Until very recently I have never had a problem with removing the cone washers to do maintenance on the front axle. Either by slipping a small screwdriver into the slot and getting them out the FSM way or gentle tapping on the aluminum hub housing has never failed to get them out.
But this time was different. When I rebuilt my diesel I snagged a lot of the parts off my 62 and the rusty old parts went back on the 62 to keep it driveable. This meant some rusty parts ended up on the wife’s daily driver. Well, leaky knuckles and noisy brakes reared their ugly inevitable heads and it was time to fix things.
So pull the nuts on the hubs, try the old ways and nothing. The cone washers were severely corroded into place. Nothing was really damaged just really stuck. And with steel and aluminum this was not a good thing. It doesn’t take much to hold steel to aluminum. I have even broken very large bolts that were corroded into my t-case.
And these washers have to come out if you need to do any sort of service or maintenance on the front axle (as well as the rear if you are running a full float like me…) But the solution is not as extreme as it first may sound.
Tighten up two nuts, back to back to change the stud into a bolt. I then used a propane torch to apply heat for a count of 30. Hold to wheel hub stationary and use a wrench on your “bolt” to pull the stud. I found that a 
gentle tap with a hammer on the wrench was neccesary. And most of the time the cone 
washer gets loosened up at the same time to slip out with the stud. So when it came down to it there was probably more corrosion between the 
washer and stud than the aluminum of the housing.
And don’t forget this is a good one to remember for the trail as well, but hopefully you won’t need to the heat…
And once you are ready to reinstall the studs during reassembly just remember to add a bit of locktight to ensure they stay in place the next time you do maintenance.
