Trouble getting at front wheel bearings on Courier/Bravo - help??

Submitted: Thursday, Mar 20, 2008 at 23:44
ThreadID: 55773 Views:2786 Replies:6 FollowUps:6
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Hi all,

To those of a mechanincal bent I'm looking for a little help.

Front right hand wheel bearing let go this afternoon on the Courier. (They've only done 30,000km since last changed but the grease looks well and truly water affected.)

I've got the wheel and caliper off, removed the AISIN locking hub, and the circlip & washer on the spline.

I've then removed the bearing retainer cap (or whatever it's called) with the key to fit the keyway on the spline which was basically a keyed ring held in by two 8mm bolt/philips head screws.

Now the tricky bit.

The bearing locking ring or retaining ring that you would normally undo to get at the back of the outer bearing won't budge.

I've tried tapping it round with a pin punch & hammer, I even welded two bolt shafts onto a piece of RHS to make a tool to fit the hole spacings, and a wrench on the RHS won't budge it.

Buggered if I know what's gone on behind it to make it so tight. I did have to limp home a few km after the bearing went but waited for all to cool down and limped home about 4 km at 25kmh or less.

Any suggestions? I actually managed to get two bearing kits late this arvo. If I can get that ring undone I can fix the truck. Otherwise I don't have a vehicle for Easter.

Anyone out there who's got the service manual and can flick me a few pages to see what the factory guys do to get the ring off would be handy.

I can post photos of where I'm at if needs be.

Any help greatly appreciated.

Dave
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Reply By: Steve from Top End Explorer Tours - Thursday, Mar 20, 2008 at 23:47

Thursday, Mar 20, 2008 at 23:47
Is it a left hand thread??

Cheers Steve.
AnswerID: 293906

Follow Up By: Member - Matthew ,United Fuel- Friday, Mar 21, 2008 at 00:27

Friday, Mar 21, 2008 at 00:27
You might be onto something there steve?????????

Otherwise just make sure that there is no other locking ring/backplate on there that is actually covering the nut that holds the wheel bearing in.

Matt
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FollowupID: 559630

Follow Up By: geocacher (djcache) - Friday, Mar 21, 2008 at 00:35

Friday, Mar 21, 2008 at 00:35
Hi Steve,

I thought of that. I wish it were that easy.

Thanks for the thought,

Dave
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FollowupID: 559633

Reply By: Wayne's 60 - Friday, Mar 21, 2008 at 09:19

Friday, Mar 21, 2008 at 09:19
Dave,
You might try asking here,

OZMAZDA

or this one

Australian 4WD

sorry I can't be more helpful than that and I hope you get it sorted......soon.

Cheers,
Wayne.

AnswerID: 293930

Follow Up By: Wayne's 60 - Friday, Mar 21, 2008 at 09:23

Friday, Mar 21, 2008 at 09:23
Hmmmmmmmmmmmm,

Sorry 'bout the links not working??

http://www.ozmazda.com/board/index.php?showforum=61

http://forum.australia4wd.com/

Cheer,
Wayne.
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FollowupID: 559654

Reply By: nowimnumberone - Friday, Mar 21, 2008 at 09:59

Friday, Mar 21, 2008 at 09:59
looks like it might have cooked itsself on there
so you undid the 2 screws then there should be a thin washer with heaps of holes in it that allow you to screw it to the back washer in different positions.and then there should just be the back washer but form you description youve done it right
try a bit of heat on the washer and hopefully your stub axle will be ok
good luck
AnswerID: 293938

Follow Up By: geocacher (djcache) - Friday, Mar 21, 2008 at 21:19

Friday, Mar 21, 2008 at 21:19
Having never had to do so I'm wondering how much heat to apply, and not having an oxy set, whether a regular gas torch will get it warm enough.

Does grease catch fire if you get it hot?

Dave
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FollowupID: 559811

Reply By: Member - Leigh (Vic) - Friday, Mar 21, 2008 at 09:59

Friday, Mar 21, 2008 at 09:59
Hi Dave
Have you fixed it yet? I wonder how the water got in...maybe when it was up over your bonnet?? Good luck with it and may see you up in the buckland?
AnswerID: 293939

Follow Up By: geocacher (djcache) - Sunday, Mar 23, 2008 at 21:59

Sunday, Mar 23, 2008 at 21:59
I reckon maybe the Oring seal round the Lock/Free knob was the problem Leigh. Seems to be the weak link in the chain.

Dave
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FollowupID: 560097

Reply By: geocacher (djcache) - Sunday, Mar 23, 2008 at 21:58

Sunday, Mar 23, 2008 at 21:58
Well, for those that have been following this thread, it's really ugly.

Found the problem.

Took the manual locking hub off the other side too and it's had water in it as well. Grease was buggered. So it was really only a matter of time before a serious failure. All a bit concerning given that both hubs were serviced and bearings replaced 30k ago.

The left hand hub was a cinch. Undid locking hub, undid bearing locking ring and pulled off, bearing nut came off by hand. Perfect.

Comparing the two locking rings and it looks like the key has broken off partially, and then when it bound up has rotated when the vehicle was in reverse. This has hyper tightened the bearing retaining nut which probably ultimately lead to the bearining failure on Thursday.

This also explains why the rattle gun has failed to release it.

I'm stuck now though. I can't get the bearing retaining nut off the drivers side. I've even tried freezing it - friendly local firey provided an extinguisher which made it cold real quick. Still no joy releasing it though.

So short of heating it I'm nearly $hit out of luck. I'm considering welding the nut edge to the inner wall of the brake rotor and putting the truck in reverse for about 10cm.

I'm up for a new locking ring, probably a new nut, and worst case up for a new stub axle. Hopefully not the latter.

Long and short of it, when was the last time you serviced your hubs after a river crossing?

Manual hubs are great, when they keep water out....

Dave
AnswerID: 294292

Reply By: geocacher (djcache) - Monday, Mar 24, 2008 at 23:28

Monday, Mar 24, 2008 at 23:28
Well, front stub axles buggered.

Bearing's spun on the shaft and the thread is buggered under that nut that was unmoveable.

Tomorrow I'll have to chase up a replacement right hand front stub axle assembly.

Pain in the rear considering I was supposed to be heading for a holiday tomorrow. Could be worse though. Could have happened part of the way there.

Dave
AnswerID: 294519

Follow Up By: Richard Kovac - Tuesday, Mar 25, 2008 at 00:27

Tuesday, Mar 25, 2008 at 00:27
Dave, it one of those thing that it maybe a pain in the bum, but better now than on the Holiday.. :-)

thats assuming you where taking the Ute

Richard
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FollowupID: 560419

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