What's new
CK5
Register an account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members.

hub disassembly

D

dc_sniper9130

Newbie
Joined
Apr 2, 2009
Posts
3
Reaction score
0
Location
Spokane, WA
okay, so i went 4-wheeling a couple days ago and got a little carried away... and broke my 4wd.

first thing i noticed was that leaving the ORV park, my driver-side hub wouldn't disengage, and on the drive home the truck would just start pulling to the left randomly (without any varied input from the steering wheel). got home and took the wheel off, and if i grab the front of the brake disc and put force on it, there's almost an inch and a half of free play in the hub. would this be normal if i completely vaporized the wheel bearing, or is it something more serious?

second thing i noticed is that now (when the truck is on the ground, with the transfer case in N or 2WD) my front driveshaft makes a loud knocking noise when i try to spin it, and the two "halves" of it rotate independently from each other, almost like the splines are nuked. i need a new driveshaft, don't i?

my main question is this: do i need any special tools to get the hub apart enough to replace the bearing, or can i improvise with typical tools found in a 122-piece craftsman socket set and some other basic stuff found around the house?

rig in question is an '85 k5 jimmy, 350/700r4/np208. thanks for any help.

Tony
 
dc_sniper9130 said:
okay, so i went 4-wheeling a couple days ago and got a little carried away... and broke my 4wd.

first thing i noticed was that leaving the ORV park, my driver-side hub wouldn't disengage, and on the drive home the truck would just start pulling to the left randomly (without any varied input from the steering wheel). got home and took the wheel off, and if i grab the front of the brake disc and put force on it, there's almost an inch and a half of free play in the hub. would this be normal if i completely vaporized the wheel bearing, or is it something more serious?

second thing i noticed is that now (when the truck is on the ground, with the transfer case in N or 2WD) my front driveshaft makes a loud knocking noise when i try to spin it, and the two "halves" of it rotate independently from each other, almost like the splines are nuked. i need a new driveshaft, don't i?

my main question is this: do i need any special tools to get the hub apart enough to replace the bearing, or can i improvise with typical tools found in a 122-piece craftsman socket set and some other basic stuff found around the house?

rig in question is an '85 k5 jimmy, 350/700r4/np208. thanks for any help.

Tony
Click to expand...


If you have that much play on the disc...good chance the bearings are gone and also that the spindle is wasted. And with your description of it grabbing an pulling... sounds like that is when the bearing started to REALLY go.

Knocking... not real sure on that one. Maybe one or both of the u-joints are bad. And if the two halves of the shaft will rotate independently... the slip part of the driveshaft is gone... yup, new shaft needed.

Everything you need to fix should be able to be fixed with what you have. Would be nice to have the correct socket for the spindle nut... but you can get it off with a hammer and screw driver.
 
well, turns out my grandpa has the spindle socket from an old chevy truck he used to have, and i picked up the new bearings at schucks today.

tomorrow, i'll ride down to his place to get the socket and get the bearings replaced, then tuesday i'll hopefully be able to go to Pull & Save for a new driveshaft and maybe spindle (really hope i don't need it).

now, they only have a couple K5s there, so aside from the obvious driveshaft dimension (length), is there anything else i need to know before trying to get a front shaft off another GM truck to fit on mine? are there any differences in size between u-joints on chevy/gmc trucks, or should any driveshaft off a GM truck with the same length as mine work?
 
Snap ring pliers and a pick set are useful as well for taking apart the locking hubs. :wink1:
 
FYI, just went through a ball joint/steering arm replacement, and almost all the spindles I took apart looking for a good one (to replace mine) were all "burnt" where the bearings ride, to some degree.

If looking for this sort of part, find the newest truck you can, that doesn't look like it's been beat on, and that has the factory hubs on it. I'd probably stay away from ones that have a shim "under" the spindle. No idea how you'd know if you needed a shim, I didn't see anything in the factory manual about shims, but I found one out of six spindles I took apart had a steel shim.

I'd suggest a deadblow hammer to get the spindle off, mine took some serious beating to remove.
 
mine did the same thing. The wheel bearings grenaded taking the spindle, and lock nuts with it. I had to hack the outer hub apart to get it off. Then I had to hack the spindle to get that off. In the end I ended up having to replace everything from the nuckle out. BTW while its apart replace the axel shaft u joint because you wont want to take it apart ever again...
 
yeah, thats a good point, on the end of the hub, if the small perimeter bolts that hold the lock hub onto the rotor either strip, or are gummed up inside, you can either try to drill them out, or like stated above, and in my case, you can cut into the hub from the sides, and cut the bolts that way. i used a 4.5in grinder with a cutting wheel attachment.
 
I had to do wheel bearings this past weekend. They were squeaking really bad but it was still driveable. Picked up a set of new bearings, races and locking hubs for about 130.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest Posts

Top Bottom