steering knuckle rebuild - brake disc hub wheel bearing preload issue

[ikud]

Hi,

I could not find an answer searching this forum, if I missed it, sorry.

I am rebuilding the steering knuckles on my 1994 80s LC ( I got the kit from Cruiser Outfitters). The issue I'm running into is that I cannot set wheel bearing preload on brake disc hubs. I watched tons of videos and used the manual. I can barely turn the disc by hand, and once I put the adjusting nut and hub nut on, it gets even harder to turn the disc hub. I'm wondering what could have been the issue ( besides my hands )? I checked the Cruiser Outfitters order, and it looks like I got all the parts for the 80 series.

 

[RaleighCJ]

Are u sure u are torguing to 48 inch pounds not foot pounds????

 

[Malleus]

You may have too much grease in the hub. There should only be enough grease to fill the gap between the hub ID and the rim of the bearing cup (the part you pressed into the hub). Any more than that and you'll be fighting the grease, especially if it's not warm.

You should also be able to feel the hub seat onto the spindle, when you push it on. If not, the seal isn't pressed into the hub fully. This is very easy to miss.

Without the nut seated against the outer bearing (I always thread one on so the rotor doesn't fall off), the rotor should turn by hand. It's not going to spin like a top, you actually have to turn it to get it to move (use the studs, not the rotor to turn it).

 

[jonheld]

If you can't rotate the assembled rotating hub by hand, then it has not been assembled correctly and something is binding.
Regardless of the inner adjusting nut torque, you should be able to rotate the assembly by hand.

 

[ikud]

Thank you all for helping me!

RaleighCJ—even before I torqued it, I hand-tightened the adjusting nut first to keep the hub on, and it's already bearly spinning.

Malleus - I thought it was too much grease at first, but I put less than a pound per knuckle housing.​

jonheld - I can rotate the assembly but it so tight that I need a little bit more force, I measured it with fish scale and it maxed out at 45 lbf.​

I will order new OME oil seals for the hubs, remove a little bit of grease and then will see. Thanks again

 

[jonheld]

Thank you all for helping me!

RaleighCJ—even before I torqued it, I hand-tightened the adjusting nut first to keep the hub on, and it's already bearly spinning.

Malleus - I thought it was too much grease at first, but I put less than a pound per knuckle housing.​

jonheld - I can rotate the assembly but it so tight that I need a little bit more force, I measured it with fish scale and it maxed out at 45 lbf.​

I will order new OME oil seals for the hubs, remove a little bit of grease and then will see. Thanks again

@Malleus is not referring the amount of grease inside the knuckle housing, He's referring to the amount of grease in the hub between the inner and outer bearings.
And, quite frankly, that would have very little effect on the rotating resistance.
It sounds to me like there is something that is not seated correctly in the hub or the hub is not seated correctly on the spindle.
Another cause could be that you inadvertently used a rear inner hub seal as opposed to a front inner hub seal.

 

[ikud]

@Malleus is not referring the amount of grease inside the knuckle housing, He's referring to the amount of grease in the hub between the inner and outer bearings.
And, quite frankly, that would have very little effect on the rotating resistance.
It sounds to me like there is something that is not seated correctly in the hub or the hub is not seated correctly on the spindle.
Another cause could be that you inadvertently used a rear inner hub seal as opposed to a front inner hub seal.

View attachment 3753971

The amount of grease in the hub between the inner and outer bearings is fine. I do not like how the inner seals from the kit look,; I ordered OME inner seals, and once I put them on, I will see if that changes much.

thanks !

 

[BILT4ME]

The amount of grease in the hub between the inner and outer bearings is fine. I do not like how the inner seals from the kit look,; I ordered OME inner seals, and once I put them on, I will see if that changes much.

thanks !

View attachment 3754074View attachment 3754074

View attachment 3754076

View attachment 3754077

Are your races fully seated in the hub?

