60's Hubs

[joel HJ60]

Found my top and bottom swivel bearings were rooted so I dismantled my hub which I've done before to replace them. I stripped it down to the housing and replaced all seals along the way while I was in there. I have since gotten everything back on until the hub going on. I am having drama's with the wheel bearings. I have a fish scale and all to get correct preload, but it's either super tight or loose (will spin hard or freely). It seems once the outer bearing (larger one behind oil seal) sits on it's place on the spindle it drastically tightens up. I have these parts clean and dry with no grease where the bearing seats on the spindle. Am I doing something obviously wrong? Anyone got ideas or tips? The wheel bearings themselves seem fine and the spindle is also in good condition.

[joel HJ60]

Anyone?

[Ruffy]

Not sure of your method of preloading (should actually be zero preload) but try this. put everything together lubed up. Tighten first bearing load nut as tight as you can (almost) then spin the hub to make sure everything is in place correctly. You should be able to turn it with a fair amount of resistance. Then slacken off the nut until it turns freely. Throw your fish scale away. Using a breaker bar, tighten the nut gently until there is very slight resistance. Have the bar raised to the right so if you let it go it turns the nut to do it up. The weight of the bar will be enough to get the correct tension. Lift it up and let it fall a few times to ensure it keeps tightening in the same spot. You may have to move the socket on the nut to allow the bar to fall enough to tighten it. You should have some resistance to turn the hub as the bearings will be packed with grease giving a false impression of being overtight. It shouldn't be tight to turn but if you flick it in rotation it shouldn't keep spining at all, it should stop straight away.
I hope all that made sense, it hard without a visual.
Cheers Dan

[mac85]

I'll add my 2 cents. When I did my 60's front hubs up I also replaced all the seals. If you replaced the main rear hub seals (the ones that you hammer into the back of the hub itself) they run on the base of the spindle. When they are new they are a very tight fit and can give you more than the recommended preload on the hubs (I think Toyota specifies 5 kg at the studs??). Make sure that they are greased before fitting, otherwise the new rubber of the seal can overheat and tear. The best way of doing the bearings I find is to put the hub on but leave the cover plate/free wheel hub off so that you can get to the bearing nut on the spindle. Put the wheel/tyre on the hub and see if there is any free play in the bearing . I can hear and feel it if there is when the tyre is on. If it's got movement, tighten up the wheel bearing nut. Once there is only a slight bit of preload (but the wheel turns without excessive binding), tighen the locknut and bend the tabs on the lock washer then check it again.

Cheers,

Mac85

[joel HJ60]

I did replace the oil seal on the back of the hub. I did grease it up tho when I attempted the bearings. I'll try your technique ruffy. I was using the fish scale to set the preload to between 3 - 6kg which is what is spec. We'll see how it goes.


Also how do you separate the steering arm from the tie rod/drag link? Is it a press fit or am I not hitting it hard enough?