Help Requested With Wheel Hub Reinstallation (1 Viewer)

[rc50cal]

Hello Mudders,

I'm having an amateur mechanic moment, and I hope this great community can help me brainstorm some causes for my inability to get a snap ring fitted.

The situation: I recently purchased my LX470, and I've been slowly finding things that need repair. When I replaced the wheels and tires, I discovered a concerning amount of wobble (12-6 and 3-9). I tested the ball joints and tie rod ends the best I could and decided that the wheel bearings were the likely cause.

I bought a wheel bearing kit from Cruiserteq and took apart the passenger side. There I discovered no snap ring had been installed and that the spindle nut had backed off, likely causing the concerning wheel wobble. The bearings looked fine, but since I had new ones I replaced them. Everything went back together great, including a snap ring. And the wobble? It was gone!

Next I took apart the driver side. It had a snap ring installed. Like the passenger side, the spindle nut had backed off some (had whoever had done the last front brake job simply hand tightened them? Seems possible!). Again, bearings looked good, but since I had all new parts, I replaced them. I put everything back together and when it came time to install the snap ring, I realized that I could barely see the slot where the ring snaps into place. I tied an axle puller. I tried jacking up the lower control arm. I tried turning the wheel left and right. I tried test driving it and praying. No dice!

I took everything back apart. Since I only wanted to do this one more time, I went ahead and bought new DBA T3 rotors and EBC Green Stuff pads. I made sure the races were fully seated. They looked good. I made sure the hub and rotor fit flush. I bought new flanges. I filed down some edge marring on the hub that had occurred when someone previously used what appeared to be a ballpeen hammer to try to drive out the cone washers. I reinstalled the bearing and seal, making sure it was flush with the hub. I re-mounted the hub, paying extra attention to getting it fully seated and ... still can't get a snap ring installed! The current gap is about 0.88mm.

So my question to you genius wrenches out there, what did I screw up? Thank you sincerely for your help!

 

[Trunk Monkey]

You can thread a bolt into the end of the CV and pull it outwards. Also, may need different thickness c-clip, Cruiser Outfitters sells a pack with an assortment of sizes.

 

[Tanner H]

Yeah i usually keep a couple bolts that thread in there, followed by some vice grips on the end of the bolt and i pull it out towards me. this should get it far out enough to put the snap ring on.


Post up a photo if you can. if its too deep then we might have another issue during re-install.

 

[ramangain]

You may want to fully crank the wheel and push the axle in as far as you can (towards the engine). Look for anything out of the ordinary around the back where the oil seal sits in the spindle. If something is bent (like the lip of the oil seal) it can prevent the axle from fully seating against the back of the seal. Maybe it's just some lodged debris too.

 

[TLCPNW]

Since you just replaced the bearings and I imagine the races (hopefully), could one of the races not be installed all the way?

 

[rc50cal]

Thank you to those who have weighed in so far.

@Trunk Monkey - I have TheForger's CV tool, so I'm using a threaded bolt to try to pull it out. If I push it in and then pull quickly, I can hear a solid thunk when it hits whatever it's hitting. Also, I have CruiserOutfitters set of snap rings. The thinnest is still too thick by a fair amount.

@ramangain - Thank you for that idea. I'll see if there is anything amiss. Would you take off the dust shield?

@TLCPNW - I did replace the races. I have a race driving set and the races appear to be seated properly. They look even and fully seated. I could try driving them out and then back in again.

Does anyone know what would interfere first? To me it seems like the wheel seal would hit first if it were not seated flush inside the hub. I don't know what's next.

 

[ramangain]

Are you following the FSM?

The other thing I learned from experience is to crank the 1st spindle nut as tight as I could with a breaker bar (within reason). Get all of that grease squishing around nicely AND ensure you get the hub as mashed up to the spindle assembly as possible. If I had to guesstimate it could be twice the torque as described in that step in the FSM. Then loosen and torque to the appropriate FSM amount for proper pre-load.

My guess is still some sort of obstruction on the backside. Like a politician, I'll stake a claim from all angles then proclaim i was right!

 

[rc50cal]

I’ll add some pictures. I don’t see anything amiss, but maybe you eagle eyes out there will.

@ramangain - I’ve been attempting to follow instructions posted on this forum. I don’t have the FSM, but maybe I’ll review if I can find it and spot some insight I’m missing.

I did take everything apart for a fourth time down to the bearing races. I reinstalled them and triple checked they were fully seated. I could hear the change in tone when they reached rock bottom.

 

[rc50cal]

Some more photos!

 

[ramangain]

Put the standoff bolts for the forger tool directly on the hub flange

 

[ramangain]

Oh, nevermind. You need to sink that race down to the inner lip in the hub cavity. That's your issue

 

[saucebox]

FSM: https://lc100e.github.io/manual/. Everything is in there, but if you'd rather have a PDF I can find that also.

Hard to see if there is grease in the channel between the two races, but some should be there.

 

[saucebox]

Oh, nevermind. You need to sink that race down to the inner lip in the hub cavity. That's your issue

Yeah, agree. With the driver you'll get a ting-ting-ting-thud. The sound changes pretty dramatically when the race is fully seated.

 

[ramangain]

And goop the $hit out of all space in the hub cavity with as much grease as you can. The more the merrier.

 

[leveeguy]

Have you tried raising the lower arm again since your re-work?

 

[rc50cal]

I think I discovered the issue. I pounded the inner race back out and compared the new race to the old which I dug out of the trash in an unusual moment of insight. The new race has a different part number and is more than a MM taller. The new and old bearings have the same part number.

 

[rc50cal]

The bearing is the correct part number and the race is wrong. Now, the question is what is the best course of action?

1) Use the new bearing with the old race?
2) Find a new, correct race? Is there any potential problem with using an "unmatched" new race and bearing?
3) Get an entirely new matched race and bearing and leave the truck in pieces until it arrives?

 

[ramangain]

The various snap ring sizes cover that 1mm delta of the race height difference. Your issue according to the photos is not getting the race into the hub cavity until it makes contact with the lip inside of the hub. The top edge of the race needs to be several mm below where the race is in that key photo.

 

[rc50cal]

Ramangain, I really appreciate your help and I wish I could teleport you here. Haha. I agree it is the most likely issue cause of a snap ring not fitting. I tried to take photos, but it’s really hard to get the camera phone to focus on the race and mating lip. I can clearly hear the “thunk, thunk, thunk, ting” change in tone when the race hits the lip. I also felt around the lip and could feel no space between the race and the lip. Here’s are some photos. Not sure you’ll be able to see a damn think though.

The various snap ring sizes cover that 1mm delta of the race height difference. Your issue according to the photos is not getting the race into the hub cavity until it makes contact with the lip inside of the hub. The top edge of the race needs to be several mm below where the race is in that key photo.

 

[ramangain]

My apologies. I compared your photos with others. The dark ring around the race deceived me, and probably others. It looks like the race isn't buried deep enough, but it probably is. Again, my apologies.

Next thing to try is fully torque down the hub flange bolts, with cone washers and washers installed, to ~40 lb-ft (IIRC) and then use the Forger tool by placing the standoff bolts on the hub flange, not the hub flange bolts.

If that STILL doesn't fix the issue, we can try Skype-ing so I can try to see real time and have you take some measurements on the fly. I have a whole spare spindle/hub assembly in my garage that is working, that I can disassemble for comparison .... if it gets that far.

OR you can use the old race if it has no grooves in it on the surface that contacts the bearing, and I mean no grooves ... especially if you need to get the rig on the road again ASAP.