Over the last weekend got a few things done that I'd kind of collected. Didn't mean to do them all at the same time. It turned out a 2 day session on the axle stands.

One of the things was - Hub Nuts.

I did say I'd try to take photos and do a write up. It's short but here it is.

I had removed all the wheels and the brakes to....
Change Brake pipes to Braded, Paint Callipers, fit New Front Disks and new shoes all round.

If you want to do the Hub Nuts don't take the wheels off. I couldn't get a lock on the rear hub enough to pull 200lb's of torque (remember I had no brakes either).
Even when I had put the brakes back on, new shoes on the back but having screwed the calliper in fully, still couldn't lock the hub so wheels back on and the car dropped.

I did take advantage of the wheel being off and opened the locking lug (the rim of the nut smashed with a cold chisel to nip into a cut slot on the hub). I used a centre punch which allowed me to lever the lug almost flat again.

Here's the (naked) hub...


You can see the (hammered) crimp marked in yellow.

I didn't take a picture of me working with the centre punch on the crimp but you get the idea...


This will open the crimp up to allow you to remove the nut...


It's a big bugger of a nut, and I did try to remove at this stage but this is only for an image I found it impossible as I had no lock on the hub...


So with the wheels back on and the fronts chalked (seriously the car was rolling around, new brakes not adjusted yet) get the big persuader bar on and swing off it, it'll eventually go and off comes the nut.



Take you new nut and grease the face of the nut only not the threads just the face ...


Put the nut back onto the naked hub ...


Now torque to 220bl, I'm a good 13 stone of muscular male and I was on the end of the bar slowly moving out to get the click. 220bl is not an easy pull.



Now crimp the nut, basically take a cold/bolster chisel and hit the nut lip into the lug cutout on the hub.


Replace the hub cap and you're done.

It is certainly a DIY job but you do need some serious gear not everyone has.
A 36 mm socket (borrowed from some engineers I know) a lazy boy bar (same) a large torque wrench (I happen to have one) and grease (Multipurpose stuff).
Do this with the car on the ground and the wheels on, unless you want to swing on the bar with the car on axle stands and you can get the wheels to lock.

 

Good write up - anyone volunteering to do a South East hub nut session ?

 

That's why I decided to let Norton Way take the strain!

I thought they were 36mm nuts?

 

How much did they charge Nick ?

 

I think you're right Nick. I couldn't remember. Post edited.

 

With the right tools it's a 10-20 minute job tops.

Easy a good meet.

 

Also worth just checking that the driveshaft slides smoothly on the spines in the hub and put a bit of grease on the splines if they're rusted. There was a bit of corrosion on one driveshaft on the spines and the drives shaft was quite stiff to slide. Just worth doing in case you ever need to take it apart in the future.

I also found that undoing the nuts wasn't a problem as they weren't very tight. Doing them up i had the car on the ground, in gear with the handbrake on. That stopped the wheel from moving when tightening the nuts up.

 

I think I might get Jorge onto mine!

 

you kill me!

 

I finally got round to changing my lug nuts and I somehow managed to screw it up. I got a massive torque wrench from a friend and set it up to 298Nm (it goes up to 800Nm) or 220lb if you prefer. I removed the hub cup and the old nut. Greased the new nut and put it on. Trying to reach 220lb, I was finding quite some resistance but kept going, until I heard something crack and it was like I was just beginning to tight the nut. I took it off, everything seemed ok. Put it back on and started trying to reach 220 lb again. After some time, I noticed that the lug screw was coming out. The nut had gone past the thread on the hub and still no click from the wrench. I started the car, put it in gear and I hear a banging sound from the rear, the car won't move.
By now, I know I've f***ed up. Any ideas on what is broken, what should be replaced?