Hubs & Such

Rex Funk (rexfunk(at)magick.net)
Sun, 12 Jul 1998 11:14:31 -0700


A leaky wheel seal led to the discovery of a good hub puller for non-wire wheel hubs. I decided to pull the hubs without removing the axles, like the manual says. I tried with an 8" claw-type puller, but when its center screw started to imitate a pretzel, gave up. I went down to the local rental place and rented a Proto 4001 hub puller for $4.50 for 4 hrs. This is a generic model that bolts up to two of the 4 wheel lugs on the hub. The center plate through which the screw passes and on which the "claws" are attached is about 1/2 thick. The claws are 3/8" thick, and the center screw is a 7/8 x 8 coarse thread. There is a large "beater bar" that can be engaged with the hex head on the screw to operate the puller. It looked like a good way to get out some frustrations, but I couldn't bring myself to pound on my hubs with a 3 pound sledge. Being a rental tool, it looked like the thing had been beat on with extreme prejudice by Billy-Bob and his buddies down at the dirt track demo-derby.

I used my combination breaker bar and torque wrench that's about 3 ft. long, and a 1 1/8 socket to turn the screw on the puller. I first took the axle nut off, reversed it and screwed it in part-way leaving a "cup" to locate the screw of the puller. This also retains the hub, and prevents the hub and puller from going ballistic when it snaps. The end of the puller's screw has a hole, and a 3/4" ball bearing would have been just the thing to connect it to the axle nut "cup". I didn't have a bearing, so I ground an old lugnut to fit the axle and puller. I also threaded some lug nuts on the lugs and wedged a crowbar between them so that it made contact with the floor and prevented the hub from turning. A good substitute for Churchill special tool RG-16-A. I shot a little liquid wrench on the axle for luck, bowed to the spirit of Rootes, Lucas, Girling, and Churchill, and layed on the bar. The hub gave way with a proverbial bang at about 150 ft. lbs. on the torque wrench. I was able to change the seals and replace the brake shoes without incident.

This whole thing started when I put Red Line Synthetic Gear Oil in the diff. Synthetic lubricants are great products, but if you have a weak seal they will find it. I read this in a shop manual recently, but had to experience it myself, I guess. Anyway, there are no leaks, and I am enjoying better brakes.