Bearing and Hub DIY

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iandvl
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Full Name: Ian de Villiers
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Bearing and Hub DIY

Post by iandvl »

So, had some issues with the wife's 4.8 recently. Was actually the after-market manual hubs were acting up. When in 4x2 mode, they would regularly partially engage, resulting in some horrible sounds.

However, whilst going through all the trouble shooting steps I also determined that the wheel bearings were a little loose. Quite a bit of play on the front wheels. And I was not happy with that...

I managed to get a set of original auto hubs from fellow forum member, Paul Greef (dankie man - ek waardeer) and I put a weekend aside to replace the hubs with the originals, as well as sort out the wheel bearings...

Before going further, I'll just briefly post the schematic from the manual. This is from the section titled "FA.pdf". If you don't have a copy, the link to the the manuals is here: http://www.patrol4x4.co.za/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=7667...
bearing-schematic.png
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The important bits are highlighted. The bearing is torqued using the bearing lock nut, and a flanged washer (the bearing lock washer) keeps it tight. Two screws prevent the lock washer from moving around.

So, step by step process follows...

Firstly, we remove the free wheel hubs. For the manual hubs that were fitted, I first had to remove the six torx bolts keeping the cover on to get to the six allen bolts that bolt the hub to the rim.
bearing-01.jpg
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bearing-02.jpg
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Once I had the hub removed, I ran into the first problem. The spindle and thrust washers came off with the hub... And I was not sure which one was which... A quick call to Peter Connan sorted this out. The picture below shows the various bits. The spindle washer is highlighted blue. The copper washer is the thrust washer, followed by the snap ring. I'll touch on these later when it comes re reassembly...
bearing-03.jpg
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Since the hubs are now off the rim, one is now able to obtain access to the bearking lock washer. It has two screws which bolt into the bearing lock nut (highlighted red), several holes for the screws so align with the bearing lock nut, and two flanges which align with a groove in the drive shaft (highlighted blue) which prevent the washer from turning.
bearing-04.jpg
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Anyways, we remove the two screws, and then remove the washer. This exposes the bearing lock nut. The bearing lock nut has two large holes (red) for torquing the bearing. There are also several holes (blue) for accommodating the screws from the lock washer. I've also highlighted the groove in the spindle (green) where the lock washer's flange fits.
bearing-05.jpg
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I used a tool manufactured by Peter Connan for torquing the bearing. I'd really recommend that anyone who likes the DIY type stuff gets one and keeps it in the travelling tool box... It works a treat. It is long enough to fit over the exposed drive shaft. It has two pins which fit into the tightening holes in the bearing lock washer, and it has a normal sock hole at the back for the torque wrench.
bearing-06.jpg
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In any case, torquing process is as follows.

1: Tighten the wheel bearing lock washer to between 167 and 196 NM. This may not be necessary. As Peter pointed out on the Whatsapp group yesterday, this is probably only when fitting bearings. I did, however, follow this process.
2: Once torqued to that spec, turn the wheel forward and backwards several times.
3: Loosen the lock nut.
4: Torque the lock nut to between 3 and 5 NM.
5: Turn the wheel forwards and backwards several times.
6: Torque the lock nut again again to between 3 and 5 NM.

We can now start re-assembling.

1: Tighten the lock nut slightly so that one of the screw holes in the lock nut align with one of the screw holes on the lock washer. Make sure you check that the flanges on the washer align with the groove on the spindle. NB: The larger holes on the lock nut are not for the screws. The holes in the lock washer have to align with the smaller holes on the lock nut
2: Fit the lock washer, and tighten using the two screws.
3: Put the thrust washer (the brass washer) on the drive shaft.
4: Put the spindle washer (the other washer) on the drive shaft.
5: Secure in place with the circlip.
6: Grease the drive shaft splines.
7: Attach the auto hub assembly and tighten it up again, making sure that you don't tighten it up too much.
bearing-07.jpg
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Anyways, arbitrary post... Hope it helps someone.

As a side note, I also worked out what was wrong with the manual hubs I removed. The left hand hub lock assembly was problematic. In the image below, the highlighted bits should appear as the components in the right. ie: The gear bit was supposed to be attached to the switch you turn to engage or disengage the hub. In this case, it had come loose...
hubs-01.jpg
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The gear is held in place by the spring inside the hub cover. I just reattached it all, and the hubs are working again.
hubs-02.jpg
hubs-02.jpg (215.84 KiB) Viewed 3496 times
Ian de Villiers

Patrol 4.5 GRX
Jurgens XT65 2x0 with Super Select Zero
ORRA: H80
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