• 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

Rear Hub Extension Nuts: Attention Rich Berman

Lin

Jedi Knight
Gold
Country flag
Offline
Hi Rich,
In your photo below, I noticed that you have apparently encountered something that I recently experienced. This observation, my theory and my proposed solution will probably generate mixed opinions, but here goes: You are obviously using an aftermarket hub extension, as I have. There are at least a couple of differences between the aftermarket unit and the original. For example, note the wall width of the splined hub. The aftermarket unit is considerably thicker.

Another difference is that the angled contour cut for the hub nuts is not the same. You will note that your original (or original-style) hub nuts do not fit snugly against the hub extension (the conical end is not cut at the same angle or depth as the hub extension). You will also observe first hand or by looking at the image that the original-type hub nuts go into the opening farther than they should resulting in little of the nut for your socket to grab.

Everyone always advises to use the "locking-type" hub nut as it offers additional safety, though I have often wondered about this since millions of american cars do not use these "locking" hub nuts, and I have never heard about the wheels falling off the axles of those cars. But, I always did what was advised. Until a few weeks ago...

I began a search for a hub nut that had a conical front-end that would match up with the aftermarket hub extension. I discovered that a Dorman hub nut, part number: 611-014 fit perfectly. This nut matches up with the hub perfectly and yields a fully available nut surface for your socket so that it is easier to securely tighten. Now, these will set you back - I think they were $1.10 each and they are hard to find (just kidding) went down to the CarQuest store where I picked up a bunch.

This brings me to my theory. I say theory because I have absolutely no facts to back up my conclusion, but somewhere along the line I have to wonder if the manufacturer of the aftermarket hub extension said, "why don't we machine these hubs to fit readily available hub nuts?" Someone on the Forum or the Healey List may know the manufacturer. I think I heard at some point but I don't remember and I don't have it handy.

Anyway, I have the Dorman nuts on my car now. They fit nicely, tighten beautifully and uniformly, and show no signs of loosening.

Well, let's see if this generates any conversation or controversy. I only attach your name to this Rich, because your photo shows the same poor fit of nut to hub that I encountered and I thought you might like to know about my thoughts on this issue.

Lin
 

Attachments

  • 25974.jpg
    25974.jpg
    68.8 KB · Views: 440
Sounds like virtually the same thing you did, though due to some spacers I had previously fitted, my studs are 12mm (Metric).

I guess you didn't get my stab at humor; maybe if I tried more often...? :frown:
 
Randy, you shocked me too! Lin is such a good guy, couldn't believe you were putting him down so hard.
 
Lin said:
Hi Rich,
In your photo below, I noticed that you have apparently encountered something that I recently experienced. This observation, my theory and my proposed solution will probably generate mixed opinions, but here goes: You are obviously using an aftermarket hub extension, as I have. There are at least a couple of differences between the aftermarket unit and the original. For example, note the wall width of the splined hub. The aftermarket unit is considerably thicker.

Another difference is that the angled contour cut for the hub nuts is not the same. You will note that your original (or original-style) hub nuts do not fit snugly against the hub extension (the conical end is not cut at the same angle or depth as the hub extension). You will also observe first hand or by looking at the image that the original-type hub nuts go into the opening farther than they should resulting in little of the nut for your socket to grab.

Everyone always advises to use the "locking-type" hub nut as it offers additional safety, though I have often wondered about this since millions of american cars do not use these "locking" hub nuts, and I have never heard about the wheels falling off the axles of those cars. But, I always did what was advised. Until a few weeks ago...

I began a search for a hub nut that had a conical front-end that would match up with the aftermarket hub extension. I discovered that a Dorman hub nut, part number: 611-014 fit perfectly. This nut matches up with the hub perfectly and yields a fully available nut surface for your socket so that it is easier to securely tighten. Now, these will set you back - I think they were $1.10 each and they are hard to find (just kidding) went down to the CarQuest store where I picked up a bunch.

This brings me to my theory. I say theory because I have absolutely no facts to back up my conclusion, but somewhere along the line I have to wonder if the manufacturer of the aftermarket hub extension said, "why don't we machine these hubs to fit readily available hub nuts?" Someone on the Forum or the Healey List may know the manufacturer. I think I heard at some point but I don't remember and I don't have it handy.

Anyway, I have the Dorman nuts on my car now. They fit nicely, tighten beautifully and uniformly, and show no signs of loosening.

Well, let's see if this generates any conversation or controversy. I only attach your name to this Rich, because your photo shows the same poor fit of nut to hub that I encountered and I thought you might like to know about my thoughts on this issue.

Lin
Lin,
Thanks for looking at my pictures and noticing something I hadn't seen. I will pick up a set of those nuts before I get the car on the ground!
Anything else I need to tend to?
rich
P.S. Randy really needs a better sense of humor :wink:....I'm kidding guys...see the wink. I really love Randy's dry wit. It's very British!
 
:thumbsup: Randy, I thought it was great. You do not need a better sense of humor, these other fellows need to sense humor better. :thirsty:
 
Randy Forbes said:
I guess you didn't get my stab at humor; maybe if I tried more often...? :frown:
Any more deviations from your normal personality and I'll have to call your doctor.
 
You are correct. Does Harbor Freight sell those humor sensors? Are they reliable of prone to failure if excessive heat is applied?

Lin
 
Rich,
Your work looks great! I just happened to have recently dealt with the hub nut issue or I never would have noticed. These unannounced or I'll explained manufacturing changes can really sneak up on you.

Lin
 
I really love Randy's dry wit. It's very British!
Not really ole chap or you all would be crying in your :cheers:
 
GregW said:
Randy Forbes said:
I guess you didn't get my stab at humor; maybe if I tried more often...? :frown:
Any more deviations from your normal personality and I'll have to call your doctor.
In these kind of situations, a deviation from normal behavior, my wife asks if I have a new girlfriend...

As long as Lin doesn't think I was really calling his idea stupid (since it was the same one I had) we're good.

Perhaps the point would've come across better had I typed:
"Oh, wait. Nevermind..." :wink:

Nothing like explaining a joke, to really kill the punchline :blush:
 
Nope, never thought you were calling me or my idea stupid, but I was a little slow! It is all good! I love ALL of Randy's contributions and his creativity.

Lin
 
I just had a set of nuts back off on early BN1. I rebuilt it about 300 miles ago and checked them after 25 miles. They had backed off and broken one of the studs out hub.All the nuts where new. I was talking with a friend and he told me not to use the brakes to hold the assy when doing up the nuts because the drum may not be all the way home. Now I have to find another early 4 bolt hub.

Cheers
Mark
 
Mine came loose too, which is what caused me to start looking at at hub/nut interface more carefully.

Lin
 
Lin said:
Mine came loose too, which is what caused me to start looking at at hub/nut interface more carefully.

Lin
Mine have been on for a year now, I guess I'd better pull the back wheels off and check them.

Did any of you guys (that later found them loose) use a torque wrench when tightening them down? I did, using the same 100-110 Nm spec I was using when they were "lug" nuts...

... and I was standing on my head while doing it.
(I'm thinking this <span style="font-style: italic">funny stuff</span> just isn't going to work...)
 
Back
Top