I am going to tackle my front hub replacement. Doing the brakes, might as well see if it fixes my occasional tres amigos.

Does anyone know the sizes of the bolts for the hub? I am anticipating they will get destroyed during removal.
I am expecting a bunch of issues getting the hub nut off.
Thanks

 

This should help:

 

That castle nut is a strange size, like 33mm or 36mm. I can't remember but the reason I can't remember is that the stock nut and the replacement nuts are different sized and that left me in a pickle since I was home alone with no spare vehicle. I found the right one for the stock nut at Autozone for a princely sum. If you pull the center cap you can try various socket sizes right at the store.

I had to use a 3/4 inch torque wrench. Others have said just make it tight and they are esteemed members, but I read that the bearings are pre tensioned and not tightening them correctly was a no no.

I watched that video and I think it makes it look harder than it is unless you have alot of rust.

The reason I posted was not to confuse the issue but to suggest that if you are replacing the hubs you might want to do the ball joints if they are old, while you have everything off. All of your stuff down there will be new!

 

Just did mine. I used a 32mm socket for the axle nut on a breaker bar with another length of pipe on that. I jumped on it til it broke loose.

A 3 prong puller helps big time to pop the hub out.

 

Forgot about that. Mine wouldn't come off without a puller. I got an amazing hydraulic one at harbor freight, broke it, took it back and got the biggest one, broke it, then bought the cheapest manual puller and it popped them right off... All in one day. Harbor Freight wasn't happy that day.

You'll find that most torque wrenches don't go high enough, and that's why I used the 3/4 one. Huge. About 3 or 4 feet long. $800 bucks! Thankfully I borrowed one. I've been told by other members that the easiest way to get the nut off is with an impact drill but mine didn't have the guts to do it. A breaker bar with a 4 foot metal fence post on the end, and me bouncing on the end of that, is what it took for me.

My buddy had a rusty Rover and gave up. He ordered hubs with new half shafts already on and it was a breeze. What a wimp.

 

Thanks, I saw that. I was planning on using the chisel to remove the hub, but it sounds like it makes more sense to get a hub puller.

Does anyone know the size of the bolts that hold the hub on the axle? I am expecting to mangle them trying to remove it.

I will get a 3-4' pipe to put on my 1/2 drive and hopefully it works.

Thanks

 

A hub pulled wont fit, or at least the rentals you get wont in my experience. You need a three leg puller. Get the big one.

I believe Charlie is mentioning me with the nut torque. I've done a couple and never used a torque wrench, just my 3 ft breaker bar with another pipe on the end, probably came out to 5 or 6 feet total. To tighten I just leaned and bounced on it with all my 150 lbs the same way I did to break it loose. If you've got the extra money to spend and want the peace of mind to torque it correctly, then by all means do so, but I've got 10k on one and 15k on another that have been fine without it. That said, what Charlie was told about the bearings could be correct and I just haven't seen the consequences yet.

Now, please remember that it is VERY important to chock your wheels. I nearly rolled my truck off of its jack stand doing this because the wheels weren't chocked. The rotational force on the axle nut made the opposite side wheel move the truck. That was almost a very not fun day. Also, PB Blaster will be your best friend. I remember there being an even better alternative mentioned, but I don't recall what it was. Sea foam green maybe? I'm not sure.

 

X2 on chocks, you can even use the tire you took off as a chock.