Rebuilding Swivels, Hubs, and Brakes

[ERover82]

The last area on the whole truck I haven't worked on is the swivels, hubs, and brakes. It'd be good to take care of this before I get new 32s as I'm sure it all needs to be rebuilt anyways.

What kits should I get? Any upgrades? Special tools? Tips?

 

[rover4x4]

Call Will he will send everything you need at once and its cheap

 

[d1driver]

Tip 1............drain your diff oil first. Makes a big mess.
Tip 2............heat your 1-shot before trying to put it in
Tip3.............having those wrenches with the ratcheting end on them make taking all the bolts out much easier.
Tip 4.............if you have not replaced your hub bearings, you might want to go ahead and replace them

 

[fishEH]

Get the better hub seals for a Defender, RTC3511 IIRC.
New lock washers.
Remove your mud shields while you're in there.
Loosen the Fill plug before you Drain anything.
Expect to break the hard brake line going into the caliper. A flaring tool, bending pliers, and 18" of brake line are your new best friends.

 

[Tugela]

A deadfall hammer is helpful for putting in the new bearing races. Put the races in the freezer for a while before installation. This may or may not actually help, but it can't hurt, and it makes you feel like you are doing something clever.

Get a hub nut tool. Most people seem to like the $20 tool from AB or wherever. I found an actual socket on eBay for the same price, and I put it on my torque wrench so I could tighten the hub nut to spec. You can't do that with the AB hub nut tool.

Bleed the brakes when all the parts are installed.

 

[WaltNYC]

take an old bearing race and cut it with a cutting wheel. Then you can use it to set the new races without it getting stuck in the hub.

 

[fishEH]

take an old bearing race and cut it with a cutting wheel. Then you can use it to set the new races without it getting stuck in the hub.

Yeah, I just took the outside edge of an old race and ground it down all the way around so it fit loose in the hub.

 

[boatboy]

I didn't even bother grinding the outside of my old races down- just hammered them in too and after the new race was set, tapped the old ones back out with a punch or small chisel. Seemed to work ok.

 

[fishEH]

I didn't even bother grinding the outside of my old races down- just hammered them in too and after the new race was set, tapped the old ones back out with a punch or small chisel. Seemed to work ok.

Grinding down the outside edge makes them come out easier, that's all.

 

[boatboy]

And I also found it a good time to upgrade the brake calipers and rotors to the D90 version. bought through Will. He was a great help.

 

[boatboy]

Grinding down the outside edge makes them come out easier, that's all.

I can't argue with that!

 

[fishEH]

I can't argue with that, eh!

Fixed it for you.

 

[boatboy]

Ha! You are right, I was missing that "eh", eh?

 

[boatboy]

x2 on the

I found an actual socket on eBay for the same price

although I ordered one from Britain , also for about the same price. The only difference with this one was that it fits a 1/2" drive and since I didn't have an adaptor to 3/4 at the time, I didn't have to get one. And I could use my torque wrench with it. And it felt like a proper tool, not an emergency road side tool that will break after a use or two. But really, 6 of one, half dozen of the other, eh?

 

[Busted_D1]

Take your time on the swivel pin pre-load.

Keep adding and subtracting those thin shims until you are sure it's right. With new pins it won't be as difficult to get 'em right as when you are resetting them after a bunch of miles.

Also a good time to take a good look at your tie rod ends to keep the death wobble at bay.

 

[ERover82]

Decided to just do hub bearings and seals for now and do the rest later if I can get away with it. Do the swivel pins, bearings, etc typically need attention, or is it the hub bearings that wear out first?

Also, does the swivel oil/grease drain out when doing hub bearings?

 

[boatboy]

When I did mine, my swivel pin bearings needed replacing on one side because water had entered into the housing and made a mess of them. the other side probably would have been ok, but I figured if I am replacing the one and in there anyway, I might as well do it all.

 

[ERover82]

Interesting. I hope my swivels are ok for now.

Will this socket work or do I need the deep socket version? Is it too thick to fit in the hub?
http://www.amazon.com/Sunex-442M-St...F8&qid=1353534275&sr=1-1&keywords=42mm+socket

 

[no694terry]

i recall it being 52mm

 

[ERover82]

Shit, you're right. 52..not 42. Still, does it need to be deep socket? Wall thickness matter?

RAVE is specific about the torque on these nuts. Not sure how you guys are managing this with one of those cheap stamped sockets without a torque wrench.