How To: Hub Flip

[earnie]

We did re-run the safety wires when we did our flipping.
Also drilled and safety wired the bolts on the front of the tranny when we swapped that. Not only were they lose when we pulled it from the parts truck but some were lose in the one we were taking out. Will be pulling that out again and fixing what ever is leaking in the next couple weeks

hi Low Tech im not bashing or criticizing you, i am happy that you had the foresight to safty the brake drum hardware but you did it all wrong
the purpose of safty wiring the hardware is to keep it from backing out, and getting loose ,i am an aircraft mechanic here are some pics one is of what you did and the other show what it is supposed to look like, i hope not to offend you or any one here but it is important to get it right

 

[Preacherboy]

The Harbor Freight part number you have listed on your web page for hub flipping is wrong, you have "3835-0VGA" listed...according to Harbor Freight's web site the part number is "38335"

Napa's part number for the 3" spindle lock nut is now SER 2445 according to their website.

I'm just trying to put together the list of tools and parts I needed and thought I'd share what I found.

I do have some questions, is there a gasket to replace after you take the axle shaft out or do you just use that red gasket maker?

Also, I've searched on here and what are the axle seal part numbers? I'll keep looking in the mean time, I'd also like to find the bearing part numbers too in case they are bad...the part numbers on the old site don't find anything when searching on Napa's web site.

 

[mikew]

Thanks!

Website Harbor Freight part number fixed.

2445 is KD's part number. A NAPA search using only that number (without SER) will find it.

There is a paper gasket, often you can re-use it, but if not I've used gasket maker without issues.

Race part # (interchange, both inner and outer): 3920

Outer Bearing part # (interchange): 392

Inner Bearing part # (interchange): 3994

The axle seals seem to be pretty much only available from surplus dealers, I've not found them at NAPA.

 

[Preacherboy]

So would the other name for RACE be "wheel bearing cup"?

I found the bearings and they are $44 each, I think I'll wait and only buy those if I need them. I called my local big truck parts place and asked them about the axle seals and he didn't know, he said if I brought them in he could check. So I guess I'll order them from a surplus dealer, they just seem like an awful high price.

Would one really need to change the seals if they aren't bad, or is the chance too great to damage them while flipping the hubs?

 

[skull bone]

thanks

 

[mikew]

Yes, "race" = "bearing cup".

I get bearings from Allied Bearing, much, much cheaper than NAPA. O'Reilly Auto is typically cheaper then NAPA too.

Yes, you can usually reuse seals.

By the way, these are the Rockwell / Meritor seal part numbers:

Inner: A1205Z650
Outer: A1205Q667

 

[JOAT 0311]

Gentleman, great thread. It is these little gems that make this site great. Thanks!

 

[bsorcs]

Very well done! I expecially appreciate the efforts to incorporate relevant comments and inputs. Many thanks.

Re the cork keyway seal, I recently pulled a 'warmer-than-the-others' hub to look at the innards. I found the little cork seal to be a section of rubberized cork tubing, rather than a piece of gasket material. I re-installed it after the inspection as I had no leakage over the 2.2k miles I've put on the truck [recovery plus miminal home driving], but I'll follow the rtv route next week when I do the bearings/seals/brakes. I'm wondering if anyone else has run across this kind of seal...have seen nothing like it in any of the threads so far.

For what it's worth, the 3rd photo is what I came up with to disengage the brake spring [most challenging part of the inspection. I either have the wrong kind of brake pliers [found some 20 in long, make unknown, model 4592] or I haven't figured out how to use 'em correctly, because it took this setup to remove the spring without gouging the pad [again]. Setup was as follows: small oak peg at left to fix the left shoe, oak wedge to keep the right shoe from moving to the right, c-clamped oak tab to set the pliers against. Minority engineering at its finest, but it worked for me. I'm open to enlightenment.

bs

 

[fantastico]

I have REALLY enjoyed this site as well as the Hub flipping site. LOTS of very useful info

 

[Preacherboy]

I called a couple of truck shops hoping to find those seals cheaper than from the surplus dealers and one said the numbers are good, but he cannot get them. The other found them and they would be $27 and $41 respectively....looks like I'll be getting them from one of the surplus dealers!

thanks for posting all the pictures and doing all the homework, I'm sure I'll have more questions as I get going on the project.

 

[92RT-TT]

Great post, this will really help when I bob my truck!

 

[chadande]

Looks like the link changed, maybe you could update that first post.
Here is the updated link:
Hub Flip

Great info by the way!

 

[mikew]

Good catch! I updated the first link.

 

[LowTech]

hi Low Tech im not bashing or criticizing you, i am happy that you had the foresight to safty the brake drum hardware but you did it all wrong
the purpose of safty wiring the hardware is to keep it from backing out, and getting loose ,i am an aircraft mechanic here are some pics one is of what you did and the other show what it is supposed to look like, i hope not to offend you or any one here but it is important to get it right

That's great, that's the first time I've seen safety wiring illustrated clearly. I didn't do the wiring in my photos, my friend that was helping us did it like it had been done by the army mech from it's last overhaul.
What you show makes total sense and I'll be sure to use that method in the future , thank you for pointing that out.

 

[earnie]

That's great, that's the first time I've seen safety wiring illustrated clearly. I didn't do the wiring in my photos, my friend that was helping us did it like it had been done by the army mech from it's last overhaul.
What you show makes total sense and I'll be sure to use that method in the future , thank you for pointing that out.

no problem at all dude
i love this site as there is so much information to be had here
i am happy to share my knowledge as well
this is what keeps this a fun hobby

 

[atgreene]

Great thread, lots of awesome information.

I'm coming at this from a little different angle. My Oshkosh 4819 originally had 12.00 20 tires (singles) from the factory. It now has 12.00 x 20 duals, and I've been trying to figure out what I need for rims to get the front wheel to be in line with the rears. If I run inners or outers only they will not be alligned with the front.

Does anyone know if this hub-flip is something that can be done on most axles or is it a military thing? I've torn down lots of truck axles, including the Oshkosh, but never seen this done and now wonder if maybe I've been looking for rims when I should have been looking at flipping a hub.

Thanks!

 

[powerhouseduece]

Question. Do the bearings go back as they came off to the hub, or do they go back as they were on the spindle. May sound retarded, but the races are the same but the bearings are different. Thanks Jim

The inner bearings stay on the inside, the outters stay on the out side. As long as the bearings and races aren't pitted you'll be ok. BTW, you might want to start buying grease by the case or bucket. I highly recommend castrol proprlex (sp?) Red.

 

[wbdodgeiv]

I just did the hub flip on my truck, it was already singled out with the wheels dish out. I bought new lug nuts from CRW for around $1ea, this is the best price I have found. Most of the MV websites wanted $3-$6ea. All of the truck and tire shops in my area get there lug nuts from CRW so I was able to cut out the middle man.

 

[rpollitt01]

Great post man!...Thanks for the link and the pics. I'll be doing this task soon and It will be very usefull!

 

[MrM4]

If you want to see the steps involved in flipping hubs;

I flipped the hubs on a truck yesterday and finished-up the "How To: Hub Flip" page on my website:

Hub Flip

Enjoy!

That cleared up everything that was rolling around in my head about fliping hubs.

Thanks for taking the time to post it!

Matt