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14BFF Hub Issue - HELP! Updated, now with free Carnage Pics

BGKYK5

BGKYK5

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I started taking the hubs off my 14BFF today to do the brakes. The hub nut (or whatever that thing that requires the 6 point special socket is called) appears to be stripped. I can spin it all day long and it does not come off. I am sure it is moving because I can move it easily with a screwdriver. There is one point in the rotation where it sticks a bit - I think that is where it is jumping back onto the previous thread. Am I SOL? Does anybody know how to get it apart? Do I need to start looking for a new axle if the spindle is stripped? The axle is a 3/4 ton, drum brake axle from '79.
 
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well you are screwed one way or the other. possible nut bad only or spindle. take a die grinder and grind the nut in 2. then remove hub/drum unit. inspect spindle. if fine or will clean up then get new nut and be good. if not find a used axle as getting a spindle welded on yours is not worth the price as to a good used axle.
 
It would be pretty tough to get a die grinder all the way back in there to cut that sucker off. I was thinking about trying to drill a bunch of holes in it 'till I can break it with a chisel, but it is probably hardened and I would probably kill whatever threads may be left on the spindle.

BTW the wheel bearing behind it is also toast - missing rollers. :(
 
yes hardened nut. its not going to be fun any ay you look at it. time and be patient with it. you might get lucky.
 
split the nut with a chisel. I have done it before. it should break where the points are to grab it. you can buy new nuts.
 
If you had an oxy/acetlyene setup with a small welding style torch, you could stick that in there and melt the nut in half. This is a tough one...If spindle really is stripped, there aren't many options. Lemme think on it a bit.:crazy:
 
gmc4cw said:
split the nut with a chisel. I have done it before. it should break where the points are to grab it. you can buy new nuts.
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Thats easy to do the first time, but to get the nut out, he's gonna have to "split" it twice. If it's hardened steel, then it won't just bend out of the way enough to pull it out. It's gonna have to be in two pieces. And it's waaay to easy to mess up the spindle even further with a big ass chisel in there. Hammer and chisel are not the most precise intruments. :)

I think you should spend some effort trying to verify that the spindle is stripped. If it is, then it won't be worth trying to save the housing. Just get another. If it's the nut thats stripped and not the housing, then it might be worth trying to get that nut out of there.
 
Long, depressing update:

Well that sucked. I spent an hour with a Dremel slowly grinding through the nut while carefully avoiding the spindle threads only to find that is was the spindle threads that were stripped.:mad:

I had to use the Dremel because I couldn't fit my air grinder down in there. Using a flame shaped and cylindrical grinding stones I slowly, slowly, ever so slowly ground away the nut at one of the depressions for the hub socket until all that was left was the threads.

Then I rotated the ground out part up to the keyway, stuck a screwdriver down in the keyway between the spindle and nut and pried on it till what was left of the nut broke. Then I rotated the nut about 90 degrees and pried on it again till I was able to break the nut again (it was much weaker now that it was not an intact circle). I had to do it again and break the nut a third time to get all the pieces to come out.

Sure enough, about 3-4 threads are completely gone from the spindle. The wheel bearing just behind the nut came out in pieces - rollers and mangled cage fragments everywhere.

Stupid question: can I stack a couple of those tabbed washers on the spindle to space the nut out to a place where the threads aren't stripped?
 
That sucks:mad:

I would say no to the stacked washers idea. yeah it would work for awhile at least, but 14BFF's are so cheap it would be the right thing to just get another one and do it right.

If you were to do the washer thing I wouldnt use multiple pieces. Use the factory locking ring and get a one piece spacer that fit perfect over the spindle to space out the locknuts from the fubared threads.

Just my .02:wink1:
 
Get two new nuts. Take the die grinder to the first one, and remove the threads, making it into a spacer. Slide that on first, then tighten the new one on top of it where the fresh threads are. I know its probably not approved by the web wheeler engineers, but I'd do it. It's up to you really.
 
That would be a lot easier and cheaper than swapping in the $150 14BFF I am looking at.

I'll have to think about it and look over my axle to make sure there are no other issues with it.

The best part is I had just put in a new 4.88 R&P and Detroit and was about to check the pattern when I discovered this little problem.
 
old axles were 2 nuts with lock washer in middle. the newer last 10 years or so were 1 deep nut with tiny bar stock lock and a spring washer to hold in place. possible swap for you.
 
My axle had two nuts with a washer in between. Would the newer setup adapted to this situation be an improvement over de-threaded nut/nut/washer/nut?
 
pvfjr said:
Get two new nuts. Take the die grinder to the first one, and remove the threads, making it into a spacer. Slide that on first, then tighten the new one on top of it where the fresh threads are. I know its probably not approved by the web wheeler engineers, but I'd do it. It's up to you really.
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Or you can just do it the safe and correct way and swap the focker out and put another 14bff in there. I can't believe some of the bullsh1t people come up with. :confused: Why do so many people mess around with theirs and others safety by doing half-ass chit? If you can't afford another rear end then save the money for a month and don't go kill yourself or better yet someone else.:deal:
 
Big Blzn said:
Or you can just do it the safe and correct way and swap the focker out and put another 14bff in there. I can't believe some of the bullsh1t people come up with. :confused: Why do so many people mess around with theirs and others safety by doing half-ass chit? If you can't afford another rear end then save the money for a month and don't go kill yourself or better yet someone else.:deal:
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Yep, there it is. Everyone's entitled to their opinion, thanks for sharing. It's his judgment call, depending on how many threads are gone and how it all looks. I can't decide any of this for him, and neither can you. I'm just throwing different ideas out there for him to work with.

I forgot about the older single nut style. That might be something worth looking into as well.
 
I do appreciate all perspectives and ideas. I am looking into a "new" 14BFF that I might pick up next weekend because I am little hesitant about the double nut plan. I must say that it is a lot easier to do everything "right" when you have a bigger budget. I don't. I'll have $1000 invested in a axle worth about $300 pretty soon. That is about $1000 more than I had to spend in the first place.

Yeah I know, people are gonna tell me to quit my whining and find another hobby if I think it's too expensive now.
 
Nah, you don't have to quit. I've been doing it on a budget for years now. It's just slower and trickier.
 
It is ALWAYS better to do it right and safe and have it take a little longer and maybe a little more expense than to do it half-assed and unsafe. Plus, if it is done right it just may last for the life of the truck unless you beat the snot out of your rig then that is your problem for abusing your hard work and expensive parts. BTW, most people on this site don't have deep pockets and the ones with nicely built rigs did it over the course of years and many, many paychecks. take your time and yur will be stoked you did it the right way in the long-run.
Hoby
 
Ok new issue. I know the axle is almost certainly toast, but I have a morbid desire to see the carnage up close, but I can't get the hub/drum off. All the washers and nuts are off and the outer wheel bearing is off. I can't see anything between the spindle and hub all the way back to the inner wheel bearing, which looks as though it is angled so the hub should just fall off. I don't think it is hanging up on the brake shoes - I can see space between the shoe and drum through the adjuster holes. The hub is loose enough to wiggle back and forth but won't come off. What did I forget to do?
 
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