RogerH Posted September 24, 2014 Report Share Posted September 24, 2014 HI Folks, I may soon be requiring new rear hubs for the 4A. The existing ones have done 150K miles with me. Has anybody successfully taken them apart and rebuilt them. Some recon' ones that I have seen over the counter have been iffy to say the least. They are quite a pricey item and for the cost of the worn out parts may be an attractive project. Roger Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stuart Posted September 24, 2014 Report Share Posted September 24, 2014 Roger its the taking apart and crack testing of the shafts that is the problematical bit. Obviously use good bearings when re-assembling. Stuart. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Steves_TR6 Posted September 24, 2014 Report Share Posted September 24, 2014 Hi Roger I have an old but decent set or rear hubs and shafts if you would like them ? Steve Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RogerH Posted September 24, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 24, 2014 Hi Stuart, the crack testing isn;t a problem - I was only doing it for 36 years at BA everything from X-ray to dye pen. I'm looking at making the tooling - some big stuff there. Hi Steve, PM sent. Roger Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stuart Posted September 24, 2014 Report Share Posted September 24, 2014 Its why I mentioned it Roger as I knew that wouldnt be a problem to you but it seems a lot of the rebuilders dont bother. The trick is removing the flange without distorting it. I have the proper Churchill tool to do it including the extra piece for IRS axles if you want to borrow it to copy. Stuart. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BlueTR3A-5EKT Posted September 24, 2014 Report Share Posted September 24, 2014 (edited) Hub Puller Binder.pdf The pain as I remember when rebuilding rear hubs was the provision of a long spanner to pull the rear adjusting nut tight to compress the collapsible sleeve. The orig Churchill spanner existed and worked a treat - the whole yard length of it. Take a look in the blue WSM. The flange puller as Stuart writes is important so the flange does not get bent. Same deal as solid axle rear hub flanges, at least if you have wire wheels with IRS hubs you can replace the studs temporarily with longer ones for the puller to fit to. Somewhere I have the bearing puller plates to get the inner bearing off the stub axle without destroying the bearing, if you want sight or loan let me know. Cheers Peter W Edited September 24, 2014 by BlueTR3A-5EKT Quote Link to post Share on other sites
John Morrison Posted September 24, 2014 Report Share Posted September 24, 2014 (edited) Hi Roger, don e this with a neighbor on his six, several years ago now, You need two blokes - one needs to be strong! sure our group still has all the pukka spaecial tools. find me a list and I'll check, if so drop them at Howards place this weekend? John. Edited September 24, 2014 by john Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RogerH Posted September 24, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 24, 2014 Hi Stuart/Pete, it all looks tempting to make the tools as I think the actual overhaul is fairly straight forward. Roger Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LGFromage Posted September 24, 2014 Report Share Posted September 24, 2014 Hi Roger, I did this on my 4A several years ago and the biggest problem was releasing the hub from the shaft. For my hubs it was done with a hydraulic press which needed 17 tons to release them. With this kind of resistance a pretty robust puller would be required for release without distortion to the flange. Reassembly is straightforward if the crack test proves OK. Good luck. Tim. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rob Salisbury Posted September 24, 2014 Report Share Posted September 24, 2014 Hi Roger, for around a tenner the chaps at Enginuity in West Acton will split the hubs for you, and then you can replace the bearings in much the same way as the front hub bearings are done, you're bound to have a DTI for setting up the compressible sleeve, so the most time consuming bit will be the crack testing ..... making a suitable puller/press/splitter whatever, you're on your own!! Cheers Rob Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RogerH Posted September 24, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 24, 2014 Hi Rob, that sounds like a good idea. They are just down the road from me. Roger Quote Link to post Share on other sites
snowric Posted September 25, 2014 Report Share Posted September 25, 2014 Roger if you need some extra heft when you do them please drop me a line ! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RogerH Posted September 25, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 25, 2014 Hi Richard, I don't do heft anymore. I like to find a way around that. Perhaps a longer handle on the spanner. But thanks for the offer. Roger Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Motorsport Mickey Posted September 25, 2014 Report Share Posted September 25, 2014 (edited) Duplicate Edited September 25, 2014 by Motorsport Mickey Quote Link to post Share on other sites
John Morrison Posted September 25, 2014 Report Share Posted September 25, 2014 It's a two man job Roger - honest and if one has arms like Popeye even better. John. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RogerH Posted September 25, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 25, 2014 Hi John, I may go down the road of asking Enginuity to split the hubs for me to rebuild. Roger Quote Link to post Share on other sites
snowric Posted September 25, 2014 Report Share Posted September 25, 2014 Roger they did my hubs and have the press to split it and the job is lovely ! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ChrisR-4A Posted September 25, 2014 Report Share Posted September 25, 2014 Hi Roger, my thoughts were the same as yours after driving my 4a for 15 years, so 18 months ago I had them rebuilt by my local specialist. One of the new bearings only lasted 2000miles, however the other is still fine. My point is that the originals showed no signs of wear and may well have lasted for many more years, whereas when the new bearing failed it was obvious by the droning noise it made. In hindsight I wish I had left well alone and waited until they showed signs of wear. Problems with recon hubs are often caused by the stresses induced by the recon process. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AlanT Posted September 25, 2014 Report Share Posted September 25, 2014 Remember the first principle of maintenance, Roger. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Stanpartmanpartwolf Posted September 25, 2014 Report Share Posted September 25, 2014 As long as you support the bearing/bearing carrier properly, always use this to press against, NOT the hub flange, which will not withstand the load without distortion. The same principle applies to IRS diff output shafts. IRS hub units are the worst of all to service- so any poor soul with suspect hubs, plus tired UJs & clattery splines too, should have a good think about the CV shaft & hub conversion from SC Parts; it's a bargain IMHO vs the b@llache involved in a full overhaul of the OE items. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RogerH Posted September 26, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 26, 2014 Hi Chris, that is sound advice. I'm changing the drive shafts in the next couple of days so will give the hubs a good going over. I had a hub bearing go a few years ago and I got from Aberdeen to London without issue. Mine at present sound OK. Hi Alan, at present - 'it ain't broke'. Roger Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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