Cant get body of locking hubs all the way in?

[wilburbeest]

So I tore apart my front end, put in new u joints, ball joints, tie rods, grease seals, and packed the bearings. Now for some weird reason I cant get the main housing for the locking hubs far enough in to get the lock ring on the outside. I assume I did something wrong, so here's the step by step of what I did. One thing I was wondering was if the inner bearing needed to be tapped into the seal or something, but I assumed that would get pressed in when I tightened the jam nut.

1. Drop the larger of the two wheel bearings into the inner side of the rotor, so that the smaller diameter will face the outside.
2. Tap the new seal in
3. Put the rotor back on the spindle.
4. Slid the other wheel bearing in with the smaller diameter facing the inner bearing.
5. Tightened the jam nut to 70 ft-lbs as specified in my Haynes manual
6. Slid the locking hub body back in and found it was stopping short.

EDIT: So it just hit my dumb ass that the axle isn't bolted to anything. So I'm guessing the real issue is the axle not being out far enough.

[TNT89Bronco]

Yep! Get a pry bar. Pry it out a little.

[Ewgoetz]

Or have some one pushing the axle stub from behind.

[f150inline]

there are 3 rings that hold the hub and rotor to the spindle the first one that goes on has a nipple and the second one has holes in it if the nipple is not in one of those holes you will not be able to put the third ring all the way down or put your hubs on.

[KC200787]

Originally Posted by wilburbeest

...[*]Tightened the jam nut to 70 ft-lbs as specified in my Haynes manual

EDIT: So it just hit my dumb ass that the axle isn't bolted to anything. So I'm guessing the real issue is the axle not being out far enough.

I hope you shortened up the torquing sequence for lack of typing, otherwise you'll probably have ruined wheel bearings in the short future

Otherwise, yes, the axle needs to be pryed outward. Usually take a large screwdriver/prybar and push on the u-joint to gain enough slack to put the clips on, and you're good to go. If you still can't get the clip on, chances are something else is wrong.

[BigBlue&Goldie]

Like others have said, get a small prybar behind the u-joint. If that doesnt work, google the Warn hub install guide and the step by step tutorial on this site.

[wilburbeest]

Thanks for all the input! Pardon the unnecessary thread

Originally Posted by KC200787

I hope you shortened up the torquing sequence for lack of typing, otherwise you'll probably have ruined wheel bearings in the short future

Otherwise, yes, the axle needs to be pryed outward. Usually take a large screwdriver/prybar and push on the u-joint to gain enough slack to put the clips on, and you're good to go. If you still can't get the clip on, chances are something else is wrong.

Oh #$%# that 70 ft-lbs is only to seat the bearings isn't it! Well I guess that's why you actually READ the instructions. All I did was look for the torque spec. So I need to back it off and retorque it to 15-20 ft-lbs I guess. Would that really ruin the wheel bearings just from sitting up on jack stands with the nut torqued down more than it should be for operation, but still within spec for seating?

[Billy89EB]

I wouldn't sweat it if it's only on the stands. I'm sure the bearings may eventually have problems operating under that torque only when driving.

[KC200787]

Originally Posted by Billy89EB

I wouldn't sweat it if it's only on the stands. I'm sure the bearings may eventually have problems operating under that torque only when driving.

:
You should be ok as long as you didn't drive it.

KC

[wilburbeest]

Awesome! Good to know my tard moment Didn't cause a major issue xD