Posted By : Chris
Taylor, 27-Oct-2004, 02:06pm
This is one of those jobs that tests both your ingenuity and your courage (or stupidity). Having done it once (successfully) myself
with an old fashioned hydraulic puller (a three legged one, so I had to use a front hub as an adaptor, the three legs fitting on
the circular face of the front hub, and four high tensile bolts through the stud holes in both hubs, if you can visualise it) I
would ALWAYS give that job to a garage or machine shop now as long as I was confident they would not damage the shaft or hub.
Once one has got a suitably strong puller, the hub should come off, but it always requries so much force to be applied and comes
off with such a b****y enormous bang that scares the wits out of anyone that I really would think twice about doing this job
again!
The only tip to stop the thing literally shooting across the floor (and it really will go some distance if unrestrained) is to do
it with the shaft still on the car (but VERY VERY securely supported) and if at all possible, leave the hub nut on the end of the
shaft to limit how far the hub can move endways.
If I had to buy a hub puller to do this job (I borrowed the hydraulic one) I would probably pay the money now to either have the
hubs separated by someone else, or else buy reconditioned drive shafts.
Yes, that may well make me a wimp, but I don't like applying so much force that things start to bend and make nasty noises! And I
still shudder to recall that lurch and bang when the hub finally let go.
I don't know whether or not to use a hammer. While perhaps the most worrying part for me was having to have my hand so close to the
puller and hub while tightening the hydraulic screw as hard as I could, and then a bit more, the possibility of the puller breaking
free from the hub when hit by a hammer is equally alarming! (That said, I don't see how the "proper" club type puller can actually
break free so perhaps a hammer is the best bet).
Perhaps I just needed to do it again a few times to get the knack and get used to the bang, but life's too short!
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Posted By : Ian
Hewlett, 07-Nov-2004, 10:30pm
Ive tried splitting the hubs using various methods, but the only surefire way is to use the club or Churchill puller. DO NOT
use a three or four legged puller, it wont work even the hydraulic ones, all this will do is bend the hub carrier and that can
be expensive (&163;150). The hydraulic press we have at work still could not shift the hub, I believe that about 50 tons
is required!!!!
Beg, borrow or buy a proper puller. Attach the puller to your wheel studs, do the large bolt up as tight as possible, put the
whole assembly on the floor, put your foot on top and hit the big bolt with a sledge hammer (you dont need to swing the hammer
like some manic, let it do the work). If it does not the first time, hit it again and just like magic the hub will be split
from the halfshaft. this method has never failed me. Good luck!
