between a rock and a hard place

[kyle_22r]

in my quest to change my bent up axle shaft, i've been tearing into my rear end today.  unfortunately, the 25 year old drain plug has siezed itself in there and my socket wrench did little but round it off and make it completely unextractable.  i see "ez out" kits at some places, would one of these work?  it's a pain in the butt because i have no welder at home and i can't drive my truck to school to weld a piece of bar to the housing to break it loose

[toyotaboy]

can you get a set of vice grips on it?

[yotaboy79]

ask your shop teacher if you can bring a welder home it never herts to ask try taking a cut off wheel and cutting a deep slit into it like a screw or a bolt would have and then take a big hammer and a punch to screw it out

[Hyena]

Just pull the nuts off of the third member studs.  It will loosen the third member and then the oil will drain out.

[toyotaboy]

Just pull the nuts off of the third member studs.  It will loosen the third member and then the oil will drain out.

then you have to pull the axles, take it off and re-seal everything you would have to bleed the brakes everytime you wanted to change the oil... dont you think it would be better if the problem was fixed that way it would be a lot easier to deal with in the future?

[kyle_22r]

ask your shop teacher if you can bring a welder home it never herts to ask try taking a cut off wheel and cutting a deep slit into it like a screw or a bolt would have and then take a big hammer and a punch to screw it out

only problem there is that we don't have any 110v welders...only 220 volt ones and the truck is 100 feet from the nearest outlet

i hate those plugs with a passion, i have a siezed front fill plug as well.  there just isn't enough to get a socket on and expect it to do much good

[yotaboy79]

try this it should work just make shure you smack it the right way

cut off wheel and cutting a deep slit into it like a screw or a bolt would have and then take a big hammer and a punch to screw it out

[kyle_22r]

i might give that or a chisel a try.  i think just about anything's worth a shot now

[Jared]

toyota boy has probably mentioned this BUT I WOULD GO WITH HIS DEAL AND USE VISE GRIPS>  While  your at it pull acouple of studs out.  Kill two birds with one stone. 

[yotaboy79]

if its tight enoph that he rounded off that bolt (wile using the right socket) i would be willing to bet money that vice grips wont do sh*t sorry ive been there and that was the first thing i tryed it didnt work but its worth a shot maybey you will get lucky, now if you can get ahold of a torch i would try puting vice grips on it then heating it up and then try the vice grips but use gloves cuz those vice grips will get hot

[yotaboy79]

oh and pull the therd so you can get the oil out other wise you might start a fire or just realy stink up the shop

[toyotaboy]

if its tight enoph that he rounded off that bolt (wile using the right socket) i would be willing to bet money that vice grips wont do sh*t sorry ive been there and that was the first thing i tryed it didnt work but its worth a shot maybey you will get lucky, now if you can get ahold of a torch i would try puting vice grips on it then heating it up and then try the vice grips but use gloves cuz those vice grips will get hot

vice grips have always worked for me when something stripped out using the right socket.. you jusy have to make sure you dont act like a girl thingy when you set how tight the vice grips are going to be when locked...

[kyle_22r]

i took it to a buddy that had a shop lift and we got it out with a chisel.  we just couldn't get enough leverage on it on jack stands

NOW, everything's about ready to go but i need to bleed my brake lines.  simple deal, right?  WRONG.  my master ran dry since i couldn't find anything that'd keep fluid in the lines when the shafts were out, so i tried getting the flare nuts out of it and not even vise grips could save me

[toyotaboy]

im not sure i understand the problem... buy a bunch of brake fluid and get ur bleed on... oh and i was thinkin about ur "old" problem last night, next time another solution would be to take an air grinder with a thin cut off disk, grind a small groove in there for the size of a flattip screwdriver or even do two grooves for a phillips and then use and "impact driver" i believe thats what there called.. the screwdrivers that you whack on and they compress turning the tip.. that could have worked...

[Tool Guy]

the Home Depot sells a "Nut Remover" set similiar to the easy out concept.  Look in hardware, the brand name is "Irwin". I think the set runs about 15 to 20 bucks.  I believe there is a remover the right size for the drain plug.

[kyle_22r]

alright, she's ready to go, except for one last problem.

the pinion flange has been swapped on the third so it has the late square pattern instead of the rectangular pattern for my truck's driveshaft.  what's a guy to do now?

[toyotaboy]

well why did you swap them? the square ones are teh ones taht you cant re-drill as fas as i remember so you can eather fint an older slip yoke or put the round flange back on... Wait, I am pretty shure that all thirds had the same pattern the only change was on the front part of the t-case that goes to the front d-shaft.. do you have any pics? pics are worth a thoudsand words..

[kyle_22r]

nope, i didn't swap them, the guy that i bought it from swapped them

they don't have a square flange like some i've seen, both flanges are round, except the one on the third has square bolt pattern so at least 2 bolts don't line up...here's some pics:

first one is the old third and pinion flange, 2nd is the new third

[kyle_22r]

and here's the carnage.  3 pinion teeth somehow blew out and raised hell inside the third.  took chunks out of the ring gear bolts and the carrier:

[toyotaboy]

scoot over 45* from one of the holes and just re-drill it... clamp the d-shaft flange onto the pinion flange and go to it.. or you could buy a new one...

[yotaboy79]

im pritty shure it wont be senterd unless i dont understand what your saying you could always just swap flanges

[toyotaboy]

just re-drill holes right here...

[kyle_22r]

i gave it a shot, and screwed up.  the holes don't all line up

isn't swapping the pinion flange kinda risky?  i don't have a torque wrench.

[toyotaboy]

i gave it a shot, and screwed up.  the holes don't all line up

isn't swapping the pinion flange kinda risky?  i don't have a torque wrench.

how could you mess that up? clamp the slip yoke flange on there, drill out the holes, or drill out two holes, put bolts int them, drill out the other two... how did you mess it up?

[kyle_22r]

i lined it up, tried to put a dimple the best i could in the center with a punch and drilled away.  damn thing likes to slip on me in an awkward position like that

i might open up the holes with a larger bit tomorrow to get a little more space

[toyotaboy]

Just leave teh slip yoke clamped on.. taht way it cant move around... drill throughthte holes in the slip yoke to line up the holes your drilling

[toyotaboy]

im bored so here is a painted version... if you need me to i will take a pic of the actual thing tomorrow.. Drill the three red holes without taking off the clamp, once they are drilled take off the clamp, put the bolts and nuts into the three red holes you just drilled (ataching the slip yoke by thre bolts instead of vice grips) and drill the last hole... it centers itself and i reall dont see where you could go wrong if you do EXACLY as i just described..

[robinhood4x4]

I was lucky when I encountered this problem, Roger Brown, who is local to me, happened to have a jig for redrilling the flange.  All it is, is an old dshaft flange with a machined cylinder to center the jig on the flange.  I can't imagine trying to drill the holes when the dshaft is still attached.  It'd be a pain in the butt to get the drill in there. 

[kyle_22r]

yeah, my drill won't get in there(unless i wanted to drill at an angle towards the pinion )

[toyotaboy]

yeah, my drill won't get in there(unless i wanted to drill at an angle towards the pinion )

mother of god.... are you in special ed classes?