28 replies to this topic

[LankyJames]

I know how you guys love a good project and storytelling coupled with pictures, i'd thought i would share with you what i have instore for today, in the rain no less!

Basically i have had a recurring problem regarding the front left hub, it all started back in the summer of 2007 (there was one day i recall being sunny and this was the day) *fades to dreamy scene*
There i was driving along, suddenly brakes go a bit...soft, as in the pedals doing nothing, but thats not my concern the horrible squeeling noise however is. I grind to a halt into a handy layby, as i also lost all forward and reverse drive. So what happened?
The castle nut that sits on teh drive shaft that holds the hub together and is secured with a split pit has wound all the way off the shaft, thus the drive flange (which holds the wheel and the disc brake) is allowed to move other than being inline with the brake calipers. That would explain the loss of braking power.
On top of this, the hub was allowed to move around an INCH and a half out, and so pulled the drive flange off of the shafts flanges and thanks to mr differential in the gear box, it was just spinning the left shaft freely.

We replaced the hub and bearings and split pin, and all was fine, till not very long ago, i bought a new split pin, the same thing happened some two weeks later, and now, my wheel bearings gone (in hindsight i should have changed this when the last split pin went as the odd forces excerted would have damaged then, but again, i had bigger fish to fry...).

Now ive been adivsed this problem lies with cv joint flanges and so time to replace, but being me and wanting to take no chances in something else being damaged a bought a shed load (ok it was a rather big heavy box full) of parts (and one tool) to sort this out!

Here is what arrived in the post today:


From left to right we have:
Ball joint splitter
Castle Nut
Ball joint, top and bottom, kit.
Timkin wheall bearing kit.
Left Hand side Hub
Drive Flange
CV joint (with another castle nut...above is a generous tub of grease and the CV boot and clip.)

Now buying so much allows me to pretty much build the new hub out of the car and in the warmth, so i'm rather happy in that respect i just hope it all goes to plan.
I'll keep you all informed over the day (ive got till 5pm then its work and it'll be too dark to continue outside).

Wish me luck!

[LankyJames]

Right first things first, get the car jacked up!
Get the jack in the right place and relieve some pressure from the suspension so that the trolly jack doesnt run away, and get the nuts loosened off.
(This does NOT mean put a jack under the passenger sills or footwell, seen this happen so often in garages...)

A link to where you should correctly jack a mini:
http://pc.fishstick....ubfix/jack3.JPG
Once nuts are loose, jack up that wheel off the ground, get it off and put it straight back under the car, this time the passenger wheel well will suffice, this is just incase the trolly jack slips.


Now its up we need to first remove the....castle nut
(i almost took the caliper off at this point but remembered i needed brake assistance in undo-ing the castle nut.)
Bend the split pin that goes through the castle nut straight, and with a combination of pulling with some pliers and whacking the other end gentlty with a hammer slide it out.
Get your big wrench and socket on it:

And get a friend to press the brake pedal for you:
( i don't have any friends so i made one out of wood instead)


And also some have you may have noticed...but i needed to protect my self from the elements today:


Just coming inside for a bite to eat then back out to get the drive flange and disc off, break the ball joints and get the hub off, then using my reverse engineering skills rebuild my new hub and drive flange

[Jammy]

Oooo, this is looking good! Might be tempted to put this in the FAQ section if you get enough photos!

[Dan]

You appear to be using a preset torque wrench to remove the hub nut. There is no way to tell now if that has destroyed the calibration short of sending it for re-calibration. This tool is not designed to be used to release nuts, it won't have been set right for the release torque and has likely been overloaded. I am aware that the parts you are removing are damaged and so there may be no real torque required but others should know not to do this when dismantling. There would be no way to tell if the calibration was still good for when you re-fit the assembly or use the wrench for anything else. Also it makes more sense to release or torque hub nuts through the wheel centre, with the weight of the car on the wheel.

Since you appear to be replacing the entire hub assembly, why not build the new one on the bench before fitting and then simply swap the two over? It will take you a while to build the new balljoints and bearing into the hub, do you have the right socket for the balljoint? You've certainly gone all out if you are replacing the hub too!

Edited by Dan, 05 December 2007 - 10:54 AM.

[LankyJames]

Right, got the brake caliper off, held on by two bolts around the back, and now was able to remove the disc and drive flange:

(with obligatory foot in picture shot)

This is the point where i remembered that i needed to undo the drive flange from the disc, by undo-ing the 4 bolts in the above picture these things are on TIGHT as you might imagine, so back on the hub it went loosely bolted the caliper back on, remade my friend out of wood, and undid the bolts a little, took it all apart and i'm seperated!

Now the only picture of the next step is this:

Basically im jacking up the steering rack, track rod end to try and put pressure on the ball joint, so that when i undid the nut on the top it would not just rotate the ball joint, usually this works, even if i have to jack the car up ON the track rod end.... but not today, so i was a bit stumped.
Instead? I just unbolted the steering arm, as thats just going to be bolted to the new hub it sounded like an easy fix....
Though the nuts were descretely lock-tabbed, ( a piece of monkey metal like washer around the nut, bent upwards to stop the nut from undoing itself!) so i had to hammer that flat first.

