92 GQ FRONT HUBS RUNNING HOT

Submitted: Thursday, Sep 16, 2004 at 22:10

ThreadID: 16331 Views:5534 Replies:4 FollowUps:1

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Mouldy

Hi All,

Just got my first 4 wheelie, and am sorting out a few probs.

The most elusive one is the front hubs which seem to run hot.
I've looked and seen that in the archives, there are a few out there with the same issue.
The Hubs get hot after the vehicle has been travelling and it has sat still for a few minutes, thay get quite hot, a lot hotter than I would think was normal. I have had the front bearings repacked and adjusted, but still they get hot. This is when running in 2wd, no work being done (excessive braking etc). If I feel the hubs immediately on stopping, they are at a normal temperature.
I thought that perhaps the brakes may be binding, but the discs show no evidence for that.

Has anyone got any explanations/solution? (And may they be inexpensive)

Need I be concerned? (Please let the answer be no)

Many Thanks.

Mouldy Dave

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Reply By: Bilbo - Thursday, Sep 16, 2004 at 22:37

Thursday, Sep 16, 2004 at 22:37

Dave,

Can you hold yer hand on 'em when "hot"? Or are they just warm?

Another thing to consider is, inside the front locking hub there is a spacer ring. It's easy to get access to it. Just remove the Allen screws (11mm metric) and tap off (gently) the outer hub. Inside there you'll see the locking clutch. Around the outside of that clutch is very thin steel ring that looks like part of the whole assemby. It isn't. It fits between the aluminium outer casing and the inner clutch asembly. These rings can 'catch' on the clutch hub and create high temperatures through friction. When they are really dry and 'catching' they can make a very elusive rattling sound. It took me weeks to track this noise down when it happened to me. Just remove the ring and have a look at it. If it looks burnt or scarred then it's 'catching'. Rub down the high spots on the inside of the ring and on the outside of the clutch assembly with fine emery cloth or wet 'n dry pape, put some grease on it and put it back.

Be careful with removing & replacing the circlip. It's tricky.

Bilbo

AnswerID: 76717

Reply By: NissanofOld - Friday, Sep 17, 2004 at 07:55

Friday, Sep 17, 2004 at 07:55

In normal suburban driving, where you use the brakes moderately (usually), the hubs should be warm to the touch. You should be comfortably able to keep your hand on the hub. If they are too hot to touch, I would suggest that the bearings are not correctly adjusted, even though they may have been repacked. If you jack up the wheels, you should be able to turn them quite easily, if not, they have probably been tensioned to much. Either that, or your brakes are binding slightly.

AnswerID: 76746

Reply By: Truckster (Vic) - Friday, Sep 17, 2004 at 09:18

Friday, Sep 17, 2004 at 09:18

Few issues that are common with this.
Mine also do it, to the point where you almost burn your fingers when unlocking after a long night/day 4wdin

1) over tightening of the wheel bearings - pretty common cause. Also over packing with grease.

2) Brakes - The calipers on GQs DO have a habit of sticking - but usually rears. Even though you say theres no evidence, give em a clean up.

3) the hubs need oiling - Undo the allen bolts, take the hub off, and put in about 50/100ml of engine oil in there to lube it up.

Start there and see how you go.

Also have a look at The Patrol List Archive list We now have a really great archive with MANY articles on lots of issues.

YMMV

AnswerID: 76759

Reply By: Vinnie - Friday, Sep 17, 2004 at 21:37

Friday, Sep 17, 2004 at 21:37

Mouldy
Yep I got a 92 Maverick and was concerned of the same problem, hot hubs.
I have AVM free wheelers, Do You?.
The AVM's are cast aluminium and this alone will attract heat from normal running and braking. Don't fret yet. The alloy will gather heat and acts like a heat-sink.
Of the 3 common metals .. Mild Steel, Stainless Steel & Aluminium, Alum' heats up quicker and will stay hot longer if a source is letting it do so.
In this case heat from the brakes will keep the alum hub warmer longer when stationary as it is transferring heat to the weakest link.... the alloy hub.

Vince

AnswerID: 76858

Follow Up By: Mouldy - Friday, Sep 17, 2004 at 22:41

Friday, Sep 17, 2004 at 22:41

Well this is the first time I have used the forum, and I am impressed. Thankyou all with advice. Since the bearings have recently unpacked retensioned repacked and the hubs lubricated, I feel confident that it is not the hubs. I suspect the brakes binding as the source of heat, since the hubs dont really get hot until a few minutes after stopping, my theory being that the slightly binding brakes are generating heat on travelling, but the air flow cools them, then when stopped there is no air flow, and the heat has to go somewhere, hence out of the hubs, which I suspect may be aluminium, which has excellent conductivity of heat and electricity (hence its use in saucepans). I am not sure of the make of the hubs, since I have just got the vehicle.

So I guess the next plan would be to give the calipers a good working over so they too can be eliminated. Which leaves the clutch mechanism.

Since there is not a vast amount of heat (I cant cook bacon on the hubs) but they are hot (after years of slaving over the stove and handling hot glassware as a science teacher, my hands tolerate a lot of heat, so if they feel hot to me they must be pretty warm).

Is there any other way that the hubs could be getting hot? Like from something nasty in htat expensive stuff in the fron transmission?? (Please no).

I shall report back if I am able to fix the problem.

Once again, many thanks, you guys are legends!!

Mouldy

FollowupID: 336599