Simple Axle Boot Job turns in MegaBuck $$$

I have a 2004 C4S. It has a split axle boot on passenger side, outside. I Had the front bumper cover off, cleaning radiators, and doing Air-Slot modification to the wheel-fender liners, ala 997. OK, let's go on the the CV boots. First item: the gawd awful 340 ft/lb nut on axle. NBD, similar to VW (old bug) flywheel bolt. Car on ground, wheels chocked. I used 32mm/1.25" - 3/4" socket, 3/4" breaker bar, and floor jack handle. I supported the 3/4" extension with a perfect level jackstand. It was harder than heck to turn and pull with 4' extension but I did it. Repeat, repeat, repeat. I had sprayed with Liquid Wrench, the day before. Repeat. repeat. Still hard. I measured the distance from axle stub to the flats on THE NUT. OK, more pull-repeats. Measure again. Cripes! No change. Clean axle stub and make pencil mark on stub at 12 o'clock. Pull, repeat 2 times. The pencil mark is now at 9 o'clock. Cripes! The axle is moving in the wheel carrier which means the splines are shot, THE NUT is fused to the axle, and no way am I going to get that axle out to R&R CV boots. My opinion based on the turning axle. The wheel on garage floor never moved. What do the multitude of RL experts think or suggest for solution, what to replace, and so on? Does all of this mean the axle assembly from the front diff. to THE NUT needs to be replaced or put another way, is toast? I like the "4" in C4S, so I would like to keep it a "4". I don't see any way I can make it a "2" with what I have found. What are options, parts needed, etc, etc. Zero P-shops, nearest in another state. Both Indy - dealership 250+ miles away. I am my own "Indy" so-to-speak. Bummer.

I would try and find a way to apply pressure from the back. When I had to replace my front boots I used my heavy duty impact wrench. It's rated somewhere north of the 340lb spec. But the fact the splines are turning is problematic. You may need to pull the entire wheel carriers.

You're gonna have to drill out the threaded end of the axle until the nut is off. Then get the axle out of the hub. Throw axle in the trash. Amazon has new front axles for $200 a pair. Inspect splines in the hub, and be prepared to replace the hub and wheel bearing if the splines are shot.

One of those big **** Milwaukee 1600 ft-lb impact drivers should come to the rescue. You have to spend some bucks on this job.

An impact gun/wrench is going to be key - the �shock� of the impact is what�s going to get that nut to turn. Make sure you soak it with a good penetrant (ATF+acetone?). You may also have to hold the axle as well but you should be able to get that nut to turn. It�s hard to believe you could strip the splines on the axle by trying to turn the axle nut� Good Luck

Quotes source post: 19955735

Well,, if its true the wheel is not moving but the nut/axle is moving, like you say can only be 1 thing. The splines are stripped out as unbelievable as that may be.... Those splines in axle and hub are German hardened steel, If those splines weren't worn out from bad bearing, lose nut, corrosion, etc..., than can't fathom how even a 10' breaker bar with 2000lbs on the end could even touch those splines integrity... If it were me I'd follow Theprf suggestion. Or get out your Oxy-acetylene cutting torch and burn off that axle(or use whatever appropriate tool you have) as close as possible to hub, take out the upright, burn off the nut, press out whats left of the axle stub/hub/bearing, clean up the uppright and rebuild with new hub/bearing/shaft. Grease new splines liberally with a good grade of marine type grease, use never seize on nut.... Good luck jmo

Put a good size pipe wrench on the inner axle and a good impact gun will get that off.

I had a similar issue with a 1986 Corvette rear hub. In my case the hub with studs cracked/sheared with no damage to the splines. To get mine off, I took a Dremel with a cutting wheel and cut the nut on a diagonal, making sure to not get to the threads. Then when cut as far as possible, I took a cold chisel, placed it in the cut, one good hit popped the nut, then it easily came off. Mark the half shaft to the front diff, and the rotate the nut, I bet the half shaft is turning and you wind up having a sheared hub vs damaged splines. -Tom

^^^^^ This. Cut the nut off and work out from there.

Update Today-- SUCCESS YEA! YEA! YEA! I went to HorrorFright looking at electric impact guns. While, they may be "nice", anything more than ~200-300 ft/lbs gets expensive on an inverse square law principal. The VERY NICE HF lady said they didn't have any battery electric units anywhere near the Ft/Lbs I wanted. Looking for other stuff like disposable gloves, LED patio lights, she came back to me. She offered an Air Impact Gun, pretty good, only 300 Ft/lbs, inexpensive, ~$70, asked if I had air compressor. Well yes! OK, I have my 35 y.o. impact gun, I'll try it again. No deal, dint work. So this past week wheels off car, jacked up on jack stands. I have been spraying Liquid Wrench on THE NUTs 2-3 times a day. I jammed paper towels around them so they would continue to soak, not drip off. I also looked at Amazon. After the usual 10-100 close-but-absolutely Wrong impact gun suggestions, I found one rated at 1950FT/Lbs, 3/4" drive. It was relatively cheap at $90. Our friends in the brown truck delivered it, a ball-joint tool, and a strong 3-point raised axel pusher/puller (?). I don't remember what it is called. Still waiting for 16mm & 18mm wrenches, the Only metric/english size I do not have. I got the new impact gun ready, new air fitting with Teflon tape and some air tool oil. I connected the air line and turned on the compressor. I jammed the biggest size screw driver in the disk vanes and locked it on a 2x6 on the floor. Armed with new gun, hearing protection, and eye protection I waited while compressor wound up to 125psi. When it quit, I attacked the passenger side NUT. It was reluctant, On-Off Impact, but it FINALLY MOVED! Then the NUT lost the fight and just gave up, spun and came off! Yea! I went back to compressor and let out air to make it rewind up to my set 125psi. When it quit again I attacked the driver side NUT. Same story! Yea! Victory of THE NUTS. FWIW- Internet Indy-Finder says there are 2 shops here. Wrong, both closed, long gone. Local VW-Audi folks would not even consider taking THE NUTS off, didn't want anything to do with a 20 y.o. Porsche. No other shop or dealer would try it either. The CV Joint bellows R&R is not difficult, just tedious and messy. Life in the garage lane. So, I guess I am my own "Indy". On to the other parts, no big deal as far as I can see. The battery impacts are nice, but the big guns are all air-powered. Does that sound like something similar with P-cars before 996? Ha! Fine with me, I have 5 or 6 impact/wrench tools now and know I can get stuff apart/together to fix/work on. YMMV

My Milwaukee M18 battery High Torque Impact wrench is rated at 1,600 ft-lbs. That has not failed.

Yea, once you have a big boy electric impact gun, you'll never go back to air. Harbor Freight has one that my brother has, he calls it "big Mo" and it works fantastically. I have a Milwaukee big boy, works great too. Glad to hear you got it.

Quotes source post: 19968565

Great, glad it all worked out for ya... So what was it,,, sheared hub or damaged splines..? Can you show us a pic of the damage that let the axle spin in the hub...?.

Quotes source post: 19969485

For what it's worth if anyone is searching around for a solution, my Milwaukee 1/2" Mid-Torque (Model 2962-20) was enough to get the axle nut off after a few ugga-duggas. AFAIK, there isn't anything on a 996 that needs higher torque than the axle nut, so the Milwaukee should be enough to cover anything 996-related, and I'm sure the equivalent new Dewalt would be the same. I've also heard that if you don't plan to use an impact too much and aren't bought into another brand's batteries already, the highest end Hyper Tough impact wrench from Wal-mart is a good option for 1/3 the price.