Hello Peeps! question and I don't know why it would not let me post this thread in repair help?, what is the axle nut size for a 2003 monte SS?, I have to replace my drivers side c/v half shaft again after less than 2 years as the boot is ripped at the outer side and is clicking and loosing grease! it is under warranty from rock auto, so that's good but I don't want to rent axle sockets again, would rather go buy the right size so I have it and I don't remember!! thanks, Claydoh

 

It's hard to say because I've seen them vary in size depending on if factory axle or what brand they are. Best to rent it or plan on possibly buying 2

 

Best to rent it unless you really want to tool. Bummer on the part.

Here is a copy of the tool rental sheet from O'Reilly so you can ask - sometimes people rent the tool and return it to another store so it's not in stock for a day... smh

 

I bought the Harbor Freight axle nut socket set. I wanna say it's like a 30 or 32mm socket. But as John said, it can vary from factory vs aftermarket (as I have seen that happen too).

 

Yup, just did my front hubs, stock nut was a 36 new one was a 34!! I too bought the Harbor Freight kit, worked very well.

 

What I've found is the next size smaller socket fits best every time. 35mm socket for 36mm nut, 33mm socket for 34mm nut, etc.. The nuts themselves are all considerably undersized(stock and aftermarket). For example...the aftermarket nuts you can get that are made by Dorman(615-144) measure ~33.4mm. A 33mm socket slides right on for a perfect fit. And the aftermarket nut(unknown brand, gold color) I just removed from my 2002 SS yesterday measures ~32.7mm(edit: just got a similar one with a reman aftermarket CV axle ~33.3mm). ~32.7mm is literally a 33mm nut(not even close to 34mm). The largest "36mm" nut I've found measures ~35.5mm. The smallest measures ~34.9mm. 35mm sockets slide right on all of those for a perfect fit too.

Sooooo...you know that sloppy fit you get with the supposed "correct" size socket for the axle nut?

DON'T DO THAT!!!

GET THE RIGHT SIZE INSTEAD!!!

 

Funny how that works. Had to do wheel bearings on my wife's Edge a few months back. Bought new OEM nuts just in case, so I took one to the store for a socket. None of the shelf stock sizes really fit well; even tried the standard sizes which fit equally as poorly. Same for the ones in the loaner tool kit.

I guess the one upside on these nuts is that the torque value is really low compared to the size of the fastener so the chance of rounding off all that metal is pretty low unless you're way off on size. I just used the closest fit on the Edge and had zero notable deformation of the flats / edges.

 

Yeah...I don't know that it's a necessity. It's just always felt wrong to me if it's way loose like that. I actually use a 1 ⅜" because it fits better than a 35mm(I lied about that before, but I was just trying to keep it metric). I'm admit it's probably going a bit overboard. I do a lot of things like that...