After undoing these 2 bolts to be a bit looser, i set about the top and bottom ball joints, undid the nuts, and again these are a tapered bolt through a round hole so are held on pretty tight, this is where the new toy comes in handy, slip that under the ball joint, the top bit on the nut, wind in the bolt and it pushes them together and with an almighty bang apart they come!
Works like a charm! I have used just a 2 pronged sloped metal ball joint breaker before that you just whack with a big hammer to get these to break, but this is so much easier!
Difference in price £12 but more reliable, wont splay or snap and easier !
I'll get a picture of the item in action when i put the new one back on!

[LankyJames]

Oooo, this is looking good! Might be tempted to put this in the FAQ section if you get enough photos!

That was my plan batman!

You appear to be using a preset torque wrench to remove the hub nut. There is no way to tell now if that has destroyed the calibration short of sending it for re-calibration. This tool is not designed to be used to release nuts, it won't have been set right for the release torque and has likely been overloaded. I am aware that the parts you are removing are damaged and so there may be no real torque required but others should know not to do this when dismantling. There would be no way to tell if the calibration was still good for when you re-fit the assembly or use the wrench for anything else. Also it makes more sense to release or torque hub nuts through the wheel centre, with the weight of the car on the wheel.

Since you appear to be replacing the entire hub assembly, why not build the new one on the bench before fitting and then simply swap the two over? It will take you a while to build the new balljoints and bearing into the hub, do you have the right socket for the balljoint? You've certainly gone all out if you are replacing the hub too!

I did not know of this, i hope i haven't broke it, there wasnt much force needed to undo the hub to be honest, only reason i used it was my other 1/2" drive wrench now only goes one way!

I've pulled the hub out now, i am going to build the new hub up on a bench but id like the old one to make sure im doing everything correctly (for exampled i loosely fitted the new grease nipples to the new hub so that i wouldnt loose them, i forgot to add the ball joint lock tabs, if i had tightened these up, mistake! with the old i can reverse-engineer slightly!

[Jammy]

You shouldn't really use wratched at all for undoing bolts. The ratchet mechanism isn't designed to take the force of undoing a bolt. Breaker bar is what you need!

[LankyJames]

So heres the bits laid out, one simple swap, one a bit more...technical!

[LankyJames]

The oh poo moment, i dont have the socket for the ball joints! Gonna give a quick call to my autofactors they can usually get this stuff even from another place by half 3 so maybe a delayed project?

[LankyJames]

Off with the old, on with the new, drive flange swap done! (fairly easy as only 4 bolts hold it on...)


Now these are only done finger tight till i can tighten them up with the aid of the cars brakes, god i hope i dont forget, someone remind me!

[GraemeC]

For FAQ clarification - you shouldn't really work on a jacked up car, always sue axle stands. The wheel under the shell is a sound move though.

For the rebuild - have you got a new cone washer for the drive flange? When doing all this work I would be adding one in for the extra couple of quid.

[LankyJames]

For FAQ clarification - you shouldn't really work on a jacked up car, always sue axle stands. The wheel under the shell is a sound move though.

For the rebuild - have you got a new cone washer for the drive flange? When doing all this work I would be adding one in for the extra couple of quid.

Unfortunately i dont have any axel stands and i make do with what ive got this is my first major do it myself on my own job, ive done alot of other work with friends but not like this.....

I haven't got a new cone washer no i will order one with my next bunch or parts though.

I couldn't undo the steering arm from the track rod end and as i have a new steering rack to fit, i may order a new steering arm for both sides...and the cone washer of course.
Hoping to do the same as im doing today to the right side, as i like to do things in pairs and new stuff looks so pretty!

Just an update:

Ive been riding around in the rain for the last hour trying to find the correct socket for the ball joints, been to the auto factors and halfrauds, ended up at a car workshop and have borrowed one for the day. Result, back to work....after food and this shower passes!

[il-barba]

use plenty of lubricating oil on the nuts. is it rotating with the shaft or not undoing itself. you could try and give it a whack with a hammer to try loosing any rust

[GraemeC]

Are you going to renew the track rod ends when you change the rack? If so then I would cut the nut off the existing ones rather than buy new steering arms. If not then remove the arms as you have now and then wind the track rod ends off the old rack and onto the new.

Your problem may be that if you have loosened the nut on the steering arm at all you have to stop the joint spinning inorder to do it back up again. Some track rod ends actually have an allen key hole in the end of the threads to allow you to hold them whilst using a spanner on the nut.

[LankyJames]

use plenty of lubricating oil on the nuts. is it rotating with the shaft or not undoing itself. you could try and give it a whack with a hammer to try loosing any rust

It's rotating with the shaft, its not terribly important, as i left the steering arm attached i can bolt it onto the new one no problem, but when it comes to changing the steering rack ill need a different one!