Les Henson Posted May 12, 2006 Share Posted May 12, 2006 This has to be one of the dirtiest, oiliest, jobs you can do on any Land Rover - re-building the front hub. Vehicle is a V8 Disco, not that it matters, as this is the same throughout the range - from a Series one downwards In this case, the swivel pins had worn, and as a result - a kind of chain reaction starts - excessive play caused by the pins wearing then causes the oil/swivel grease, to leak out of the housing - generally onto the inside tyre wall, and then around the wheel arch. As the level drops inside the housing - the top swivel bearing becomes starved of lubricant, and starts to break-up/ accellerate wear. The gap between the seal and swivel housing that lets oil out, now lets water in, and corrosion starts on expensive things such as CV joint and swivel housing. Symptoms of worn swivel pin bearings will be a clunk whenever you change direction. If you jack the wheel off the ground and try to rock it by grasping the wheel in the 12 and 6 o-clock position. If the wheel 'knocks' when you do this, then swivel pins are the culprit. Having identified the problem, it's time to get down and dirty First pic is what you might think is just one more oil leak, but in fact you are looking at around a hundred quid. You're gonna wish you did something about this sooner! Jack up the vehicle and remove the road wheel, turn the steering hard left, and remove the 19mm nut and then washer that retains the steering drag link in the hub assembly. Use a ball joint removal tool, or strike the arm close to where the track rod end is with a hammer. After a few blows the joint will seperate. On closer inspection you might see that the swivel housing is pitted/rusty. Trying to cut corners and still use the old one is a waste of time as the abrasive nature will quickly ruin the new seal, and far better to rebuild the hub assembly properly and know that it'll be ok for a few years to come. You will need to methodically strip the entire hub right down to the end of the axle tube - so brake caliper, brake pipes, brake disc, driveshaft assembly, swivel housing, and 'chrome ball' will have to come off. Caliper off first - held in place by two 12-point 13mm bolts. These will be very tight, so make sure the socket you use is a good fit. The upper bolt head in particular sits in a recess that can't be got at by usual methods. Tap the socket onto the bolt before attemting to undo it. There are two short steel brake pipes that go from the top of the swivel housing to the bottom of the caliper. They will have to be removed as they restrict access to the two upper swivel pin bolts. On this vehicle they were very rusty and one broke. Remove the caliper and put it to one side. The two bolts are very similar to the 6 that hold the hub assembly to the axle, so keep them seperate. The top swivel pin, and the bracket where the brake hoses are secured and connect to two steel pipes. Drive flange next - prise off the rubber hub cap and the end of the driveshaft can be seen with a circlip and a few shims keeping it in position on the shaft. External circlip pliers and the clip and shims will come off. Udo the 6x17mm bolts and the flange will come off. Unforunately my camera is playing up, so I've lost about 3-pictures, but once the drive flange is removed you will be able to see the two nuts that keep the brake disc on the stub axle. Bend back the tab washer and remove the outer nut, then remove the tab washer and remove the second nut. DON't use a chisel/blunt screwdriver/Pair of long-nosed Mole grips to undo these nuts, considering the cost of the parts to do this job, the £7 cost of the correct box spanner is quite small. Anyway, with the disc now off, you are left with the stub axle. Next is the flimsy back plate. At the top it is hooked over a tab that is part of the brake pipe bracket, and then the steering lock stop nut, and by an M6 nut/bolt at the very bottom. There's a drain plug (centre of picture) 11mm spanner will undo it to drain the remaining lubricant out of the swivel housing. With the backplate out of the way, the drain plug can be removed. Nothing is left to drain out - not surprising really. Remove these 6x17mm bolts in order to remove the stub axle. Once undone, the stub axle and then the driveshaft unit can be removed. Now to the rear of the swivel housing, and the seal, which is held in by a plate that has 6 x m8 bolts that have to be removed. Camera failure again! The bottom swivel pin is retained by two Torx bolts that also holds some odd kind of counterweight thing. The bolts are tight, so be careful when trying to undo them. The top pin is held by two 17mm bolts, and once both pins have been removed, the housing assembly will come off. The two pin bearings are badly worn, the one on the right is the upper one, but the lack of grease and presence of water has caused damage to the lower one as well. If by any chance your chrome ball is still ok, then you now need to remove the bearing tracks. Having the ball still bolted to the axle makes this a lot easier. A suitable drift and a hammer will get them out. Finally down to the ball itself. This is held to the axle tube by 6 x 14mm 12-point bolts, and they are mental tight - in fact most people don't have enough veins in their