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Feeling Grumpy Today - Hub bearing issues

Posted: Sun Dec 18, 2016 5:56 am
by AustHaflinger
As it is now summer here and hot during the day I have taken the top off and just on sundown when it gets a bit cooler, I take the Haffie down to the nearby river for a run each Sunday evening.

I just went into the garage to get the Little Truck out in preparation for the drive and this is what I spotted
Wheel stain.jpg
A great big oil stain under the tyre with oil running down inside the wheel :? I have never had any issues with this hub - always the opposite one. Initial thought was a leaking wheel cylinder but the fluid seemed to be a bit thicker. Hard to tell because it was clean but I had only just replaced the hub oil 2 weeks ago and only travelled about 50km since.

So off with the wheel and brake drum and still not clear but the wheel cylinder seems OK and the brake fluid is not low.

So after cleaning the inside up it looks as if the bottom axle outer oil seal has failed - no idea was OK last week and no leaks. It is always the little things with these vehicles. The hub was down a little so I refilled it.

With everything cleaned I have placed a white piece of plastic under it and will see how much has leaked out tomorrow. If I remember correctly all I have to do to replace this oil seal is to remove the square plate at the back of the hub - remove the big nut on the inner end of the short axle and then pull it out from the other side then replace the oil seal and put it all back - that is the short version.

No matter what the season - there is always something to do on the Haflinger - and it was running so well .

Garry

Re: Feeling Grumpy Today - Hub bearing issues

Posted: Sun Dec 18, 2016 7:00 am
by heinkeljb
It obviously depends on which seal has gone, it could be the "O" ring behind the square plate. Or the "O"ring under the inner bearing run surface. Or as you say the main outer bearing. Which even one has gone you will have to take off the square plate, remove the shims, lock the wheel hub so you can undo the nut on the end of the hub drive shaft. Remove hub drive shaft and replace seal(s).

Another option is to buy some "seal swell" oil adaptive which swells rubber oil seals making them seal again. This option might only be a short term solution, but I have had long term results from doing it on bike oil seals in the past.

John

Re: Feeling Grumpy Today - Hub bearing issues

Posted: Sun Dec 18, 2016 7:46 am
by AustHaflinger
Hi John - hope you are enjoying SA.

If it was the O ring that was leaking I think it would be leaking at the back of the hub but it would seem it is leaking into the brake drum - hence me initially thinking it might have been the brake wheel cylinder. Your comments reinforce my thoughts on how to approach this so I will proceed along those lines.

I hadn't thought of the additive - I have used it before on other vehicles and had mixed results so I think I will just pull the axle as its not all that hard. Is going to have to wait until after Christmas though as next week will be busy for me.

Cheers

Garry

Re: Feeling Grumpy Today - Hub bearing issues

Posted: Sun Dec 18, 2016 1:44 pm
by heinkeljb
South Africa is a much needed holiday! So everything can just chill if it needs too! The other thought was that you might have a bit of dirt under the oil seal lip and that using it will make it seal again, had that happen before now!!

John

Re: Feeling Grumpy Today - Hub bearing issues

Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2016 1:42 am
by AustHaflinger
Enjoy your holiday :-)

I got up the day after taking the drum off and cleaning the hub up and there is only one drop of oil on the white plastic - looks like the cleaning fluid - so no oil :-). I didn't touch anything and I left it at that and went out Christmas shopping - when I came back later in the afternoon there was about 50ml of oil on the white plastic - the hub had not be turned - so for nearly 24 hours after being played with there is no leak and then all of a sudden without touching it it dumps a bit of oil.

I started the haffie up and ran it in gear so the hub spun up to a reasonable speed and shut it down - checked it this morning and no leak :?

All I can assume there must be a bit of dirt so after Christmas I will take the lower axle out and see what is going on.

Re: Feeling Grumpy Today - Hub bearing issues

Posted: Wed Dec 28, 2016 5:14 am
by AustHaflinger
So Christmas is over so time to do some work. I removed the lower axle as described above no issues - inspected the oil seal etc and there was nothing obvious. So I bought a new seal and cleaned everything up and went to reinstal.