What brand of bearings did you use?
There are a couple brands with the correct part number that have an incorrect inner shoulder on the tapered bearing inner race. I know you got them from Cruiser Outfitters, but what brand?

Did you actually get the hub fully seated on the spindle? This sounds like you didn't get the inner bearing slid all the way onto the hub so it was binding against the inner spindle shoulder. Make sure you lightly grease the sealing surface on the spindle for the hub seal.

 

[BTLSHP]

I just did mine and used one pound of grease per axle. I made many errors on the rears, mostly of the really read the manual type. Sort of wonder if from where you are you could "fit" everything back together with room for the c-clip? That would be my "test" for whether the hub is properly seated on the spindle or bearing fit was proper.

 

[ppc]

What's going on with this protruding hub to disc bolt. Only the circled bolt protrudes none of the others do. The disc must not be fully seated on the hub.

 

[ikud]

Are your races fully seated in the hub?

What brand of bearings did you use?
There are a couple brands with the correct part number that have an incorrect inner shoulder on the tapered bearing inner race. I know you got them from Cruiser Outfitters, but what brand?

Did you actually get the hub fully seated on the spindle? This sounds like you didn't get the inner bearing slid all the way onto the hub so it was binding against the inner spindle shoulder. Make sure you lightly grease the sealing surface on the spindle for the hub seal.

Thanks for your response.

I got Timken. My passenger's side hub got on the spindle relatively easily, and the c-clip got on just fine. On the other hand, the driver's side was much harder. I greased the spindle up a little bit, but it still gave me a hard time and I could not put the c-clip back on. That's wen I realised that something is wrong. I will pull both hubs out and check the bearings' part numbers because I'm paranoid now.

 

[ppc]

@ikud Did you install one of the races backwards?

 

[ikud]

What's going on with this protruding hub to disc bolt. Only the circled bolt protrudes none of the others do. The disc must not be fully seated on the hub.

View attachment 3754553

Thank you for pointing that out; I must have put the wrong bolt ( or the previous owner(s) did ). I am putting on new coil springs, new front brake calipers, pads, discs, brake hoses and some brake lines. I agree that the bolt could prevent the hub from fully sitting there.

 

[ikud]

@ikud Did you install one of the races backwards?

That was my first thought, but no, they are correctly installed.

 

[BILT4ME]

What's going on with this protruding hub to disc bolt. Only the circled bolt protrudes none of the others do. The disc must not be fully seated on the hub.

View attachment 3754553

Nice catch!

 

[CrabCake]

What's going on with this protruding hub to disc bolt. Only the circled bolt protrudes none of the others do. The disc must not be fully seated on the hub.

View attachment 3754553

Good eye....but I think you'd see some scuffing on the bolt if it were fouling, even with just some test spins.

Still puzzled about the OP's problem though...hope you get it figured out!

 

[ikud]

So I think I might have found the problem. I looked closer at my dust covers, and I don't think they are the correct ones.

 

[Malleus]

What makes you think that? Where did it come from?

I can't see how that would cause your hub to drag; if it was the problem, you'd hear it scraping as you turned it. That flange isn't supposed to be anywhere near the hub.

 

[ikud]

What makes you think that? Where did it come from?

I can't see how that would cause your hub to drag; if it was the problem, you'd hear it scraping as you turned it. That flange isn't supposed to be anywhere near the hub.

I think the dust cover robber part sticks out too much and gets sandwiched between the hub and the dust cover body. I also think, It does not have to be a lot of contact to affect hub spinning. I also noticed damage to the dust cover flange on the driver's side, it was not there when I installed it so it could also indicate that the hub seats next to it ( I did not have a photo yet). I compared this photo to the OEM dist cover photos, and I believe they are different. I have no other ideas at this point.

 

[Hugh Heifer]

Swap the discs side to side. DS to PS. Then you can determine if the issue is in the discthub assembly or knuckle/spindle.
I did this with my 40 and finally discovered the seal had bent over preventing proper preload.