Rear Brake Backing plates

[vping]

I need some direction on trying get the rear brake backing plates off of a 69 Sprite Rear. I'm trying to help a fellow enthusiast who wants these plates. I've taken most of it apart but now I am faced with a large nut that hold the bearing assembly together. I do not have a wrench large enough for the nut but I can grab it with ajustable pliers. First off do I have a shot with the pliers? 2ndly is either side reverse thread? I think this is the last thing I need to tame apart in order to get to the backplates.

 

[Trevor Jessie]

Yes the driver's side is left hand thread...i think. If this is a parts car then use a chisel and hammer to loosen the nut.

 

[sparkydave]

Correct, driver's side is left hand thread. Taking mine apart involved finding a big set of sockets, like a 1 15/16". I didn't have much luck with channel lock pliers. Maybe a pipe wrench would work, but I managed to borrow the big socket wrench set after I saw the price of buying a big honkin' socket from Sears.

 

[Bugeye58]

The nut is 1 7/8". If installed correctly, it's on there with about 150 ft lbs of torque, so I don't think the pliers are going to do much good.
Jeff

 

[vping]

I might have to get out my plumbers tristand and a 24" wrench to get some leverage on it.

 

[jlaird]

That socket is nice to have, get a cheep one from Auto something, you are not going to use it much so quality is not an issue.

 

[Sarastro]

True. I got a 3/4" socket set from Harbor Freight specifically for this; don't remember the exact cost, but it was startlingly cheap. I didn't have to grind down the edge of the socket (the nut is very thin), but you might have to. Once I had the set, I actually found all kinds of uses for it. There are lots of big nuts in the world--and you can take that figuratively, if you wish.