An axle nut socket is a specialized tool used to remove the axle nut on front and certain four-wheel drive vehicles. It is necessary for maintenance on the wheel bearing, axle, or constant velocity joint. It is important to use a breaker bar and not an impact wrench to avoid damage.
An axle nut socket is a tool used to remove the axle nut on front wheel drive as well as certain four wheel drive vehicles. This allows the wheel hub to separate from the axle. These types of vehicles commonly use a splined axle to be tightened into the wheel hub by the axle nut, which requires a specially designed axle nut socket to remove the nut. Some axle nut bushing designs resemble a common socket wrench. Other versions used with ratcheting axle nuts, such as those used on some Ford trucks, require a special socket with small fingers that extend away from the body of the socket.
The typical front-wheel drive axle layout involves the use of the axle nut to securely hold the driveshaft within the front wheel hub. This axle is splined and fits snugly within a similarly splined wheel hub to prevent the wheel hub from slipping on the axle as power is applied to drive the vehicle. The axle nut socket is required to remove the axle nut when performing maintenance on the wheel bearing, axle, or constant velocity (CV) joint. Once the axle nut has been removed, it often requires the use of a wheel hub puller to separate the hub from the axle spline.
Regardless of the size of the spindle nut socket, most tool manufacturers do not recommend using an impact wrench to loosen the spindle nut. A simple breaker bar is usually all that is needed to loosen and remove the nut with an axle nut socket. For a stubborn axle nut, a spray with a rust penetrating oil is usually all it takes to coax the nut off. Occasionally a heavily rusted nut will require repeated applications of the penetrating fluid, along with an overnight soak.
Some versions of the axle nut bushing use a small locating dot inside the bushing to locate the tool directly over the axle nut. Most spindles have a slight depression machined into the center of the spindle shaft where the spindle sat on the lathe points. By placing the locating point of the bushing of the axle nut in this depression, the user of the tool ensures that the bushing sits directly over the nut. This prevents socket slippage that could result in stripped threads on the axle shaft or a stripped axle nut. The axle nut socket should only be used to remove axle nuts, as damage could cause the tool to use it on other types of bolts or nuts.
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