Jan. tech day (knuckle overhaul) (1 Viewer)

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Well I hate to burst the good vibe bubble going on here but on my way home Sat night my right side wheel bearing blew out. I starting taking it down yesterday and was only able to get the wheel and outer hub assembly off (it was pretty fried) . The rest is pretty locked up! Rung one bolt off and can't get the cone washers out to get the next section of hub off. This may have to go to the experts at IP. Sorry to rain on the parade. I did have a great time learning and hanging out with all of you guys. Special thanks to Vince, Sam, and Chris (the camera guy) sorry I don't know your last name.
 
I starting taking it down yesterday and was only able to get the wheel and outer hub assembly off (it was pretty fried) . The rest is pretty locked up! Rung one bolt off and can't get the cone washers out to get the next section of hub off.

Uh-oh...
What do you mean by "fried"?
Have you tried wailing on the studs to get the cone washers out? That's how we got them off my truck...

What happened that you know the wheel bearings "blew out"?
-chris
 
1. Loud squeal, 2. grease on outer rim, 3. wheel moves in and out top to bottom, 4. can visually see the outer bearing is "gone".

Fried! Lock ring is almost un-recognizable. char'd in-sides of the inner out hub.

Yes I whaled on the studs for an hour no luck.
 
Not sure of the cause. Have another vehicle so not a problem getting around.
 
1. Loud squeal, 2. grease on outer rim, 3. wheel moves in and out top to bottom, 4. can visually see the outer bearing is "gone".

Fried! Lock ring is almost un-recognizable. char'd in-sides of the inner out hub.

Yes I whaled on the studs for an hour no luck.

:frown: That really sucks.

If you feel like it, put up some pics just for the edumacation.
 
Yeah it sux! But owning these old trucks its bound to happen eventually.....
 
Sorry to hear that Allen. Give me a shout if you need an extra hand or set of eyes. I don't believe you are too far from me. I should be avaliable this weekend. While the whole procedure is still fresh in my mind, I was thinking about starting mine this weekend anyways. You could swing by and see one before I tear it down. Shoot me a PM for contact info if needed.

Chris
 
Allen,
Hate to ask this but did the outer bearing get put in on that side? I know Stacey almost left his out.
Tom
 
Most likely over torqued wheel bearings. If the bearing wasnt in there he would not have even made out of the lift bay.

Cam
 
Allen,
Hate to ask this but did the outer bearing get put in on that side? I know Tracy almost left his out.
Tom

:D I started to thread that retaining nut, and realized there was nothing to retain!

Sorry to hear that you destroyed the bearing, Allen--hopefully there is no damage beyond that. Let us know what you find out.
 
Gents,

These things happen. the good thing is I made it home and did not get stranded on the interstate. These trucks are tough. After the bearing blew all I felt was a slight shimmy, thats all. Friday when I get back to Richmond first thing I'm going to do is get a brass hammer to get those cone washers out. Once I do that I can really see what the damage is. Hopefully just bearings and seals. Ill take pictures too if anyone is wanting to see. O! and I'm getting some of those fancy plastic hose clamp off tools. Saw some at sears the other day. Thanks Vince for the great tip.
 
I'm looking for one of those seal pullers that go on the end of a ratchet. Pretty slick.

instead of using a seal puller, you can always take off the outer bearing, put the washer and nut back on and pull the rotor off, leaving behind the inner bearing and seal...

I have a seal puller and use the above method since it has less chance of f'n something up.

Hope you can get your rig back on the road easily...
 
Way to be a downer!
Allen that sucks! Probably over torqued. torquing is a feeling thing it takes practice and unfortunately the bearing will tell you down the road.
Don't worry about the name I was trying to remember yours the other day.

Chris
 
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UPDATE! I got the cone washers out. Amazing how the correct tool will make the job a 1000 x's better :D So I pulled the remaining hub off only to find that the outer edge of the axle was ground down (see pics below). So for now it looks like I need the following: seals, bearings, axle, and locking hub. Hopefully will have more time this week or at least the weekend to finish pulling the rest apart. The pics below show the axle where the locking hub and outer edge of axle ground together. I had to cut that part off just to get the remaining hub gear off.

So what is the general opinion. Do you think if I had stopped ASAP when I heard the bearing go would the axle have been eaten up? Or since I continued to drive on it thats what did it in?
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It's hard to tell by the pics, but it looks like some of your hub studs have the threads muffed up. You can fix that with a thread restoring 8M x 1.25 die.

When you want to remove the cone washers, spray the cone washers liberally with a quality penetrant such as Kroil, loosen the nuts and leave them on out towards the end of the stud to catch the cone washer when it pops out. Hit the studs straight on using a nice thick brass drift and ballpeen hammer. Brass hammer is good too, but I have better control with the brass drift.

It's hard to tell on the backside of the hub gear what's going on. If you can tap the hub gear back in a bit, you may be able to gently trim the bunged up splines on the end of the axle using a dremel with a fiberglass cutoff disc. It'll take bit of time, but all you're trying to do is return the splines to their original shape.

I'm gathering that you had to cut apart the locking hub body? That's expensive! Good luck.
 

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