No the fun and games began - between the two axle bearings there are two thick washers and the hub cog and they all have to line up to get the axle back in - and you cannot hold them up in the right position from the inner side with the bearing in - so after having a few goes I have given up.

Now for those who do not know, the bearings are adjusted from the inside of the hub. The inner bearing outer race slides and is pushed in against the inner bearing by shims that are in turn pushed in by the spare sealing plate - this effectively squeezes the bearings in their outer races etc etc.

So I though that if I can remove the inner bearing I can poke my fingers in and align the two big washers and the cog while I push in the axle from the other side - problem is despite using a bit of force, the sliding outer race of the inner bearing will not slide out and so release the inner bearing to give me room to get my fingers.

Gotta get a bigger hammer and if that does not work then the hub will have to come off.

garry

Re: Feeling Grumpy Today - Hub bearing issues

Posted: Wed Dec 28, 2016 6:42 am
by heinkeljb
Can you put a rod through from the inner side of the hub and "wiggle" the washers back in to place?

John

Re: Feeling Grumpy Today - Hub bearing issues

Posted: Wed Dec 28, 2016 9:04 am
by AustHaflinger
heinkeljb wrote:Can you put a rod through from the inner side of the hub and "wiggle" the washers back in to place?

John
No, because the shaft is too long and by the time you push it through so the splines on the shaft touch the gear the inner end of the shaft is poking through and stops you poking something through to lift up the spacers and gear.

However a bigger hammer and a bigger whack did the trick :? From the outer side I was able to knock the inner bearing and its race out so then giving me the space to poke through a small screwdriver to lift everything up even with the axle poking through.

So I have 3/4 assembled the axle back in. I noticed that the axle shaft had a couple of small scores where the bearings fit, indicating they may gave spun at some stage so as a precaution I put some bearing fit on the spots to prevent it in future - so only assembled enough not for that to dry and I will do the rest in the morning and hopefully no more oil leak.

garry

Re: Feeling Grumpy Today - Hub bearing issues

Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2016 2:52 am
by AustHaflinger
Axle is back in no real issues in the end. When I finished 24hours ago - I left the wheel and brake drum off and then started up the engine and spun up to 4000rpm in second gear so the hub got a good run. No leaks. Turned it again by hand last night and checked this morning and no leaks :) - so drum and wheel back on and all is good - except:

With the drivers rear side being jacked up and the rear passenger side on the floor for 2 weeks, there is now a pool of engine oil on the garage floor on the passenger side near the front of the gear box - engine oil has been dropping on to the bars of the rear protection bars and ran forward and then dripped onto the floor. The leak is only about 50ml and I suspect one of the rubber seals on the oil return pipe that takes oil back from the rocker cover may have a small split in it - again a design fault in these vehicles and an issue I have had a couple of times before.

The engine needs a major service - heads torqued, tappets, new spark plugs etc so I will look at the oil leak then.

So the rear hub axles can be removed and replaced - along with the outer oil seal and inner bearing - without removing the hub. :)

I hope this all helps someone in the future.

Garry

Re: Feeling Grumpy Today - Hub bearing issues

Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2017 1:38 am
by AustHaflinger
Went for a 30km drive yesterday - no leaks from the hub or engine. The engine oil is a little high so that may have been the reason for the engine oil leak when the car was tilted over.

What a pleasure it is to drive a haffie with the top off on a 35 degree afternoon just before sunset when you haven't driven it for a week or so 8-)

Garry

Re: Feeling Grumpy Today - Hub bearing issues

Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2017 9:05 am
by heinkeljb
I am going to be staring Lurch today after 3 weeks away, we see what happens!

John

Re: Feeling Grumpy Today - Hub bearing issues

Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2017 11:02 am
by AustHaflinger
So I take it you are back in the cold from the nice warm south. I am sure you will have no issues starting up :D

Re: Feeling Grumpy Today - Hub bearing issues

Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2017 6:51 pm
by heinkeljb
Yes, back from warmth to the cold and wet!

