help! replacing wheel hub on 01 silvy

hourang

hourang

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ive done this before on my avalanche and it was not that bad to get the hub separated from the spindle. i cannot for the life of me get this one to separate. ive tried hammering the piss out of it with a cold chissel (just mashes the metal and doesnt separate) and ive tried using a 7 ton puller and it just effs up the cv axle. anyone have any ideas? wish i had an air hammer. :icon_hamm please help, i have to borrow my mother in laws car to get to work. maybe a slide hammer?
 
hourang said:
ive done this before on my avalanche and it was not that bad to get the hub separated from the spindle. i cannot for the life of me get this one to separate. ive tried hammering the piss out of it with a cold chissel (just mashes the metal and doesnt separate) and ive tried using a 7 ton puller and it just effs up the cv axle. anyone have any ideas? wish i had an air hammer. :icon_hamm please help, i have to borrow my mother in laws car to get to work. maybe a slide hammer?
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ive only done it on a 2wd, but smacking it didnt do much as it had about a 1/2" lip that goes inside the knuckle. i had to torch the hell out of the knuckle surrounding it, and swing a 20lb sledge at the back of the wheel flange about 30 times until it kinda worked itself out. PITA
 
yeah i have a hand held sledge. i dont have a compressor unfortunately, unless you have an electric one?
 
cjmatt said:
ive only done it on a 2wd, but smacking it didnt do much as it had about a 1/2" lip that goes inside the knuckle. i had to torch the hell out of the knuckle surrounding it, and swing a 20lb sledge at the back of the wheel flange about 30 times until it kinda worked itself out. PITA
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yeah i was going to try that next, though it requires removing the cv axle which i didnt want to do.
 
Easiest way is to get them out if they bolt through the back of the spindle is to put the bolts back in a couple of threads and use a flat bit on an air hammer to the head of the bolt, and go in a criss cross pattern. This prevents you from messing up the face of the spindle surface. Or a BFS on the backside of the hub if you dont have access to a compressor
 
people on the truck forums are saying a slide hammer with the hub attachment should get it out in 5 minutes. im going to try that tonight.
 
hourang said:
people on the truck forums are saying a slide hammer with the hub attachment should get it out in 5 minutes. im going to try that tonight.
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Depends. I frequently use a sledge hammer and air hammer to drive them out. sometimes they literally rust into the knuckle. We also have to use a cartridge roll to cleanup the mounting hole and I often have to file the face of the knuckle.
 
If the sledge and air hammer does not work, wedge a pin against one of the bolts, start the vehicle and turn the wheel using the power steering to assist pushing it out. Use caution and common sense.
Ive only had to do this if every other method fails. Pushes them out like butter.
 
they make a few tools to get them out now. they make a air hammer bit the fits over a loosened bolt to hit them out.
they also make a similar tool that you put on the bolts to push on with a prybar
 
slide hammer did jack. also heating it up did nothing as well. my dads bringing his compressor over tomorrow and we are gonna hit it with the air hammer. so i put the 3 bolts back in a couple threads and hit them with the air hammer? im assuming then that the spindle is not threaded, just the hub?
 
ive had great luck by using air hammer with sharp chisel bit, and chiseling in the seam between knuckle and hub itself, working my way around in a criss cross pattern. Your lucky your not working on an 03 + 2WD Dodge Ram! PITA
 
82bird said:
ive had great luck by using air hammer with sharp chisel bit, and chiseling in the seam between knuckle and hub itself, working my way around in a criss cross pattern. Your lucky your not working on an 03 + 2WD Dodge Ram! PITA
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This works but normally will fuck the face of the spindle up where the bearing sits
 
Finally!!!!!! dad came over to help, after trying the air hammer for a while and no luck, we used my torch and heated it up really good all the way around, then he started pounding on it with the hammer and chisel and it finally separated! after hammering on it for 3 days straight i just did not have the strength to do it anymore so all i really needed was another person to help and heating it up real good. it did screw up the face of the spindle some, but i just took a grinder to it to smooth it out. all is well now, and its nice to drive my truck again and have a warm garage to keep it in. thanks everyone for you help and suggestions.
 
hourang said:
Finally!!!!!! dad came over to help, after trying the air hammer for a while and no luck, we used my torch and heated it up really good all the way around, then he started pounding on it with the hammer and chisel and it finally separated! after hammering on it for 3 days straight i just did not have the strength to do it anymore so all i really needed was another person to help and heating it up real good. it did screw up the face of the spindle some, but i just took a grinder to it to smooth it out. all is well now, and its nice to drive my truck again and have a warm garage to keep it in. thanks everyone for you help and suggestions.
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BFH and smokewrench win again.
 
hourang said:
as usual!
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theres no problem in life that can't be cured with a BFH and a smokewrench. Well you'd need some ductape a bit of loctite and a roll of mechanics wire to cover all scenarios.

I just did a set of hubs for a member this weekend. We used serious force to remove them.they were literally rusted in place. after we got them out the bores were so dirty we had to use a grinder to clean them up so the new hubs would go in.

I'd really advise against pushing on the bolts unless you have spares or acess to more of them. Those threads weren't cut for that type of load and it will often destroy them. they can be hard to get at times.
Not to mention if the truck has alot of corrosion. It usually won't work anyway. I'll put it this way. the guy I did the hubs for was surprised at how much force it took to get them out. I was a bit surprised myself. Ussually a couple of well place hits will knock them out. I must have hit the drivers hub on and off for a good half hour. I don't swing a hammer like a sissy either.
 
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