Hi guys,

Noob question: what is the size and torque value for the rear hub nuts? Gotta buy a socket; already have a stout breaker bar, and the whole thing is swimming in PB Blaster.

Thanks in advance!

I believe it is 250 ft lbs but I am likely wrong,

I'll answer my own question. Pelican Parts how-to article says 30 mm, or 1 3/16 SAE, torque to between 217 and 253 ft-lb., so nice guess, PeeGreen! Rear bearing replacement looks involved, but will be a rite of passage.

Not so bad, so long as you have access to a shop press.

Fortunately, I do. Broke the axle nuts loose last night, with only minimal jumping on the breaker bar. Such a relief when they finally let go...

Instead of jumping on the breaker bar.
Go get some old school black pipe and cut some extensions. You can calculate the additional torques with each of the different lengths.

Takes over 400lbs of force to break it the first time. I used 5' of black pipe on my breaker bar and had my 250lb father jump on it to break it loose.

So I got the castle nuts unthreaded, and removed the right stub axle...Tink! One tap with a hammer and it was out. Went on to destroy the left one; death by blunt force trauma.

Oh well, I had to break something!

Hi Mittelmotor,

I just did the rear bear replacement and it's not that much of a challenge. I also took every opportunity to heat the swing-arm & freeze the bearing to aid in easier fitting. That said, it still came down to a BIG Bolt & bigger washers as a puller to get the bearing installed. It's important to PULL the bearing in and NOT try beating it into place.

A word of WARNING: I pulled the bearing because of SLOP. I thought the bearing had failed: It had NOT: the wheel hub had worn and was moving relative to the inner bearing race. Some months back, I was surprised to find that axle nut loose and tightened it, but the damage was done and the hub continued to rotate and wear.

The result came when I had to withdraw 2-days early from a very expensive three-day week-end at Sears Point (with NO refund) and drag the 7 hours home. The repair cost a new 911 wheel hub + bearing.

So my feeling is to not worry about over-torquing the axle nut (much) rather than have it come loose. I stood my 185lbs on my 18" breaker bar (277lbs/ft) and gave a tiny extra bump. Now I KNOW the nut is tight.

enjoy,
Terry

"Go get some old school black pipe and cut some extensions."

I once snapped a Craftsman breaker bar doing just that.
Took it into Sears and the salesman said "looks like you used a 4 foot cheater on that".
I said, "no more like 7 foot". He still replaced it without question.

Gotta love the craftsman warranty.
Oh, and you CAN snap a cheap socket too (safety glasses alert!). Better to buy the impact sockets for that application.

Stu

Thanks for the nuggets of wisdom, guys. There's no substitute for hearing from those of you who've done this before.

I pounded the bearings and hubs out of the rear arms last night, after removing calipers, etc. Hardest part really was removing the pin from the clevis on the parking brake....rusted solid. I buzzed the head of the pin off with a Dremel, and then it came right out. Terry, I had the same issue on the right side....hub was spinning in the bearing a bit. Not an issue, as I'm converting to 5-lug and the new hubs have nice surfaces.

For bearing re-install, I have access to a bearing press. So I'll freeze them, put them in freezer baggies and then an ice chest for transport to the shop...kinda like a transplant organ!

For bushing replacement on the rear arms, I figured I'd use the bearing press too. Should I use lots of WD-40 here? What about re-installing the new bushings?

I was told on this forum that once you pound the bearings out, you have ruined them.

Even though the Haynes manual shows the mechanic pounding them out.

Stu

When I replaced my bearings I had cobbled up my washers, all thread rod, nuts etc.
to pull the bearings in the control arm. Froze the bearings first and stuck the end of the control arm in front of my propane garage heater. Placed the frozen bearing into the control arm and turned to pick up my installation device, when I turned back the bearing had slid down into the control arm on its own. Once it all normalized temp it was in there for good.

I hope mine go in that easily!

Undertook the fun job of removing front suspension bushings last night (at about 11:30, when I do my best work), and found if a little torch heat is good, more is better. When the bushing is actually on fire and making crackling, popping sounds, it's ready to twist off. Looks like a nasty, gooey marshmallow at that point.

It will be nice to reach the stage of reassembling freshly painted parts!!