Hub Puller

Pa Joe

Pa Joe

Senior Member
I am new to model As and would like opinions about different wheel pullers. The K R Wilson is the most expensive so I assume it's the best. I was wondering if I could get away with the cheaper styles. your thoughts would be appreciated. Joe
 
I use a 3 Arm puller that fastens to 3 lug bolts. It has a centering point that pushes on the end of the axle. It has never failed to loosen a hub and has never done any damage. I don't know the brand name.
 
Like I always did in my foolish youth, I cheaped out and bought a 3-arm puller; it was useless. I bought the KR Wilson tool and it has worked great every time.

Steve
 
K R WILSON Puller;

All you have to do is to keep from screwing up one hub or axle and the K R W Tool has paid for itself.

My Opinion.
 
The one from MAC'S, Snyder's and others, though cheaper than the KR Wilson works great. Have yet to find a hub it didn't like and have never damaged an axle. Some time you just have to try something different. Things have improved on somethings since the 20's and 30's and this is one of them. I know serveral people who swear buy the newer cheaper model. Just another opinion.
 
Be sure to remove the castle nut and spacer, then reinstall castle nut, reversed, and just on far enough to be even with the end of the axel; this will keep you from screwing up the end of the axel.

Ron
 
before you buy one check with your parts store some have loaners, if no luck there check with your brake shop they may lend you one, i have the extra heavy 3 arm puller and i have never found a hub i couldnt get off, mine weights over 20#
 
We have a model A one here which is a forged steel cone which completely engulphes the hub. It bolts on with all 5 lug nuts . The centre has a large fine thread bolt , through the centre of that is a sliding bolt. You bolt the puller hard to the hub and wind the big outer nut up hard .You then bop the sliding bolt head .I normally heat the hub end with a propane/butane hand held torch for a few minutes and never had one I could not get off or damaged an axle end. Just curious as I always thought it was a USA Ford shop tool . I also have the one for the AA truck hub and these can be a bear to get off but the AA puller has not been defeated yet.Just wondered if you have these in USA or are these "Made in England" ???

John in a lovely sunny spells breezy England
 
forever4 said:
Since you are asking, no, you cannot get away with a cheaper style.
Use the KRW style.

http://www.fordgarage.com/pages/KRWhubpuller.htm



I fabricated a puller designed like the KRW puller using the pictures in the web-site above. If you have the facilities to do this you can have the satisfaction of making your own. Mine is available to use for free to all the members of our Model "A" Club. Don/WI
Click to expand...
 
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Mitchell Mfg that make the overdrives are making a puller similar to the KR Wilson style. You might look at that one.
 
I use a very heavy duty three arm puller in my automotive shop. ( it's not cheep ) Ford dealers used them back a long time ago. Also used them on Chrys. products . We use it on the newer front hubs on a lot of front drive cars. I have never had any problems or damage done. This is just my opinion. Bill
 
There is the "Old Timer's" trick for loosening the rear hubs.
That was of loosening the axel nut and driving the car around the block. To loosen the right side, you took all left turns and visa-versa.
It might work. It's worth a shot !
MIKE :)
 
All the better brand pullers of the period, like Snap-on, K R Wilson, and Plomb came with a screw-on cap for the axle threads to protect them better than the reversed nut can. This is usually lost over the decades, but you can make one by cutting down a cheap modern "knocker" type puller (only about 5 bucks) and drilling in a snall depression to center the puller ram.
On the 3-leggers...I once had to pull a VERY stuck Model A drum with one. It nicely illustrated the problem with this tool on a 5 1/2" circle...the drum SPLIT across the friction surface from the distortion of the pull. I assume the hub was permanently distorted, but didn't check...all of that was rusted junk enclosing a nice gear set.
The sound when that thing split must have sent every dog in the neighborhood three feet into the air...same for the later BANG when the hub finally let go.
Three-leggers were used, but as HUB pullers, not as pullers from the studs. Multiple tool companies sold Ford adapters for standard 3 leg pullers...these were lozenge shaped forgings with two lug studs OR bolt holes. The adaptor slipped into the hub slot on the Ford, and the puller attached to it with 2 legs. Pulled from the center like KRW, just a more awkward tool to assemble.
 
Thanks again guys. The reason I ask is I had a 40 coupe a few years ago that I couldn't get the hub off until I broke down and paid the 150 bucks for a KRW. BUT, I screwed up, I left it in the car. It's in N Dakota and I'm in Pa. Guess I'll have to bite the bullet and get another one. Joe
PS Back then I still had a devil of a time even with the KRW
 
fordgarage said:
It appears to be just a low buck copy of the KRW puller.
What is new or 'better' about yours? Is it lower cost?
I did not see any pricing.
Click to expand...

[FONT=&quot]Appearances can be deceiving. It may be less expensive ($94 not including s/h), but I wouldn’t call it a low buck copy. Its precision machined with high strength materials. [/FONT]

 [FONT=&quot]The improvement is a special thrust nut that goes on the threaded axle end to push against. In use, it will not rotate and distributes the thrust load into the axle without crushing the cotter pin hole or axle end. The threads are preserved for reassembly even when the hub is really stuck hard on the axle. This doesn’t happen all the time, but when a hub is really stuck hard on an axle, it can sound like a cannon fired when it breaks free and that often means ruined threads on the axle end when your done.

hub_puller_diagram.jpg


[/FONT]http://vintageprecision.com/products/hub_pullers/index.html
 
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