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Wheel hub thoughts.



gotta get the heavy duty ones for gm. i've done so many of these more than once on the same vehicles. have to drop the 120+ I stopped trying to save the money on the cheap ones. doing them once a year just after the warranty is up isn't saving anything.
 
ahh ok, was looking at the possible weight savings (every little bit counts IMO) but if they wont hold up, they wont hold up.

Next question, how much of a b**** is it to change them on this car? done them on other cars, never on a GP
 
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its not mechanically difficult but can be hard depending on circumstances and tools that are available. you will need a breaker bar and 35 mm socket to take the axle nut loose. this can be hard depending on the last time it was off (if ever). have a longer pipe to go over the breaker bar for more leverage. also, the top bolt on the hub is kind of hard to get to because the axle bellow boot gets in the way a bit. if you turn the knuckle or have decent extension it wont be as hard. and the breaker bar will be good to break those bolts loose on the hub and maybe even the brake caliper. get a bungy or rope to hold the brake caliper up so it isn't hanging or sitting with its weight on the brake line.

the hub will sieze to the steering knuckle and that takes some work to get off. a good heavy duty standard screwdriver and weighted hammer will help pry that off. it will look like one whole unit, the hub and the knuckle, because they kind of bond together over time. need 13 mm socket for hub bolts and 15 mm for brake calipers. 5 bolts total. and be careful when you put the new hub in because it has a flimsy wire that comes out of it. you don't want to get it wedged in the steering knuckle.

oh yeah... you either have to unhook the tie rod from the knuckle or you can just unbolt the strut from the knuckle so the control arm sags down and so you can move the knuckle. you need to do this to be able to get the axle out of the knuckle and hub. i would go the strut route so you dont have to worry about alignment when putting the tie rod back on the knuckle. outer tie rod is hard to get off by hand because the road grime messes the bolt up and the nut won't want to turn off of it. so you would have to keep the outer tie rod on the knuckle and unhook the inner tie rod from the outer tie rod. you may need alignment anyway depending on how bad the bearing was/is.
 


and you will need that weighted hammer to break the axle from the hub. they will bond up too. BUT put the axle nut back on the axle so it is flush with the end of the axle. you don't want to damage those threads on the axle by pounding on it. the nut will take the force and keep the threads nice.
 
Sounds like a load of fun just like all the others I have done, i will be printing out that advise you gave me, thanks. As for the timkens, would anyone have a link to a website or maybe a local store that may have them? Im in Cleveland, Ohio
 


Get that and a torque wrench and axle nut socket set from harbor freight and you should be set to do it all kinda cheepish
 
Does that place have the front axles too? I don't get online much to research, too many other things going on.
 
outonthetiles said:
OP, where does it say that those are aluminum? They look steel to me..
Click to expand...


Good question. I clicked the link I posted to find that and apparently they changed the description. Lemme see what I can pull up I know I saw that they were aluminum before.
 


Yeah I saw the change Oh well I dont thinkg aluminum would be a good material for a wheel hub I'd bet it would deform around the hubs and around the races for the bearings.
 
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