Posted by Gordon Maney on Sunday, December 05, 2004 at 1:26AM :
In Reply to: Broken axle??? posted by Dylan on Saturday, December 04, 2004 at 10:35AM :
In a variety of vehicles over the years I have retrieved axle shaft stubs with a piece of wire. You form a loop, using the long piece of axle, so that loop will just slide over the end of the stub. The wire must have a little flex to it, so that when you pull on the wire, the loop cocks, grabs the shaft, and you just pull it right out.
I learned that when I was in high school. I had broken the axle in my 1953 Oldsmobile. I was staring in that black hole, trying to decide what to do next, and this old man who lived across the street asked me what I was doing.
I told him, indicating that I was lost and did not know what to do next.
“A piece of wire,” he said.
“What?”
I couldn’t imagine how that could help. He explained it to me as I did above. I got a piece of wire wire, formed the loop, and had the stub out in about three minutes. It worked really slick.
I still have that axle stub; I kept it as a souvenir.
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