2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission Front wheel hub/bearing removal? How to????

[GOT-Torque]

I can not get my front wheel hub/bearings off the knuckles. I've tried beating on the four mounting bolts from the back side of the knuckle (with the bolts backed out a little), tried using a large hammer and wedge stlye punch thing (can't remember what its called) to separate the hub from the knuckle. Won't budge. #@$%!



How do I get it off of there???



Can I put the wheels back on and leave the hub mounting bolts loose. Lower it to the ground to put weight on it? Maybe try turning back and forth?



Someone help me out here...

 

[AKAMAC]

If it is giving you that much grief, I'd use a puller and an air hammer.

Put some torque on the puller then use the air hammer with a 1/4" round/flat bit to beat the loosened bolts. You can use a 3/4" or 1/2" piece of copper tubing as a sleeve over the bolts to keep the bit on the bolt. Repeat till she moves. i. e. keep the puller tight.



Some use the power steering and an extension braced to the axle to wiggle it off. It works but the stress is kinda worrisome.

 

[y-knot]

The first thing I did when I knew I had to take the front hubs/rotors off was to make a simple puller. I simply used a piece of metal roughly 10" x 10" and (3/16" thick) and drilled it to fit 4 of the lugs. In the middle, dead square I drilled the plate and installed a 1/2" bolt to hold the small piece of tubing (1-1/2") that I used to push the rotor/hubs off. The tubing is cut long enough that when the plate is on the lugs, just enough to get a few turns of each lug nut, that it rest on the center of the spindle nut. Then just tighten down the lugs in a cross pattern and the thing will pull it's self off. To remove the hub, simply loosen the nut and then use the puller to pop it loose.

 

[DWeik]

I just removed my left front after 250,000 miles like this;

PB Blaster on the 4 hub to knuckle bolts and around the bearing itself from the backside. I turned the 4 bolts out 1/2" and sprayed again. I placed a 1/2" drive 9/16 socket and 4" extension on the bolts in a cross pattern and drove it out with a 5lb hammer, WORK IT OUT EVENLY so it does not jam up. When it breaks loose it will come out easily. Mine took about 15-20 HARD hits on each bolt.

Make sure you get the correct assembly to put back in by useing your last 9 digits of your vin #.

 

[jkalchik]

If it is giving you that much grief, I'd use a puller and an air hammer.

Put some torque on the puller then use the air hammer with a 1/4" round/flat bit to beat the loosened bolts. You can use a 3/4" or 1/2" piece of copper tubing as a sleeve over the bolts to keep the bit on the bolt. Repeat till she moves. i. e. keep the puller tight.



Some use the power steering and an extension braced to the axle to wiggle it off. It works but the stress is kinda worrisome.

Wait a sec..... use a puller *WHERE*???????

First of all, if you use a puller of any sort on the drive flange, you're yanking on the inner race of the bearing. Personally, I'd rather not reuse the bearing after this. A slide hammer might break it loose, but if you're thinking about a puller with a screw in the middle, there's really nothing to push against. All you'll do is push the axle in towards the diff, where it should float.

I got mine apart a couple of years back by using a small sledge against the 4 bolt heads. You can save the heads if you use a sacrificial socket to avoid mushrooming over the heads.

Another technique uses a socket and an extension. Back the bolts out a turn or three, set the socket on the head, and have a helper SLOWLY AND CAREFULLY turn the steering wheel so that you use the power steering to pop it loose.

 

[DNewell]

I recently had to redo the front brakes on my truck, and here's my experience: I first undid the four star flanged bolts with a 14mm nut. I pulled them completely out. I ended up banging on the backside of the rotors with a three pound sledge. Since I wasn't reusing the rotors, I truly didn't care what happened to them. When I got the rotor/hub assembly on the ground, I used a lugnut cinched down on the lug about 5-6 turns and then hammered the lugs out. This pops the rotor off the hub assembly. When reassembled, there was no play in the bearings, and I've since put 6-8k miles, even towing my 12k 5er and not a single problem.

it worked for me, but not too sure it will work for you. Some may think this was a caveman way to do it, but my bearings are perfectly fine, and everything is A-okay.

 

[GOT-Torque]

Well I've tried pounding on the four mounting bolts plenty to no avail. I've used half a can of PB blaster on the hubs (front and back). The rotors came off easy, its just the hub now. I tried a large puller (3 jaw) pushing against the axle shaft. I used two sockets between the outer axle yoke and the inner axle tube (to prevent the axle shaft from just pushing inward). I got it as tight as I could (I swear the puller was going to break). Tried beating on everything while the puller was on it. NO LUCK



Tomorrow I am going to try the power steering assist method.



I'm only removing the hubs to get the axles out to then install my ARB locker. I'm also doing balljoints too.



Hopefully, I will get lucky tomorrow.

 

[KAlder]

Here is a trick an older tech taught me when I started out working on these things- Takes two people to do it quick- rotate the hub so the stub axle yokes have one ear directly in front and one in the rear, then take say a 15/16 shallow impact socket and stick it between the stub axle yoke and the side of the axle tube yoke(right next to where the axle goes into the tube) and have your helper turn the wheel so the socket is binding the steering in that direction, so basicly the socket is pushing on the stub axle forcing the bearing out with out molesting the bolts. some you have to work it back and forth ALOT to get out, but anti seize helps smooth out this project in the future.

Kevin

 

[BLively]

i was told that the easiest way to get it out was to use the power steering method. i just wd40d mine like crazy and beat the freakin you know what out of it!! took a while, but got it off. you might have to use a torch and heat it up, then let it cool for a while, then beat some more. just my . 02 on what ive heard and what ive actually done...

