Worn hub?

[Stig]

I was planning to replace the offside rear hub oil seal at the weekend but couldn't get the nut off. It's the offside so shouldn't be a left-hand thread. I have the correct socket but gave up after repeated hammering on a T-bar started chewing the nut badly. I'll get a replacement nut and try to drill and chisel the old one off next weekend.

Anyway, I noticed that the hub could be pushed in and out a fair bit once the halfshaft was off, i.e. the bearing isn't a really tight fit in it. (The bearing's firmly fixed to the axle, but the hub will slide on it.) Is this normal? I was expecting to have to drift the bearing out with a big hammer. Once the halfshaft and wheel are refitted there is a little bit of play -maybe 1mm in and out. Should I worry about it? I was going to replace the bearing as well as the seal anyway.

[alanworland]

I had exactly the same with my rear hubs - the bearing was moving in the housing. The bearings looked chrome plated!



I found that the gasket was not able to support the end thrust from the bearing and once it was squashed it would allow the bearing to move.
I had a gasket and the 'O' ring seal - I have done away with the gasket (so the new bearing is gripped) fitted a new O ring and modified the hub/halfshaft with extra fixings so that when the wheelnuts are removed the bearing is still held and gripped squarely.



Works a treat - no bearing movement and no leaks!

[bmcecosse]

Just take a hammer and chisel to the nut!! Strange it should be so tight - they are often not much more than hand tight. Does it look as if the thread has been 'crossed' in the past ?

[Stig]

Now why didn't they drill and tap 4 holes instead of 3 in the hub originally? Then stupid people wouldn't refit the halfshaft 90 degrees out and wonder why one of the drum fixing screws wouldn't go in.
I'll have a close look at the fit of the new bearing and gasket, I thought the bearing would be flush with the face of the hub. Or do you mean that it is flush but the slide loading squashes the gasket more?

I shall take a hammer and chisel to the nut - once I've got a replacement! I figured that if the leverage of a hammer on the end of a T-bar didn't shift it then a chisel wouldn't either, hence the plan to split it off. Hopefully the thread on the axle is still OK.

[autolycus]

Particularly when trying to undo a relatively thin nut, I find that hammering onthe T-bar is too likely to let it twist off. My sequence would be:

Breaker bar

Rattle gun (air impact wrench) with hex (not bi-hex) socket

Breaker bar with jack under the end till the corner of the car lifts

BFI

You could also try turning it clockwise. If anyone is watching and it doesn't work, explain that this sometimes helps to crack a tight fastener; if it does work, say that you were trying to crack it by turning it anti-clockwise, because you knew all along that it was left-hand threaded.

Kevin

(who first came across left-hand threaded wheel nuts on a Commer van 40 years ago, when a passing mechanic asked "are you turning it the right way?" when he saw me leaning on the scaffold bar routinely used to extend the spider brace, without success)

[alanworland]

From memory (not always good!) I thought the bearing was very silghtly proud of the hub with the bearing part of the gasket compressed onto the bearing. This is fine when assembled but I beleive the gasket is unable to support end thrust from the bearing - and compresses, once it has done this the grip is lost on the bearing and it moves forever more! Gasket not required if you have an O ring.
Good luck cutting the nut off, dont damage the thread! I bought a spanner to undo mine and was suprised how untight (is that a word!) they were.

[bmcecosse]

Yes - they are often loose. If the hub seems loose - just run a thin film of Loctite 'Bearing Fit' around it when fitting the new bearing.
Actually - I rather suspect any Loctite will do, although Bearing Fit is sold for the job - but the parts must be perfectly clean/degreased before applying the Loctite.

[Stig]

Well I got it all apart on Saturday after drilling through and chiselling the old nut off. I also found that the lock tab didn't even have its lug engaged in the hole so it could have turned round with the nut - if the nut hadn't been done up so stupidly tight. Maybe that had allowed the nut to self-tighten, who knows. Anyway, new oil seal and bearing fitted (with a few drops of superglue) and there's no play at all now. I'll have to keep an eye on it to make sure the leak's fixed (it took half a litre to refill the axle!).

I've fitted a gasket, but if it develops any play I'll take it out and rely on the O ring alone. Strangely the gasket doesn't cover the outer of the bearing at all.

[alanworland]

That rings a bell! The (no) gasket thickness was what caused/allowed the bearings to move!
Hope your loctite works ok.