forehead or knowledge of Anglo Saxon (well, except Bathtub ) No room for sockets here, so make sure the spanner is a very snug fit, and either use the method here to increase leverage, or some other way. Using the two-spanner method is ok, but they must be kept in line - they can slip very easily otherwise. Finally all is stripped down, and the end of the axle tube is all you should be able to see. All the parts needed to do the job. Chrome ball is now a Teflon coated ball, it's seal that prevets swivel Lube from mixing with axle oil, swivel to axle gasket, Ball oil seal, swivel pins, shims, and pin bearings, plus tube of One Shot grease. About £120 from aftermarket supplier. First thing - press or carefully drift the pin bearing tracks into the ball. Then press the oil seal into the inboard end of the ball, making sure you put it in the right way round. Stick a new gasket to the axle tube with grease, put the swivel seal on the ball - also making sure it's the right way round, then the seal retainer. The ball fixing holes are in a singular pattern, so it'll only go on the one way. Use threadlock on the bolts and do them up really tight - they are all that's holding the entire front wheel assembly on the vehicle. Take some time to clean all the bits that you are going to use again - there'll be plenty of grit around that could end-up where it's not wanted. The swivel housing can now go on. Grease the previoulsy fitted bearing tracks, and place the upper bearing in place. The bottom one has to be placed where it'll eventually be held by the lower pin. Then 'hook' the lower bearing into it's seat and slide the top forward over the upper bearing. Place the top swivel pin in place and it'll stop it all from falling apart as soon as you let go. The swivel pre-load has now to be set, which makes quite a difference to the steering feel of the vehicle if not done properly. A good rule of thumb is to use the same shims that I took off, and go from there. Out of the 6-that were on it originally, I ended-up removing 4. The driveshaft assembly can be re-fitted, new gasket, and then stub axle. The 6 x 17mm bolts need to be threadlocked as well. Put a layer of grease on the new ball, then place the new seal in the housing - followed by the retainer and it's 8mm bolts. Note that the retainer will only go in one position. It's also worth mentioning that in severe cases, the main seal housing is badly corroded, which can let oil or grease out. If the corrosion is bad, then a thin bead of RTV sealant can be used. Slide the disc assembly back on the stub axle, re-fit the two nuts using a new tab washer When replacing the drive flange you might notice that the end of the drive shaft is inside the flange. Do up 5 bolts and use the sixth to pull the driveshaft out in order for the shims and then circlip to be re-fitted. The thread of the bolt is different from the thread in the hole, but you can 'hook' the thread to do this job, by pressing the bolt downwards as well as outwards. Once the circlip is on, fit the sixth bolt, apply some grease to the end of the shaft, and pop the hub cap back on. Replace the caliper and make sure that the two retaining bolts are very tight. Finally - the two brake pipes that I broke are replaced by cupro-nickel ones and 4 x M10 fine male fittings. Bleed the system using an assistant or an eezi-bleed system Reconnect the steering drag link, and replace the road wheel. Les. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mo Murphy Posted May 12, 2006 Share Posted May 12, 2006 Another quality write-up Les, thanks. Mo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landrover598 Posted May 12, 2006 Share Posted May 12, 2006 Good work there One thing though, pardon being cheeky but - USE AN AXLE STAND Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freeagent Posted May 12, 2006 Share Posted May 12, 2006 an excellent write up as always. just one thing to add, when undoing the 'mental tight' bolts that hold the ball onto the axle tube i found it easier to lie down next to the vehicle (in line with the sills) and push a ring spanner with your boot.. it doesn't work so well for the ones on the top, but the two underneath are easy to 'crack' like this. hope this write up finds its way to the tech archive.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LandyManLuke Posted May 12, 2006 Share Posted May 12, 2006 Great post, thanks especially as this job is on my to-do list!! Luke Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
istruggle2gate11 Posted May 12, 2006 Share Posted May 12, 2006 This has to be one of the dirtiest, oiliest, jobs you can do on any Land Rover - re-building the front hub. Good Post Yep, especially when its done on the mountain side, desperately chasing out that twisted up half shaft and CV using bare minimum tools. Became bit of a meister at it last season (14 diffs)! For those that are really willing to go for it, one mod on my front axle was to drill and tap the bolts that hold on the swivel to M10 (instead of m8) and replace with cap head bolts (12/9). Since that mod (3 yrs) Ive never had a loose / weaping front axle (a popular mod in the com safari scene). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
