Rear wheel bearing/hub replacement - axle won't seat fully?

[Chris Watkinson]

My 2005 Expy 4x4 automatic with 130,000 miles needed the rear passenger side wheel bearing/hub replaced, so I've swapped it out with a new one... But the axle/CV spindle (same thing?) doesn't want to seat fully into the new hub. Am I supposed to force it, or should it just glide in?

Long story short:
- ABS light was on, so I asked tech to check it out at my next oil change.
- He said both rear bearings were pretty shot, especially passenger side, a lot of play. Quote was about $1200 for the whole job, so naturally I bought the parts myself and went to work.
- Old hub REFUSED to let go of the axle, so I put the Axle nut on the end and wailed on it with a hammer pretty good... It dislodged and seemed to push in freely, as it should.
- Old hub also REFUSED to let go of the dust plate/knuckle, so I took the whole damn knuckle off, placed it face down on a milk crate, and wailed on it with a BFH until the old hub eventually released.
- I jacked up the suspension to get the lower arm back into place so I could reattach the knuckle. Cleaned it all up, reattached the knuckle, put on the dust plate, mounted the new hub, got the four bolts loosely in place.

PROBLEM: Axle splines engaged with the hub splines, but it doesn't sit in fully.. hard to explain, but it looks like it should slide in one more inch. The axle doesn't seat up against the back of the hub, there's about an inch of too much open space, and the axle spindle doesn't stick out the front of the hub as far as it should. I put the axle nut on and tried to crank it by hand, but it wouldn't budge and I don't want to strip/damage it. Only about 7 threads exposed when fully tightened, and the other wheels have about 12 or 13 threads exposed, so I'm thinking this is wrong.

QUESTION: Am I supposed to force the axle further into the hub somehow? Is the axle not moving further into hub because vehicle is in Park? Or is this just because the suspension is still jacked up? Is it not a big deal? Will it correct itself when the weight of the car rests on the axles? My gut says "no" to all of these, but have never done this job before...

 

[docraymund]

No you shouldn't force it. Try comparing the old part from the new one especially on the dimensional measurements. You may have an incorrect part.

 

[Chris Watkinson]

No you shouldn't force it. Try comparing the old part from the new one especially on the dimensional measurements. You may have an incorrect part.

Good idea, will do and report back. I bought it from 1aAuto, and they're usually pretty good...

 

[Chris Watkinson]

Okay, they are indeed slightly different. Below are two pics; one of the stock hub and one of the replacement. You can see the inner wall, going up from the splines in the hub are different. The original is pretty much a straight shot from the splines up to the rounded lip that would be in contact with the CV/axle flange, but the replacement kind of goes up, flares outward, then straight up again from there, making a slightly wider diameter to the opening on the replacement.

View media item 6398View media item 6399
With a wider opening, this should make things easier though, not harder for the axle to seat fully in, right? From what I can tell, the diameter inside the hub (where the spindle splines and hub splines meet) is the same, the drop is the same... I dunno. Can't see where the problem is.

THOUGHT: I had to wail on the original axle spindle end pretty good to dislodge it from the original hub, meaning it was in there really tight. Shouldn't I need to apply the same force behind the axle to get it back into the new hub?

 

[Chris Watkinson]

Just an update for anyone reading: I tried cranking down the axle nut again, and it still wouldn't budge.. Now the axle seemed stuck in the new hub, just like it was with the old hub! So I backed the axle nut out again until it was flush with the end of the axle, hosed it with penn grease, and started wailing on it with a BFH...

Here's where it gets interesting: after a few minutes, I noticed that somehow the axle had protruded FURTHER into the hub, instead of backing out in the direction that I was hitting. No idea how that happened, maybe the grease worked it's magic and my hitting it shook it free. It was only about 1/4" from the depth I needed it to be, so I got a good (un-abused) axle nut off my other back wheel, cranked it down, and the axle pulled right into position in the hub by tightening the axle nut.

Moral of the story: when in doubt, hit it harder with a hammer, and then throw out old deformed nuts haha.

(now I just about have it all back together, just have to figure out how to get the brake caliper back on...)

 

[darmahsd]

Hope all the wailing with the BFH didn't contribute to the problem. When I did mine, all I needed was a slide
hammer and a three prong puller attachment I rented from Autozone. Bolted it up to the hub . The left rear took a bit of persuasion and time to break free compared to the right side but eventually came out. I had to remove lots of rust from seating surfaces with wire brush/wheels and a needle scaler to assure it fitting back in all the way. Sprayed a coat of antisieze so if ever done again it might
go easier. Splines lined up so job done. ABS light went
off because no more wobbling. I used Timken hubs instead of OEM.

 

[Chris Watkinson]

Hope all the wailing with the BFH didn't contribute to the problem. When I did mine, all I needed was a slide
hammer and a three prong puller attachment I rented from Autozone. Bolted it up to the hub . The left rear took a bit of persuasion and time to break free compared to the right side but eventually came out. I had to remove lots of rust from seating surfaces with wire brush/wheels and a needle scaler to assure it fitting back in all the way. Sprayed a coat of antisieze so if ever done again it might
go easier. Splines lined up so job done. ABS light went
off because no more wobbling. I used Timken hubs instead of OEM.

Yeah I may go that route if I have to do the other one... As it is, I finished reassembling, drove around my neighborhood and the ABS light disappeared and didn't come back on, so I think I'm good! I'll stop by my mechanic tomorrow and have him check the torque on axle nut, upper and lower arms at the knuckle... But it looks like I didn't destroy my vehicle, so I'll put this one in the win column.

QUESTION: Will I need a realignment? I took the knuckle completely off to get at the hub from behind, but I didn't change position of toe link, etc...

 

[darmahsd]

You should be good if you didn't disconnect the link
from the upright, that is, if the BFH you were using
didn't weigh a 100lbs. There should be no need
to remove upright when you do the other one if you
get a good slap hammer, puller and use some heat.
I thought I would never get the left rear out but kept
slappin' away , torchin', and slappin' away.