• Hi Guest!
    If you appreciate British Car Forum and our 25 years of supporting British car enthusiasts with technical and anicdotal information, collected from our thousands of great members, please support us with a low-cost subscription. You can become a supporting member for less than the dues of most car clubs.
    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

front hub removal

Share this page

Hi Darrel, welcome to the crowd!

Actually, there's the dust-cap removal tool, like what you've described, along with a couple others, but the "hub removal tool" (Service Tool # 8G304/18G304B) is a different animal altogether, and likely only needed on the early 100/6 models with drum brakes AND (bolt-on) disc wheels.

18G304.JPG


My version of the dust-cap removal tool is just a (very) large industrial flange stud with a 5/16 x 24 internal thread. In most cases, I can screw it on and just pull the cap out, but if it did want to be stubborn, I could resort to the washer and tighten down of the Big Nut and extract the cap similarly to the tool you made.

IMG_7555.jpg


IMG_7559.jpg


IMG_7560.jpg


IMG_7561.jpg
 
I wonder what the Engineer who designed the little mouse hole in the hub was smoking that day.

Both my hubs are different, one with a reasonable size, but still a bitch, with the other hub a bigger bitch as it is the same size as the head of the cotter pin. This was not a fun part of the job and Mrs. Hoghead learned some new words and eventually did not want to hold the light any longer

Before it goes back on, the too small hole is going to be enlarged the same as the other side.
 
I'm in the process of taking my bt7 front hubs off... i removed the dust cap, the pin, the castled nut and the locking washer but cannot get the bearing out... any tips?
 
Spin a knockoff back on and give the backside of the ears a couple gentle taps with a plastic mallet or dead blow hammer (or your knockoff hammer if you're careful). This should pop the whole assembly off--there's nothing to stop the hub from coming off except maybe the seal riding on the spacer or maybe the pieces are just wedged together a little.
 
NJHealy3000 said:
I'm in the process of taking my bt7 front hubs off... i removed the dust cap, the pin, the castled nut and the locking washer but cannot get the bearing out... any tips?
Click to expand...
Do you mean that you can not get the hub off? Bob Spidell gave the answer to that and this has to be done before you can access the bearings.

:cheers:



Bob
 
Great. Has anyone taken apart the king pin assembly? It doesn't seem to want to come a part and is there a need? I'm doing a full frame off rotisserie restoration but no matter how much heat and torque i cannot seem to get the large nuts off holding the arms. Should i bother or just blast the parts and paint them?
 
NJHealy3000 said:
i cannot seem to get the large nuts off holding the arms.
Click to expand...
Are you talking about the shocker arms or the lower wishbone arms? either way they should come off, there are split pins that need to be removed. Or are you talking about taking the arms off the hub - in which case you have to remove the cotter pins at the back. Have you a workshop manual?

:cheers:


Bob
 
NJHealy3000 said:
Great. Has anyone taken apart the king pin assembly? It doesn't seem to want to come a part and is there a need? I'm doing a full frame off rotisserie restoration but no matter how much heat and torque i cannot seem to get the large nuts off holding the arms. Should i bother or just blast the parts and paint them?
Click to expand...
Yes, they absolutely need to be addressed; they're a wear point, and they get worn.

If you're doing a "full frame off rotisserie restoration" then by definition, the whole car and all its sub-assemblies should be taken apart, cleaned for inspection and then renewed of replaced, as required.

A Bentley manual, The Complete Austin-Healey 100/6 & 3000 should serve as your step by step guide, explaining in detail how to accomplish the myiad of tasks involved.

Further, the blasting process will introduce abrasive media into the tiniest of crevices, so to blast an assembled component is a recipe for disaster.
 
Bob_Spidell said:
Spin a knockoff back on and give the backside of the ears a couple gentle taps with a plastic mallet or dead blow hammer (or your knockoff hammer if you're careful). This should pop the whole assembly off--there's nothing to stop the hub from coming off except maybe the seal riding on the spacer or maybe the pieces are just wedged together a little.
Click to expand...

Putting the knock off back on didnt work...
 
I had a tough time getting my hub off when I melted a wheel bearing. I used a three jaw puller. You can go to Autozone which should be able to loan you a locking puller like this:

2aflnpu.jpg


Place the three jaws behind the ridge on the splined section of the hub and the threaded bolt on the end of the stub axle and tighten. This may or may not work for you as the ridge on the hub doesn't give much of a purchase for the jaws to grip. If you can't find a puller with the locking feature, use a couple of zip tires wrapped around the legs of the puller to try to get them as tight as possible.
 
NJHealy3000 said:
Putting the knock off back on didnt work...
Click to expand...

Remove the brake caliper :excitement:


ok just kidding... Sounds like the inner bearing is stuck on the shaft. Cut a piece of wood to go inside the hub and long enough that when you put the knock-off back on it tightens down on the wood. Then tighten the knock-off until the hub is drawn off. It will probably destroy the inner oil seal and you may end up having to destroy the inner bearing if it is really stuck on the shaft.

As mentioned in various other threads, have your spindles crack tested while they are apart if you ever plan on driving enthusiastically.

Andy.
 
I'm a little confused (I know, not an uncommon occurrence). Some have suggested that the inner bearing may be stuck to the axle, but it's tapered such that it shouldn't prevent the hub from coming off--but the outer bearing would. It seems to me, if the hub rotates freely it must be the outer bearing that is somehow stuck to the axle spindle. Have you tried your favorite penetrating oil--I like Kroil--on the inside of the (outer) bearing? A little heat sometimes helps (applied carefully to the inner bearing race, but not the axle).
 
Last edited:
NJHealy3000 said:
I have a puller and will try it out
Click to expand...

I used my regular puller but had to use the heavy duty electrical ties connected together to get enough length to wrap around the circumference of the legs to hold them in place. Some nylon handcuffs would probably work even better, but that locking puller that Autozone has looks the business to me. Good luck!
 
Cricky, I only have to look at mine and they fall off, handy for getting the shimming right though, without the dial guage. lol

:cheers:

Bob
 
The inner bearing could be stuck. The grease seal which is smaller ID than the inner bearing OD, would hold the hub in place if the inner bearing was stuck on the axle. I have these parts on the bench and just checked this out.
 
I got it apart with mu puller, now for the other side, i couldnt get the dust cover off even with a tapped tool, i am now in the process of cutting it out, not fun
 
Out of curiosity, what is holding it together so tightly? Rust? Hardened grease? The Force? As someone said earlier in this thread, normally it's hard to keep them in place without the nut.

Keith
 
Back
Top