white90 Posted May 12, 2006 Share Posted May 12, 2006 an excellent write up as always.just one thing to add, when undoing the 'mental tight' bolts that hold the ball onto the axle tube i found it easier to lie down next to the vehicle (in line with the sills) and push a ring spanner with your boot.. it doesn't work so well for the ones on the top, but the two underneath are easy to 'crack' like this. hope this write up finds its way to the tech archive.... Already there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoffbeaumont Posted May 12, 2006 Share Posted May 12, 2006 Thanks Les - I've been trying not to think about that job The swivel I had rebuilt by a garage last summer is leaking grease, so I guess they either refitted a damaged swivel (can't see or feel any pitting, though) or made a hash of fitting the seal. Seeing as the wheel bearing fell apart the day after they did it, either are plausible... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Henson Posted May 12, 2006 Author Share Posted May 12, 2006 I use axle stands if I have to get underneath, or the surface is poor. The surface I working on was smoth, level concrete, so I didn't feel the need to use a stand. But yes, I should still use one. Les. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
will_warne Posted May 13, 2006 Share Posted May 13, 2006 Superb writeup Les, I promised Tony I'd do something along these lines a few weeks ago to include some upgrades (uprated CVs, oiled bearings, quick caliper removal etc). I might get a chance to do something tomorrow but I'm rediculously busy; I've just finished working and I'll be working over the whole weekend too Just a couple of quick point I'd add: 1) Always replace the bolts that hold the swivel seal retainer plate to the swivel housing. I've found these have a nasty habit of shearing off when you retorque them and then you've got the deep joy of drilling them out. Last time it happened I broke the drill bit meaning the swivel housing had to be binned. 2) I always remove the plate that sits behind the stub axle bolts. This is designed to keep muck out but if you're planning to take the vehicle off road then ditch it; it'll simply hold the mud in at the back of the hub and wear away the rear seal resulting in rapid bearing failier. 3) The odd counter wight thing on the bottom swivel pin retainer is an a discovery only part. The defender swivels don't have them. I'm not entirely sure what they're for though.... 4) I always remove the disk gaurds; they're not strong enough to prevent off road damage and only trap mud and stones. The result is terrible squeeking and scored disks. It also make a quick visual check of disk condition possible. 5) For the cost of calliper bolts its always worth replacing them; they're annother favourate for shearing. The other bonus is the new bolts come with pre applied thread lock. IIRC the torque figure for these is 120 lbft although I'm not 100% sure. As Les said, though, it's BL**DY tight!!! 6) A nice little trick when you come to folding the lock washer is to tighten the first nut, rotate the hub to ensure the bearings are seated correctly, retighten nut if neccessary and then push the lock washer onto the stub axle. Now remove it and use the grease imprint on the washer to fold in in the vice. It works much better than roughly bending it with a chisel or drift. 7) Removing the Chrome ball from the axle case can be a total ba$tard. As Les said, a good spanner fit is essential. Getting enough leverage is difficult, as you say. I've got a short length of gas pipe that's perfect for using in wheelarches that I tend to slip over the spanner for this job. Lying on your back and using a boot also works well although I try and avoid it as I'm pretty paranoid about my foot slipping and kicking an axle stand.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnomeranger Posted May 13, 2006 Share Posted May 13, 2006 Great write up. I normally remove the caliper then take the whole assembly off the axle tube and repair it in the workshop, then replace as a complete lump. Swings and roundabouts though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freeagent Posted May 13, 2006 Share Posted May 13, 2006 Lying on your back and using a boot also works well although I try and avoid it as I'm pretty paranoid about my foot slipping and kicking an axle stand.... i hadn't thought of that, i guess its a good point. as i'm a bit warry about jacking and supporting vehicles, i normally drop it onto the axle stand then leave the trolley jack in place, with just enough tension to keep it there, its not actually supporting anything, but is a good 'insurance' policy. .....as is sliding the road wheel under the nearest chassis rail... gives the paramedics an easier job when pulling you out from under the vehicle after the jack/ axle stand gives way... