Leaking Swivel hub repair.

[Flying Torquewrench]

Time for another repair thread.

A month ago I noticed that my off side swivel hub was leaking a bit. As I was short on time I just made sure that the fluid level was correct and carried on. Not the best solution as the diff fluid seriously effects the quality of the grease in the CV joint. Potentially causing more damage to the moving parts.

What initially had started as a small leak inceased considerably to such an extent that I lost over a liter of diff oil in 300 miles. This left me no other choice then tackle the job sooner rather then later. No time to order an overhaul kit from AUS so parts from Millner had to do.

 

[Flying Torquewrench]

Fist task on the list is to remove the wheel and set the free weeling hub to LOCK.

 

[Flying Torquewrench]

You then remove the 6 inbus bolts and remove the free weeling hub.

I would suggest to loosen them up with the wheel still attached and on the ground. This stops the hub going round as it took some force to remove 4 of the bolts.

 

[Flying Torquewrench]

When the free weeling hub is off it is time to remove the circlip and thrust washer.

The next job is to remove the wheel hub and rotor disc. Start by removing the brake caliper assembly. If possible remove the ABS sensor, which in my case was not possible so the assembly has to lie on an upturned bucket. You then continue by removing the two screws from the lock washer and then the bearing lock nut.
The book says you need a special tool for this but it is easy to remove with a pair of pliers. To fit the bearing lock nut again you will need a special tool. This can be quite easily made at home.

Apologies for the photo quality.

 

[Flying Torquewrench]

You can now remove the wheel hub and wheel bearing.

 

[Flying Torquewrench]

Then you continue by removing the knuckle flange. This is done by removing the 6 bolts that hold the baffle plate in place.

When the baffle plate is removed you can take out the drive shaft.

 

[Flying Torquewrench]

Continue by removing the tie-rods endsand then take the upper and lower swivel bearings out. The upper is easy to remove the lower can be a right pain in the back side. A few wacks with a lump hammer on the bracker did the trick in getting mine out.

Once the swivel bearings are out you can continue by removing the seal guard and scraper seals on the back of the knuckle flange. Afer these have been removed you can remove the knuckle flange.

Having removed the knuckle flange you can clearly see the effect of the diff oil on the bearing grease. The grease has turned grey-ish while it should be blue.

 

[Flying Torquewrench]

As usual an inspection of all the parts is required and the inside of my knuckle flange is corroded and pitted. According the manual if the nuckle flange is cracked, coroded or pitted it should be changed. However before scrapping the knuckle flange I have decided to use my Dremel to smooth out the surface.

 

[Flying Torquewrench]

Once that was done I continued by removing the oil seal from the axle shaft. A quite difficult little seal to get out and this is how it looked after removal.

 

[Flying Torquewrench]

To replace the seal I fist put some grease on the mating surfaces before taking a large diameter socket and driving the seal home.

The photo below is how my lower swivel bearing looks. After cleaning the bearing some of the rollers fell out and the surfaces are badly pitted. So a new bearing is required.

Once this has been delivered I wil continue. All bearing will get degreased and new grease will be applied everywhere.

 

[macabethiel]

Great Pics

Nice picture board story !

Should have shown some dirty hands & fingernails for added reality lol

 

[Barrbeast]

Nice write up :thumb2

Always had the garage do mine so far although I do fancy giving it a go at some point

 

[The Patrolman]

It's quite therapeutic once you have done one side.
Check for corrosion on the drive shaft where the oil seal sits:thumb2
Mine was a bit corroded so I knocked it in about 2mm short of home so it sits on fresh metal,it's been good so far
I got the full bearing seal kit for £140 delivered:thumb2

 

[rustic]

Here is a thread for the older patrols which might help.

http://www.nissan4x4ownersclub.com/forum/showthread.php?t=24598&highlight=swivel

Rustic

 

[solarman216]

Nice write up and pics, Rick

 

[Banshee]

My brother did his a few months ago on his Jimny and we checked them the other day however the surface seems to be pitting quite badly

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

 

[Flying Torquewrench]

Thanks everybody for your encouragement. :thumb2

Received my new bearing yesterday so I continued with the job.

First of all a photo of the old bearing which as you can see is pretty worn out.

 

[Flying Torquewrench]

And this is how it should look like. This is the new bearing.

 

[Flying Torquewrench]

To change these bearing is quite straightforward. I have read some horror stories online but it was done in a few minutes.

First of all it is easier if you remove the seal from the old bearing.

 

[Flying Torquewrench]

Then I used a ball joint seperator to remove the bearing from the base plate.