is 5lb slide hammer enough?

[PoorOwner]

I have an OTC slide hammer kit that is 5 lbs.

I used it for small stuff but seems a little weak.

I wonder if it can pull a hub off the wheel bearing. (FWD where it takes the hub and half/outer race of the bearing with it).

The upgrade seems to be available, 10 lb, and have the same thread.

 

[bigworm85]

A 5lb hammer will work most of the time on a fwd wheel bearing in my experience. If it puts up a fight when using the 5lb hammer i've used this trick with great success in the past.

of course i ended up buying a 10lb later but this will help out a lot with a lighter hammer.

 

[bob15]

Try using it, that is the only way you'll know......

 

[PoorOwner]

BTW I also bought the astro 78830 so it's likely I don't need the slide hammer to pull it anymore.

 

[2ndGearRubber]

You will suffer removing any hub with a slide hammer. Even with a 10lb it can be a workout.

A hub puller like above is much nicer to use.

 

[Shadowdog500]

I have the OTC hub grappler and it works great. It looks like the clone made by Astro in post 4 but it cost about $20 more. The forcing screw is also impact rated.

Chris

 

[rlitman]

A 5lb hammer will work most of the time on a fwd wheel bearing in my experience. If it puts up a fight when using the 5lb hammer i've used this trick with great success in the past.

of course i ended up buying a 10lb later but this will help out a lot with a lighter hammer.

When I did the wheel bearings in my Subaru, my 5lb hammer was worthless. Perhaps that trick might have helped, but I’m not sure.

Some late night plasma cutting and welding made me a hammer using a 10lb cast iron dumbbell weight and scrap metal that did the job nicely.

 

[ex-x-fire]

Since we're talking about hubs & bearings, what a good set of pliers to handle those snap rings? I've seen some lately that my snap ring pliers would grab.

 

[2ndGearRubber]

Since we're talking about hubs & bearings, what a good set of pliers to handle those snap rings? I've seen some lately that my snap ring pliers would grab.

Rattling them lightly usually gets them loose, pull one ear out the walk it out it a flathead screwdriver. If you have a replacement, heat it up cherry red and bend it out.

 

[mailpup]

If you are going to use a slide hammer, I would just go ahead and use the 10 lb hammer if you can. I've used a 5 lb hammer on a really stuck hub on a Honda Odyssey once and it wouldn't budge. There was some corrosion. I also used the towel/rag method. I later bought a 10 lb hammer but haven't had a chance use it yet.

What I used in the end was an Old Forge (now Ken Tool) Hub Shark kit. I also have an OTC Hub Grappler but opted to use the Hub Shark this time because it has a 7/8" diameter forcing screw while the Hub Grappler uses a 3/4" forcing screw. The Grappler would have probably worked too but I don't know because I used the Old Forge kit instead. Because I like options I also recently bought the Astro hub puller kit too. You can never have enough tools.

Since we're talking about hubs & bearings, what a good set of pliers to handle those snap rings? I've seen some lately that my snap ring pliers would grab.

I've used a Channellock 929 snap ring pliers or you could use the practically identical Lang Tools 75. I think Lang makes it for Channellock. They are large enough to handle the snap ring size that hub bearings come with. They both come with differently angled tips and you can buy replacements. Dedicated fixed tip snap ring pliers will usually have to be discarded once the tips wear out. You can get the pliers individually or as a set of three different sizes.

 

[Fluelikesymptoms]

Following because I've beat the hell out of my 5lb and will need to replace it.

Probably will just get a 10lb setup next time.

My old one is bent, threads damaged (still, barely, functional though), and the weight/handle is smashed on both sides so everytime you pull on it you have to knock it loose.l in order to pull on it again.

Still does what it's supposed to though.

Never had much luck with old rusted hubs (this is actually where 99% of the damage came from), but makes easy work of rear axle bearings rwd, and the like.

Will admit I abused it alot such as jamming it between the hub and frame or whatever solid non rotating part I could, and then using the steering to create a press of sorts out of the slide hammer (how it bent).

Life probably would have been easier with a 10lb at many times.

Many suggest OTC brand, I have to say I'm certain otc slide hammer is made in Taiwan or china. I have their bearing puller attachments and bearing/race setters, no experience with their slide hammers but the one I have now is Taiwan. Not impressed with any of it. I would search for a different brand made in US as having crappy Taiwan/chinese steel on slide hammer gets annoying after it wears and mushrooms out.