 

[Joe Mc]

On my 99 I remove wheel, caliper, 3 of the 4 bearing assy bolts - leaving the real lower one loose, 9/16 socket & short extension between bolt and housing tube, slight turn on steering wheel to keep socket/ext from falling out when you start truck, a quick turn of the wheel and "POP" it's free. The first time I did this was at 145k, and my truck was drivin in upstate New York (road salt city) for the first 75k of it's life.

Hope this helps - actually hope you are already done.

 

[BillBrown]

I have done several of these on the dodge trucks and jeep cherokees. Lousen all the bolts and put an extension on the socket that will reach A bracket somewhere on the axel housing, then use the power steering to push the assembly out part of the way one direction then put on the other side and repeat. It will then pull the rest of the way out by hand. I came up with this idea on My Wifes cherokee several years ago and since then used it on the rams and tought the trick to several mechanics that untill then had cussed and fought these bearings every time they had to remove one and now do it with ease.

 

[jtisdale]

I repeat, NOT FUN.

Sounds like some of you guys got lucky. I hear the terms "simply" and "POP right off". We did my ball joints last weekend, and it took almost 2 hours (per side) of steady pulling/air hammering/PB blasting to get the hubs off. It was not fun, but the bearings didnt seperate either. Changing the ball joints was a breeze, but the hubs were a nightmare.

If you have the abs on the front, I would advise against using a torch the heat the housing. I would also reconsider using the powersteering method because it doesnt apply the force evenly around the hub.

 

[GOT-Torque]

No luck yet.



Tried more beating, tried the power assist method on both sides of bolts back and forth. Didn't budge. Warmed it up with heat (not too hot though), let it cool. Still no luck.



I borrowed an air hammer to help out this week.



I focused on the rear end this weekend (ARB for the rear as well), carrier bearings were worn out, one cap had started to spin (no damage to the housing though).

 

[GOT-Torque]

After alot more beating, air hammering (very cool tool), and penetrating oil, it did not come off in one piece. The outer half of the hub came out of the inner half. I was then able to loosen the balljoints enough to get a port-a-band in there and cut a balljoint off. This allowed me to remove the knuckle with the inner half of the hub still stuck in place. I'll probably just torch it out now. Went ahead and ordered news ones at $218 each.



Anyone know if there is suppose to be a axle seal on the inner shaft (right at the outer end of the axle tube) to prevent mud, rocks, etc from getting into the tube of the axle?

 

[Gregg Mig]

G T when I did my front end last year I cut the upper and lower balljoints with a torch, took the spindle assembly off ,then brought it to a machine shop to have the bearing pressed from the hub. I tried every imaginable method nothing worked. I was in the shop when they were pressing it out and it took 20 tons of force to get it out. There is no way the power steering method is going to provide that my force not to metion stressing out the frame and the rest of the frontend. I must have put at leasr 20hrs into it before I read about cutting the balljoints. Road salt SUCKS! PERIOD! read my thread from last august. good luck. Gregg

 

[AKAMAC]

Wait a sec..... use a puller *WHERE*???????



First of all, if you use a puller of any sort on the drive flange, you're yanking on the inner race of the bearing. Personally, I'd rather not reuse the bearing after this. A slide hammer might break it loose, but if you're thinking about a puller with a screw in the middle, there's really nothing to push against. All you'll do is push the axle in towards the diff, where it should float.



I got mine apart a couple of years back by using a small sledge against the 4 bolt heads. You can save the heads if you use a sacrificial socket to avoid mushrooming over the heads.



Another technique uses a socket and an extension. Back the bolts out a turn or three, set the socket on the head, and have a helper SLOWLY AND CAREFULLY turn the steering wheel so that you use the power steering to pop it loose.

Sorry, I should have added that I made a shim out of a 5" piece of 3&1/2" x3/8" flat stock, cut like a FE shim 2&3/8" slot size, to hold the axle in place. Its been awhile and I don't do this for a living any more. I usually forget something but he did figure it out.



Sorry you lost the hub, it does happen. I knew you'd like a new tool in the box

now you need the pickle fork attachment and all will be golden.

 

[jkalchik]

Sorry you lost the hub, it does happen. I knew you'd like a new tool in the box now you need the pickle fork attachment and all will be golden.

Actually, I haven't split a bearing like that. I do occasionally learn from other people's mistakes. :-laf And that's something I learned about LONG ago, growing up on the farm. NEVER pull through a bearing if you've got any intentions of reusing it.



And I've already got a pickle fork.....

 

[AKAMAC]

So you've never used the spindle nut to yank the seal/bearing off of a 2WD front assembly.

If the inner race is seized to the spindle puller will keep the race square while the force applied is quartered. I stated in my post to keep it tight, the puller is not to pull it it is to balance the force applied on the spindle.

The farm I worked on slaughtered pigs, so I just had to keep my knife sharp.

 

[DNewell]

And I think the biggest lesson to learn, as mentioned earlier, is use crap loads of anti-sieze after getting the hub off. I think that I was lucky when I did mine. I had about 125k miles, and they popped off after only a little beating. Sucks that it required new hubs...

 

[Makensmoke]

Gregg Mig I ended up doing the same thing. Big POW when the press finally got them to give. That was probably around 100k ago and I remember it well. Mostly when I was swinging the hammer in the fender well and hit the outside of the fender on its way in... thanks DC for including some touch up paint! ooh did i swear, lord i apoligize