URGENT TECH HELP!!!!

1ST off I've never heard of this or seen this ever before and of course I searched. So here is my panic-ed plea for help.

I was replacing a hub assembly (front wheel bearing) D30) on my 99 cherokee, and I accidentally put my spidertrax wheel spacers on before my brake rotor and torqued up the lug nuts.

I realized immediately what I had done and pulled the lug nuts off, but now the wheel spacer won't come off the hub even without the lug nuts holding it on.

DID the aluminum spacers bond to the hub assembly? or what? I mean I've beat on the spacer with a 3 pound sledge, I've heated up the spacer with a propane torch, I've used 1/2 a can of JB80.... nothing is holding it to the hub, but it will not come off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm about ready to die :explosion

So I'll bolted the wheel and tire to the spacer and set a jackstand 1/4 in below the axle tube and I'll let it sit until tommorrow--- hopefully the weight of the vehicle for 6 hours will seperate the two. I dunno what else to do. I really don't want to scrap my new hub and wheel spacer that's like 200 bucks!

HELP! ANYONE! SUGGESTIONS! REASONS WHY THE WHEEL-SPACER WOULD STICK TO THE HUB? WAYS TO PRY OR PRESS THE SPACER OFF?

You'd need a HUGE slide hammer or a puller of sorts. If you can find a puller the right size, it should work.

I'm guessing you can put the center of the puller against the nut on the axle. If I'm wrong, someone chime in.

Is the center opening of the spacer pressed onto the round part of the hub flange?

What id like to know, is how the caliper fit, with the spacers on before the rotor.

You might be able to pound a screw driver behind the spacer, and pry apart? Might gouge the spacer, but I dont think you would hurt it. If anything, just buy a new spacer if it gets damaged enough.

Got any pics of the situation by chance?

I would do as above and use a cold chisel to drive in slowly all the way around between the hub and the spacer. You can do this either on or off the axle as you should still be able to pull the hub off along with the spacer and then work on it in a vice.

ok if i'm right, the spacer goes over the factory studs and gets tightened, and then the spacer has it's own studs coming out of it that the wheel goes on right???

SSSOOOOOOOO.........install the wheel onto the spacer, put 3 or 4 lug nuts on the threads about 1" or so leaving a little space before snugging them up. now use the wheel as a slidehammer. the weight of the wheel/tire will pull it off of the hub, but it might still take several times. just keep going at it, it'll come off. that's a trick i use to get some of the drums off of cars that have the hubs pressed into the brake drum.

CanMan said:

Is the center opening of the spacer pressed onto the round part of the hub flange?

What id like to know, is how the caliper fit, with the spacers on before the rotor.

You might be able to pound a screw driver behind the spacer, and pry apart? Might gouge the spacer, but I dont think you would hurt it. If anything, just buy a new spacer if it gets damaged enough.

Got any pics of the situation by chance?

Click to expand...

You are right the spacer is pressed onto the hub flange. If you look at a hub... the flange is tapered out toward the surface where the rotor is supposed to mount to it. So it has basically "streched" the spacer over the flange.

I didn't even try the caliper; I realized my mistake as soon as the lug nuts were torqued down, but from what I can see it is spaced too far away to even bolt to the knuckle.

I tried pounding a screwdriver between them last night and all it did was gouge the spacer. I'll try a chisel like Gojeep suggested, and try to use the wheel/tire as a slidehammer like scorpio_vette suggested.

I'll post some pics as well

HOLY COW! that slide hammer Idea worked thank guys for all your input and thanks especially to scorpio_vette for the idea. I'm almost done--granted I'm 2hrs late to work already!

Gravesdiggerxj said:

I'm almost done--granted I'm 2hrs late to work already!

Click to expand...

LOL i can't even remember how many times i've been late to work because of my jeep. LOL always some dumb last minute "bright" idea or "quick" repair. lol that excuse is now about as valid at work as the excuse "my dog ate my homework" was back in school. LOL

This thread makes me feel so much better about the mistake I made putting my T-case together. I kept putting the pum in in the wrong order and it wouldn't shift. DOH! or as my friends in Tech Support say: RTFM