Help....Broken hub bolts!

So in an attempt to loosen the hub enough to get clearance to replace one of my wheel studs, I've managed to break all the 3 hub bolts. I used heat, and PB Blasters, but the rust was having none of it. So at this point, I have almost removed one of the remaining halves of the bolt, but I still have two more that are sure to be even more of a PITA. Should I go ahead and remove the axle nut and assembly behind or can I get away with removing the rest of the old hub bolts and threading in new ones?

If you broke the heads off, you should be able to get the hub out with the inner+outer shafts still in it. At that point you might be able to just grab the shaft of the old bolt with a pair of vice grips or weld a nut onto the end and remove it. Make use of your favorite penetrating oil, some heat, and a few whacks from a BFH and they should come out.

If the hub is junk,with the heads of the bolts broken off the hub can be beaten off with a large hammer. The rust that destroyed the bolts will add to your work in removing the offending hub.It may be very stuck on the Knuckel But first remove the axle nut.
Ron

Popped off like a charm. Hub isnt even in bad shape, just gonna use a drill press and get the rest of the bolts out.

your location says florida, so i take it that your rig is from somewhere else?

and by hub do you mean unit bearing? the heads of the three 12 point bolts that hold the unit bearing on are off then its just a matter of pulling the unit bearing and axle shaft out. if the axle is as rusted as you are describing, then good luck getting the axle nut off. it would just be better to get a "new" unit bearing and axle shaft at the junkyard.

posting up pics of what your describing would help out a ton.

EDIT: you posted up a minute faster than me. its good to hear you got it off. be careful drilling out the bolts because the unit bearing is threaded.

Unit bearing I guess, the FSM likes to refer to it as the hub so thats what I was going by. The rig appears to be from minnesota, surface rust all over the vehicle, however nothing bad, the axle nut actually came off without a hitch. As soon as I take care of this unit bearing issue and install my 3'' lift I'm going to POR-15 the whole underside of the heep. Now, does anyone have any idea where I can order a new set of the bolts I destroyed?

You can likely pick up a shaft with a hub still on it and all three bolts for like $20-30 at a junkyard - if that doesn't work, brand new OEM bolts are part number 3420 1535. zmjeeps.com has them for $1.75 each it seems. mopardiscountparts.com has them for $4.49 :shocked:

Sweet, Thanks! I will post pics tommorow along with more questions probably

kastein said:

You can likely pick up a shaft with a hub still on it and all three bolts for like $20-30 at a junkyard - if that doesn't work, brand new OEM bolts are part number 3420 1535. zmjeeps.com has them for $1.75 each it seems. mopardiscountparts.com has them for $4.49 :shocked:

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How the heck do you use that site, zmjeeps.com, they list parts but not what they are for like ac condensers.

I grab the relevant MOPAR parts catalog off the shelf, page through it till I find the relevant section (go figure, these were listed along with the hubs/unit bearings under BRAKES, SERVICE, FRONT instead of under FRONT SUSPENSION where the rest of the d30 is), grab the part number, and throw it in their search. It is pretty hard to use without part numbers, yeah.