Been waiting for someone to test the Astro pneumatic slide hammer and here it is.
- Thread starter tak1313
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dnschmidt
Well-known member
This is what I like about ASTRO. Eric O. got the first version and pronounced it unsuitable for his upstate NY rust buckets. So Chris Petit and his team came up with the bigger, better model that's not quite but pretty close to what the 10# slide hammer can do. That's listening to your customers, or in Eric's case Beta Tester, and making an improvement. All companies should be this responsive.
Buckgnarly
Well-known member
Man, it's close though....good to see data back up the uselessness of the TX twister though!
Grant Gunderson
Well-known member
I can’t remember the last time I’ve used a slide hammer. Despite having a drawer full of them…. And I used to use them daily.
Instead I found it’s always more effective to use a cup system combined with a screw to pull the bearings out. Same principle as you would use to press them in.
Same principle applies to larger bearings as well. Just need a larger cup.
I also have a bunch of the KUKKo bearing splitters. They have tapped holes in them designed to be used with a bridge so you can pull a bearing off of a shaft if it won’t fit into an arbor press.
You can always make puller cups using a section of steel pipe and a threaded steel plate too.
When replacing the $3500 headstock bearings in my lathe I used some plywood and all thread to pull the bearings out.
You should never ever hammer on a bearing regardless of your installing/ removing as you risk getting it cockeyed and damaging the bore.
A recieving cup and ideally a drift that squarely fits into the bearing or a blind bearing puller, etc keeps everything square so you are always using straight linear force. In some cases I’ve machined a notch in the cups when dealing with odd shaped parts to make sure the cup stays flush / square with the part.
I go through thousands of dollars at wholesale of bearings every month and I’ve also found it’s faster and more efficient to use a cup system every time regardless if it’s blind or not. If you are doing the same bearing job over and over it pays dividends to make a dedicated puller setup.
Plus using a threaded puller system in the most extreme cases also allows you to use an impact gun on the puller nut too and that’s far more power than any slide hammer can create. KUKKo and others make hydraulic puller nuts too..
KUKKo, enduro and Posilock make the best bearing tools money can buy and are worth every cent.
I do realize sometimes in automotive situations such as removing a cv joint, boot etc. you may have no choice but to use a slide hammer, but I’d always resort to that at last resort and come up with a linear puller of some sort first.
Instead I found it’s always more effective to use a cup system combined with a screw to pull the bearings out. Same principle as you would use to press them in.
Same principle applies to larger bearings as well. Just need a larger cup.
I also have a bunch of the KUKKo bearing splitters. They have tapped holes in them designed to be used with a bridge so you can pull a bearing off of a shaft if it won’t fit into an arbor press.
You can always make puller cups using a section of steel pipe and a threaded steel plate too.
When replacing the $3500 headstock bearings in my lathe I used some plywood and all thread to pull the bearings out.
You should never ever hammer on a bearing regardless of your installing/ removing as you risk getting it cockeyed and damaging the bore.
A recieving cup and ideally a drift that squarely fits into the bearing or a blind bearing puller, etc keeps everything square so you are always using straight linear force. In some cases I’ve machined a notch in the cups when dealing with odd shaped parts to make sure the cup stays flush / square with the part.
I go through thousands of dollars at wholesale of bearings every month and I’ve also found it’s faster and more efficient to use a cup system every time regardless if it’s blind or not. If you are doing the same bearing job over and over it pays dividends to make a dedicated puller setup.
Plus using a threaded puller system in the most extreme cases also allows you to use an impact gun on the puller nut too and that’s far more power than any slide hammer can create. KUKKo and others make hydraulic puller nuts too..
KUKKo, enduro and Posilock make the best bearing tools money can buy and are worth every cent.
I do realize sometimes in automotive situations such as removing a cv joint, boot etc. you may have no choice but to use a slide hammer, but I’d always resort to that at last resort and come up with a linear puller of some sort first.
I would like to get a 10lb slide hammer for wheel bearings. There seem to be body shop 10lb slide hammers but I do not know if the attachment is the same size and thread pitch for the accessories I have for my 5lb hammers. In the northeast, we have rust that gets in the way of removing stuff. I have stripped 3 jaw pullers.
