I have a 2002 2500 4x4 Diesel with a bad front wheel assembly.

It seems like it's rusted on and I can't remove it despite 4 hours of beating on it. Is there a trick or special tool to pull it out?

Thanks for any help.

Bob

 

yeah getting ready to do the other side of mine as well. do a search there is alot of other tips out there. mine was soaked in penitrating oil for a week prior alot of it. dont know how much it helped. some people try heat. I dont agree with that. there are pullers that some use. and some pullers out there that do damage. I had a impact and about 2 1/2 hours. but once done clean and sand the inner area and antiseaze the crap out of it. there are tricks some use with sockets bolts and power steering turning the wheel but never tried that way. do a search on it.

 

the old "hot wrench" works well

 

Take all the bolts out except the front bolt on the bottom. Remove it about half way or so. Get a bolt/stud/keystock/etc. to place between the bolt and the steering stop on the inner knuckle. Crank the wheel. If that doesn't make it pop out, start the truck and crank the wheel. Should pop out. You will want to use something fairly thick when doing this. I used a 1/2" B7 stud, and I wound up bending it pretty good when I removed the difficult one on my truck.

 

ONLY way to get it done!! I had a very experienced mechanic at a Dodge dealer tell me this is the way that Dodge recommends to do it.
You can beat on it all ya want, it ain't gonna help..

 

search for the power steering socket trick. Worked like a charm. You have to crank the wheel pretty hard, but it busted the bearing loose fairly easily. Just use old sockets because they will get pretty beat up....

 

Thanks everyone for the info.

I used an old beefy socket and the steering wheel method.

I'm getting ready to do the other side next.