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark90 Posted May 13, 2006 Share Posted May 13, 2006 Excellent write up Les. Wish I'd had this when I first done the job Just one thing through.... Finally down to the ball itself. This is held to the axle tube by 6 x 14mm 12-point bolts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonr Posted May 13, 2006 Share Posted May 13, 2006 Very good write up Les - Almost makes me want to do it! Nice seeing it done properly - I only usually see these bits sitting in a muddy field! It was for this job: That I made this: Pictures 'ere Much less likely to result in knuckle-mangling Have you thought about compiling these into a manual on CD? These are better written and clearer than the service manual - or the Haynes book of lies! Si Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiWhite Posted May 13, 2006 Share Posted May 13, 2006 If we're being picky....... Do up 5 bolts and use the sixth to pull the driveshaft out in order for the shims and then circlip to be re-fitted. Seriously though, splendid writeup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freeagent Posted May 13, 2006 Share Posted May 13, 2006 Have you thought about compiling these into a manual on CD? These are better written and clearer than the service manual - or the Haynes book of lies!Si just a thought, but there are quite a few write ups like this in the tech archive, with a bit of additional material that cant be found on the web, it might make a good fund-raising CD for the forum. i'm sure people would pay £4 or £5 for a disc with "twenty poxy jobs you are probably going to have to do" on it...... just a thought. m@tt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Henson Posted May 13, 2006 Author Share Posted May 13, 2006 This is held to the axle tube by 6 x 14mm 12-point bolts. Do up 5 bolts and use the sixth to pull the driveshaft out It's at times like this I wish I hadn't bunked school quite so often! Les. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Hiatt Posted May 13, 2006 Share Posted May 13, 2006 Good stuff A good steam clean first makes the job better, as it does if copper grease was used before. I know this means the bolts might come lose but when racing I would check them before every race, rarely had any come lose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JST Posted May 13, 2006 Share Posted May 13, 2006 good write up Les, wish mine had gone as well as that last time i did it! 14mm ratchet spanner worth its weight in gold for thos chrome ball to axle nuts as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bull Bar Cowboy Posted May 13, 2006 Share Posted May 13, 2006 5) For the cost of calliper bolts its always worth replacing them; they're annother favourate for shearing. The other bonus is the new bolts come with pre applied thread lock. IIRC the torque figure for these is 120 lbft although I'm not 100% sure. As Les said, though, it's BL**DY tight!!! I expect they do at that torque ……………. It should be 100Nm or 74lbs/ft in old money. Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
will_warne Posted May 14, 2006 Share Posted May 14, 2006 I expect they do at that torque ……………. It should be 100Nm or 74lbs/ft in old money. Ian Ah, that does sound more like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_a Posted May 14, 2006 Share Posted May 14, 2006 Adding some other helpful information. The threaded hole on the drive shafts is an M14 on all the ones i've tried, I had some seatbelt bolts that are the right ones. If you fit that before removing the circlip it stops the clip disappearing off down the road as you disassemble. You don't have to remove the stub axle , saves disturbing something if you don't want to. The drive shaft will angle down enough to remove the part complete leaving the ball on the main axle and the drive shaft and cv within. The brake caliper bolts are a bugger to find - get some in as spares, I was held up for a week for want of 2 bolts - leave the old ones as spares after that. While you have the swivel assembly off consider freeing up the steering lock bolts, mine were a pig and if you need to adjust them again at some point that copper slip might be a god send! On the older ones the bottom pin is a bearing, the top is a railko bush. It's important to put the bush in the correct way round, the flatted section should be towards the main axle tube. When I replaced both sides on mine they were both pigs to drive in, I was also concerned that the chrome ball has a lot of bend in it, I braced mine on the vice as I was concerned it might shatter as I beat on it, I guess the races drive in easier, but I don't think I'd reccommend leaving the ball on the axle to get rid of or put new railkos in. I might be being a bit of a wuss though Who the hell takes you pictures Les, I had oil all over me doing this job, the wife would kill me if I looked at her camera during that job Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LR90 Posted May 14, 2006 Share Posted May 14, 2006 Les, superb post. Just the sort of thing all LR owners are faced with at some point and seeing the pics before pulling your own apart just makes it look so much more doable. Well done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted May 14, 2006 Share Posted May 14, 2006 Who the hell takes you pictures Les Les, does with a digi camera, I've seen him use it while doing the power steering pump replacement a few weeks back. another great write up from 'Henson Motor Engineers' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s2hotdog Posted May 14, 2006 Share Posted May 14, 2006 Les as said another great post .......... you are the man Cheers Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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