Hi Buzz: I need your advice/assistance. I am going to replace the driver's side rear hub assembly on my 2004 Discovery II tomorrow. I looked on the forum for write-ups concerning this and could find nothing. Any assistance is appreciated.
Basic questions:
1.) What size is the gold retaining nut that must be removed?
2.) Should I drain the rear differential since I assume it will pour out, as much as 90 wt. can pour, when the old hub is removed.
I was told by NTB that the hub is leaking when I went in for an alignment; I did notice a buildup of grease on top of the caliper. The inside of the wheel is greasy so I tend to believe that is the problem. They quoted $900 each for the hubs and said they need to be replaced in pairs like rotors. Having had a front wheel hub replaced by a Land Rover dealer on a previous 2004 Discovery I tend to doubt that both need to be replaced. Correct?
Thanks for your assistance. I greatly appreciate it and enjoy reading your posts. I downloaded the Rave manual but am having difficulty opening it. I use Firefox as a browser and it sometimes can be tricky with downloads.

 

You'll want to look over pages 836 - 837 in the workshop manual. Free download links below. This method will work on your truck, or on one in the u-pull-da-partz salvage yard, where you get to intern in automotive surgery. And the parts are real cheap. There are some things to replace, like O-ring, etc. Yes, drain the differential and be prepared for leaks as it won't all come out.

 

If you have access to some air tools, I would highly recommend a 600ft plus air gun. Will make the job a lot easier. And use plenty of PB Blaster. I just replaced my passenger side a few weeks ago. I followed the RAVE as suggested and it went fine. Just make sure you can torque the nut to proper specs when replacing.

 

The rave is usually downloaded as an ISO file. If you Dble click it it will uncompress it and turn it into a PDF on your hard drive. Sometimes you may have to burn it to CD depending on your OS.
This is assuming you are on a PC . Not sure about a Mac

 

Thanks all of you. I appreciate the help. The Rave Manual is awesome.

 

FYI, Daemon Lite Software (Free Version) allows you to keep the RAVE ISO file and other ISO files you can create from CDs on your hard drive and open it like a CD. This is nice for products that want you to insert a CD to run off the CD and are not designed to be installed on a PC normally. I use this to run RAVE on my Windows PC, and I have also used it to create an ISO file from my Mercedes Benz maintenance/repair CD that is intended to be run from the CD. You can have Daemon Lite auto load, so it will be resident and can be run from the lower right icons on main desktop taskbar, but as to not keep things loaded to hog space, I simply run the Daemon Lite program and once open, I then select my RAVE ISO file in my LR folder on my Windows PC to open. It works for DVDs as well, but I have not used it for that purpose, so cannot confirm how well it works for DVDs.

http://www.daemon-tools.cc/products/dtLite

 

Any trick to getting the rear hub nut off? I just snapped my Husky 1/2 drive 1 1/4 socket using a 5 foot breaker - nut is still not loose! Also, the Rave says to press the shaft out of the hub, but several youtube videos show using a gear puller to get the hub off - has anyone done that?

 

I replaced both rear hubs last year

I snapped a few breaker bars as well, use the 3/4 breaker bar.

I would say hit the nut with some pb blaster, heat it with a torch, and take another shot with the 3/4 breaker bar.

both rear hubs just slid out after a couple taps with a mallet on both sides, didn't need to use any type of puller.

Here is another thread to use

https://landroverforums.com/forum/di...bearing-81997/

 

Avoid using heat if at all possible. It will mess with the metallurgy of the axle.

I tried a gear puller and could never get it. I loostened the nut and gave the axle a couple smacks with a hammer. Them I tap tap tapped the hub out, tapped the axle some more. Sometimes that will take it loose enough to remove without removing the axle. If it doesn't loostened it enough, take the hub and axle out together. Set the hub on a bench with the axle hanging towards the ground and smack the axle out that way. I've done half a dozen hubs like this.

I'll also say, exact torque doesn't matter that much. Don't waste your money on a huge torque wrench. Torque spec is, what, 360 lbs? Get a three foot breaker bar and sit your body weight on the end. That will get you plenty close enough.

 

Thank you so much for the suggestions guys!