hubba hubba

[adamm]

wonder if anybody has any experiences (and therefore any ideas/suggestions to help me on my way...) of coming to re-install their hubs and them being right buggers to get back on? the one side went on "fine" then when I came to do the other side it put up much more of a fight which resulted in the castle nut losing the fight and striping the thread from within. obviously i dont want to strip the thread on the strut as this would be major headache time. has anybody an ingenious way of pressing the hub assembly home first before torquing up the castle nut? sunday was not a happy day - make monday better for me! TIA

PS I have already checked and re-checked all surfaces/bearings etc to make sure they're all ok and they are so we can rule that out...

[BillWilliams]

are you referring to the front or rear? The front castle nut goes on loosley so I do not think that is what you refer to and the back is not usually referred to as a strut here in the states.

[adamm]

ah yes, got carried away with my excitement there. i am talking about the front struts. i know the castle should only go on finger tight and is held in with the split pin but what other way is there of pressing the hub (bearings) home other than using the force of the nut as you tighten it? i have always cranked up the nut to press the bearings on, backed it of, re-torqued it to 20lbs, backed it off again then done it finger tight (as per my haynes manual) before installing the pin. have i been doing it completely arse-about-face all this time?

[BillWilliams]

the bearings should drop in easily flush or slightly below the top of the hub. Then your way of torquing the bearing is correct.

If the bearing is not just dropping in, you need to find out what that is about. Torquing to the small amount required should not destroy the threads on the castle nut.

Did you replace the races too? New bearing require new races.

Do you have that weird shaped washer with the indent that goes between the castle nut and bearing in place?

Is the hub fitting properly on the spindle/axle and not hanging up on the dust shield or shoulder of the spindle?

[adamm]

hello again Bill, yes the bearings are all new throughout and yes, they just drop straight into the hub - it's the whole assembly that i'm struggling to mount onto the spindle/axle. i'm just totally confused as the other side went on comparitively easily and i was worried that i was doing it all wrong and had fluked it all the previous occasions!

the hub fits well on the spindle (and i have the wierd washer!) i just cant get it home that extra couple of millimetres for the castle nut to clear the hole for the split pin. it's a strange one for sure.

it would seem that it's just "one of those things" and that if i am doing it the correct way then i'm just going to have to be a bit more thorough with checking everything over again before i have another go. yesterday i just wanted to kick the whole thing in the air!

thanks for your help

[Guest Anonymous]

Did you replace the races? If so you probably didn't press them in all the way. If you don't have access to a press you can use the old races and a hammer to make sure they are all the way in. they should sit just a few mm inside from the lip of the hub. If the races are pressed correctly & the bearings are seated correctly then what did you change? New castle nut? Is the spacer between the rotor shield OK? The only thing that should be hard about putting the front hubs back on is not getting grease everywhere. Other than that they should be VERY easy to install.

Take the good one back off and compare.

Best of luck