Tips and Tricks to Getting off those Front diff bolts

With all the disaster stories I've read on here I thought I'd add some tips/tricks to help those who are about to dive into the task of changing their front differential oil. I have never stripped a bolt yet. *knock on wood*

The thing you have to realize is that the hole of these bolts are stupid shallow and can get dirt and other crap in them. So first thing is to clean them out with a wire brush and metal pick as best you can. Use a flashlight and make damn sure you got all the dirt/crud/rust out.

DO NOT spray the bolts with any oil as it will only make matters worst, the crush washer blocks the oil from getting to the threads anyways. You want the hole/bolt as clean as possible.

Spray the hole with brake cleaner so there's NO OIL residue in the hole this will help your allen wrench "GRIP" the hole.

Do NOT use these types of wrenches/sockets with the rounded edges. These will only help you strip the hole. Remember the hole is SHALLOW! So these types of rounded type hex tips and wrenches will make it VERY EASY to strip the hole. AVOID!

BAD, BAD, BAD...

Instead, find a regular allen wrench with a very SHARP edge with a long handle! The edge of the tip must be SHARP for the best grip. Did I mention SHARP!

Here's an example of what I'm referring to....with a LONG handle...

The sharp edges give you a better grip and will stay inside the hole much better. The downside is that inserting the tool into the hole takes some persuasion with a hammer which leads to my next tip...

TAP that allen wrench into the hole with a hammer real good and make sure the handle is pointed down towards the ground.

Now instead of trying to turn the wrench to undo the bolt, SMACK the wrench with the hammer instead with a few solid smacks. Make sure your smacks are straight on and not at an angle. Very important! If the allen wrench pops out, tap it back into the hole, make sure its in all the way.

It took me 2 solid hits to break the bolt loose.

Now replace that stupid bolt with a Lexus one with a hex head on it or weld a nut to the old one.

Hope this helps someone out there. Good luck!

 

Hitting those allen keys with a hammer always resulted in a spring board type reaction for me, bouncing the hammer and the allen key everywhere lol

 

Yea I like to push it and hold it in the direction I want it to go and I hit it at the very bottom of the handle. With the larger wrenches like the 10mm the spring back isn't as bad as the smaller ones.

 

Great write up.....
Wondering what your thoughts are to still spraying the bolts with ie. PB Blaster penetrating oil to help with the release of the bolt(s) but once you reassemble you can spray with Brake Kleen to remove any remaining oil to stop and or discourage any dirt and debris from accumulating and filling the hole.
Go Team TW !

 

Replace the drain plug with the Lexus male plug.

 

penetrating oils won't help.
not being mean here, but think about it. there is a washer who's job is to STOP fluid from leaving. Its not going to let any fluid ENTER either. so its no good. Best idea is to clean the area around the bolt so dirt and crud aren't fighting you as well.

If I had to do it over again, and I had the original 10mm allen bolt, I would take the cheapest 10mm allen wrench and cut the end flat, so its like OP said. No rounded endges. Then I would stick it in the hole, mark off how far in the T-Case bolt it goes ( measurement A ), then take it over to my 10mm socket and do the same thing, see how far in it goes into the socket (measurment B). Take the two measurements and add them together ( A + B = C ). Now take that last measurement ( C ) and mark that on the allen key, cut it off there. The goal is to be able to sick the allen key into the T-Case and slip your 10mm Socket on it and have zero, or as close to zero as possible gap between the socket and bolt. This keeps your torque in line. I think I stripped mine out because the force I was applying was not horizontal to the bolt, but angled slightly.

for me, I stripped the thing right some good, welded on a nut, and installed the Lexus bolt.

 

No, do NOT spray any oil. The crush washer behind the bolt will stop any oil from reaching the threads. And you make it easier for the allen wrench to slip out of the hole if you do spray it with oil. You want squeaky clean and a tight fit.