the spacer ( not into the hub itself tho ) & knocking sideways with a hammer to free it ?

 

[MrPT]

Won't the heat be expanding the metal & making it tighter :?
Have you tried inserting something through bolt hole of the spacer ( not into the hub itself tho ) & knocking sideways with a hammer to free it ?

The heat usually pops the spacer off because you make the Aluminium expand quicker than the iron rotor. The rotor was heating up very fast though.

I will try and find something to fit in a bolt hole - hitting it sideways is a good idea.

 

[Yorkie Z]

You've taken the wheel off first yeah :wink:

 

[rossonr]

Hopefully you will sort and this thread won't end up on the letting off steam thread. Good luck

 

[Paulwirral]

Heat it up as hot as you dare then chuck half a bucket of water over , thermal shock may be enough to crack it .

 

[srhutch]

What about the bearing and grease with heating it up.

 

[MrPT]

Thanks for the input. I have removed the wheel, yes.

I have heard of the thermal shock approach but I'm not going to try that before Wilks' relatively sane approach. It's also absolutely cacking it down outside at the moment a the garage is full.

Why do we do this?! I can barely feel my hands they are so busted.

What about the bearing and grease with heating it up.

Hopefully it will be ok - I was touching the hub occasionally and it doesn't heat up very quickly because it's heat-sunk by the rotor. The rotor can obviously take quite a bit. I was a bit more worried about using the hammer, but it's difficult to know when to stop because shock is usually the best way to get these things off.

 

[srhutch]

As you say with the natural brake heat probably not an issue. THink I would be cutting off though instead of hitting. Drill some hole in a line then chissel between them to break and then chisel between the hub and spacer to remove. Or a dremel as you say to cut through.

 

[maxman]

As the spacer is now u/s you could drill some holes in the aluminium up to the flange,the squirt some plus gas down the holes and leave to soak.This should help to release .

 

[Paulwirral]

If your not comfortable with the heat approach , use 2 hammers , claw hooked in the rear of the spacer then hit it on the face with another hammer , off set chisel for want of a better description , don't worry , the hammers won't explode , the internet is wrong sometimes ! The heat method is probably the easiest though .

 

[ben g]

I don't have any other suggestions to add, but i'd like to say this is exactly why copper grease on the hub face is absolutely essential.

My rear wheels were stuck on and took quite a lot of force to remove. Haven't had a single issue since applying copper grease.

 

[BRC]

Try plus gas as its a penetrating oil whereas wd40 is just a water dispersant-heat normally helps but sounds like you've tried that, good luck!
Regards

I too would always use Plus Gas, WD just isn't up for the task. Make sure you leave copious amounts to penetrate overnight. Tap the spacer all around its circumference and use a heavy weighted hammer head. Repeat ad infinitum. Good luck!

 

[MrPT]

Getting there. The many-screwdrivers approach is working. Time for some lunch.

If you're wondering why the spigot is gone, it's because I tried bending it outwards to pull it off the hub.

It's started to make massive cracking noises, so it won't be long now. Ever heard of a spacer "crack" multiple times before coming off?!

 

[MrPT]

If your not comfortable with the heat approach , use 2 hammers , claw hooked in the rear of the spacer then hit it on the face with another hammer , off set chisel for want of a better description , don't worry , the hammers won't explode , the internet is wrong sometimes ! The heat method is probably the easiest though .

Clever idea - a crow bar and a chisel in one! I did try a claw hammer but couldn't get it behind the spacer. The spacer bent around about 1/5 of its edge before even beginning to come off the hub, but the screwdriver method eventually came good - it was like bash-a-rat with 4 screwdrivers at one point. I'm still going to stick to the heat method in future - as you say, it is really easy when it works.

So, questions on safety...

I had to file down the rotor face a little. It's flat (I rolled the good spacer around the circumference to check it) but the mating surface has a few <1mm gouges. They are around the edges and not near the lug holes. Reckon that'll be ok?

Tested the car on a short drive and everything feels smooth. The bearing is a sealed unit and contained the hub and axle on either side, right? Really hope I haven't damaged it. It is sat behind several kgs of iron and the whole assembly is rubber bushed so I'm assuming it can take a fair beating. Might ask my Indy to strip everything down anyway, just to be sure.

I don't have any other suggestions to add, but i'd like to say this is exactly why copper grease on the hub face is absolutely essential.

F*ck yes. Learnt this lesson when I first tried to take the wheels off my first Z4. No anti-slip and over-torqued wheel nuts. Nightmare.

Spacer, anybody? Some light, cosmetic damage... :?

 

[cj10jeeper]

Glad you got there. Very frustrating.

Few pointers, although you can be sure it'll never happen again:
WD40 is not a penetrating oil, use a proper one, although I doubt it made any difference here
Use copper slip when putting 2 dissimilar metals together, or even a film of high temp grease
Buy some cold chisels. At least one of the screwdrivers you used is brittle plastic and prone to exploding with impact (or at leas wear goggles) I know as I learnt years ago and then got a set of 15 assorted chisels from Screwfix. As soon as they are unrolled on the floor wayward parts accept defeat and fall off willingly...

 

[Mike6]

Do you want to sell those spacers (only joking). Looks like you are almost there. Alloy can react with steel and almost form a welded joint which is obviously what has taken place here. Remember, a job is only worth doing if it has involved a lot of swearing and alcohol

 

[Nictrix]

Do you want to sell those spacers (only joking). Looks like you are almost there. Alloy can react with steel and almost form a welded joint which is obviously what has taken place here. Remember, a job is only worth doing if it has involved a lot of swearing and alcohol

I was going to suggest shouting and swearing at it as that usually works in the end

 

[autobahner]

Have safety goggles on just in case it 'shatters'..