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Drive axle hub replacement
Well as always I have a small issue. I have almost all my upgrades finished. New are bags, Norgren valves, leveling valves, brake chambers and slack adjusters. I have also replaced the oil seal on the driverr side and am now replacing the bearings and oil seal on the passenger side.
Problem is I cannot get the hub assembly to slide back on to the axle. The driver side slide back in to place easy, but this one is being a pain. I noticed what looked like this side heated a little and maybe spun the bearing although it did not look bad. I had a problem getting the hub off. After pulling it about halfway off it got stuck and I had to give it a good jerk to get it off the axle. I polished the axle with 220 & 240 grit sandpaper and thought all was well, but then cannot get the hub to slide on the axle.
I tried putting the old bearing on and it gets stuck as well unless I get it just perfectly lined up. It is getting stuck on the area that is rises up to make the axle a bigger diameter for the inside bearing. I tried polishing the area and was able to get the old bearing to slide on easier, but still had to be lined up correctly. With the bearing not tight in the hub, I cannot get it to line up right to get it started.
Can I take my Dremel tool and round off this edge? Nothing is on it when the hub is completely installed.
Got to get this done! Leaving for beach next Thursday!!!
Thanks as always.
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10 Replies
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Tom,
It should go on easy and smooth with no binding for sticking, but you already know that. You must have spun the bearing causing imperfections in the axle. The only way to solve that problem is by removing the imperfections and smoothing the axle. Not an easy job, but can be done with elbow grease and patience.
Don’t forget to pre-lub the hug when you get it back on, we know of at lease two guys with damaged axles due to a dry hub after seal replacement.
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The interesting part is it binds right where the axle diameter changes. get it past that point and it is smooth. it is not in the area where a seated bearing sits and would have spun. Binds on the first 1/16 of and inch of the new diameter.
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I would be afraid, very afraid.
Where the hub bearings seat on the differential stub end is precisely machined for alignment of the two bearings, for the correct diameter relative to the bearings and to insure the bearings are rotating on exactly the same axis. If you have trouble pulling or installing a bearing the chances something has gone out of round because you do not mention damage normally associated with the transfer of metal due to spinning a bearing.
While I don’t suspect catostrophic failure if you do get the bearing to seat on the stub end of the differential I can envision never ending issues with failed seals and bearings over time.
There is no doubt if you sand away enough material to get the hub to slide into place it will go back together and may appear perfectly OK, but even a few thousandths of misalignment or a slight bit extra gap between the bearing and the mating surface could create unordinary stresses on the bearing or seal.
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Well I got it on. I was using an ATV jack for the hub and a car jack for the axle, trying to help get it on. I shimmed the hub to the same angle as the axle and slowly pulled the ATV jack forward until the bearing just made contact with the axle. That started looking inside to see what was out of sync. I had to jack up the axle just a tad and then saw that the bearing was not exactly straight in the hub but the axle was centered. I took a flat punch and used just a light tap on the edge of the bearing leaning to the outside and the hub almost fell in to place. Wooohooo!!! Got it all buttoned up and putting the wheel back on tonight. Hope to do a test drive tomorrow.
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Good Tom, you did remember to pre-lube correct?
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Always! 🙂
Oh wait………..
I also did the recommended fill the pumpkin and tip each side with a 6 inch drop for 1 minute. Just to be sure. Then recheck the fluid level in the pumpkin.
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One minute isn’t much when you are trying to get that thick gear lube to ooze between the rollers on the bearings to fill the hub. If you want to demo it to yourself fill a front or tag hub until the little plastic viewing area appears full and time how long it takes for that small amount of lube to seep past the outer bearing into the hub.
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I got the one minute from the Dana axle service manual. Of course as slow as I am it took a lt longer than that. 🙂
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Went for a test drive yesterday to get 119 gallons of diesel!!! Credit card it still smoking!!! Left off the drive hub caps to see if I have any leaks at the axle. Drove 30 miles total and no leaks!! Yipee! Real test will come this with this weekends drive to the beach.
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If you have leaks on the drive axle, look through from under the coach to see if you have oil radiating from the wheel out along the inner sidewall of the inner drive axle tire. Before you see the oil on the tire the leak has to coat the inner wheel. Sometimes you can also see it by looking between the drive axle tires. You have to lay on the ground and even in daylight shine a good flashlight where you are looking.
Hub seal leaks in the tag and steer wheels can be identified by poking a finger into one of the holes in a wheel and feeling around. If you just get dry dust, no problem. If your finger comes back with greasy dust or dirt the hub seal is leaking.
Just to be clear, do not get under the coach unless it is supported. You can lay alongside the coach and look at the drive axle wheels on the opposite side without getting beneath the coach.
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