Grant Gunderson
Well-known member
Cheap pullers have screws made of butter / chinesium. Good ones will hold up and have replacement screws available as well.
The body ones usually have larger threads and larger rod. You'd need one like bought in the video
OTC makes a 5/8-18 10 lb slide hammer. It is stupid expensive for what it is, and I wish they just sold the weight as everyone that's gonna buy this already has their 5 lb kit, but...
I wanted a 10 lb weight (only) to use with my existing OTC shaft. I found a couple but they were stupid expensive.
The cheapest route I found at the time was a Westward kit from Grainger (of all places). I don't remember how much I paid for it because it was years ago, and they also currently have the OTC for about $180. Not sure what the thread is because my intent was to just use the weight withe the OTC rod and keep the Westward rod as backup. Also never used it because like all dedicated GJ member, I bought it without needing it - just to have in case I needed it and haven't needed it yet.
nicks78camaro
Well-known member
If its anything like what I do, I buy something *after* I need it in case I need it again and never do!
That is why I asked — I was pulling rear wheel bearings from a BMW that had seen many years of New England winters and it took about 75 pulls with my 5 lb puller. After that I decided I should buy a 10 lb for next time. Next time has not come yet but I maintain a few BMWs so it will come.
EDIT: I just bought the expensive OTC 10 lb from O’Reilly Auto Parts that has it listed for $106 with free shipping and a 20% off coupon using code GREEN20. I bought a couple of oil filters to bring the total up to the $125 needed for the free shipping and the total in the end worked out to getting the filters for free so by my rationalization I paid about $85 for the OTC tool.
EDIT: I just bought the expensive OTC 10 lb from O’Reilly Auto Parts that has it listed for $106 with free shipping and a 20% off coupon using code GREEN20. I bought a couple of oil filters to bring the total up to the $125 needed for the free shipping and the total in the end worked out to getting the filters for free so by my rationalization I paid about $85 for the OTC tool.
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I find the "towel" method works really well if you need more "Impact" with a slide hammer.
Not sure how easy it is to find the info, but here is my explanation if you want it:
Grab a bath towel (I suppose anything similar will be fine, I've just used a towel)
Tightly wrap the middle of the weight with the towel by twisting it around the center (the humps at the end will prevent the towel from sliding off)
Use the towel to "swing" the weight in the direction needed
The "swing" gives way more speed/momentum to the weight and significantly adds to the impact the weight has against shaft of the tool, and it's also actually easier on your hand versus sliding the weight directly with your hand.
Edit - found an example:
https://youtu.be/oI1sPbjR6yg?si=lKzL7c_WCqu_Uw5m
Damon L.
Well-known member
I needed to remove a bunch of pole barn tin about 20 years ago. Ended up using a modified cat's paw prybar with a short piece of round tubing welded to the back of the "head", perpendicular to the axis of the nails. worked well to pull nails with minimal damage to the sheet metal. I wish I had a picture, as I had borrowed the tool from a friend who salvaged a lot of stuff.
I think i can visualize what you are saying. Sounds like a good idea to set up a custom pry bar. I will experiment with some shapes. Thanks!
Damon L.
Well-known member
Thinking about it more, it essentially moved the fulcrum back and spread the pressure out. Moving the fulcrum back gave it more travel, so nails would typically come out with one pull.
neophyte
Well-known member
You likely need one of these.
HK Porter made them back in the day, and Hultafors makes a mini one.
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drokihazan
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If I had this problem I feel like I'd just buy a chunk of 4140 rod, drill an 11/16 hole in it, and wrap it in grip tape or something.
knobby
Well-known member
Have you seen the side pull nail hammers?
I've tried one of those but it is really hard on the existing roof that i would like to preserve.
Wrench-Polisher
Well-known member
Most here in the rust belt dont even bother with the slide hammer.
Blow torch air hammer blow torch air hammer blow torch air hammer blow torch.
Or use one of them things that clamp onto the studs and use bolts to pry it out of the knuckle. Dont worry about marring the knuckle its already fubar due to rust.