Lurch started after a short cranking and ran for all of a second - repeated starts and dying eventually lead to constant running as should be! So next will be to readjust the brakes and see what else needs doing before the 12th, a fun day, Trial trial sections, treasure hunt section, general off road driving day.

Last hijack of this thread by Lurch!

John

Re: Feeling Grumpy Today - Hub bearing issues

Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2017 9:41 am
by mechanical horse
Hey All,
I followed this conversation while you were having it, but never had a clue what you were on about. That all changed the other day when I decided to replace a front hub seal. Worked out how it all came apart as I was doing it, replaced the seal and then tried and tried and tried to get that axle and hub back in. The bearings were not much of a problem but the washers kept sliding around and I couldn't get everything lined up and I couldn't get the splines started. I didn't want to bash it with a hammer in case I damaged something.
I machined a tube out of plastic which was a sliding fit through the inner bearing and also the washer on the inside of the bearing and that held them in line and then got the bits on the outer side of the hub lined up and just pushed the hub and axle through and it just pushed the tube out as it slid through. I was quite surprised how easy it happened after spending hours the previous day trying to get it done.
I also found 31 stamped into the hub so I take it that I have got 75 KPH portal gears fitted.
Have also fitted the 14 inch diameter, 6 inch wide wheels with 185/75 tyres which are 55 mm bigger in diameter than original so I should pick up some extra speed. Have worked it out that I should be able get about 160 KPH down the side of Mount Everest.
Regards Rick.

Re: Feeling Grumpy Today - Hub bearing issues

Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2017 1:55 pm
by heinkeljb
You better buy some old people incontinent pants as anything over 45 /50 mph can make your insides decide they need to come and see the outside world!! Lol!

John

Re: Feeling Grumpy Today - Hub bearing issues

Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2017 1:18 am
by AustHaflinger
The fastest my Haffie has gone was 90kph (55mph) downhill on the freeway at the back of my place - even going downhill it took a long time to go from 85 which it will do on the straight and level and would not budge over 90 but engine revs 5000rpm so that is fast enough and only lasted about 300m.

However at that speed it was surprising how stable the haffie was - felt safe with no bouncing or darting around. Glad I was on the freeway though, because if I had to stop quickly at short notice, I think that is when things would have got interesting and during the whole exercise there was a distinct feeling of vulnerability. I had the cab on - I would hate to do it with the top down and the windscreen down.

Garry

Re: Feeling Grumpy Today - Hub bearing issues

Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2017 7:36 am
by heinkeljb
Rick,

Nice solution to machine up a piece of plastic, unfortunately not all of us have a lathe we can use to do such things. I think along similar lines would be just to use something like a piece of broom handle. Even if it is a bit smaller in diameter, I think it would help to get the washers more or less in line and then with a bit of "jiggling", hopefully allow you to get the shaft through.

I agree the a Haflinger feels quite stable at speed as long as you are not on a twisty bit of road! Again, brakes are it's week point. I am going to fit a Brake booster when the weather gets better to see if I can improve braking.

Gary, ever thought of a bespoke roll cage? Oh yes, you would also have to fit air bags all round. :lol:

John

Re: Feeling Grumpy Today - Hub bearing issues

Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2017 10:35 am
by AustHaflinger
heinkeljb wrote:I am going to fit a Brake booster when the weather gets better to see if I can improve braking.
What model do you have in mind - one using engine manifold pressure or one with a vacuum pump fitted?

Re: Feeling Grumpy Today - Hub bearing issues

Posted: Sun May 13, 2018 9:30 am
by AustHaflinger
So drove my Haflinger last weekend to take big cardboard box to the recycling center - total trip about 10km no issues.

Went to get the car out today and exactly the same picture as in my first post but from the drivers side rear hub. Definitely hub oil.

Well having learnt from my experience last year I am not going to pull the hub apart but simply top the oikl up and see if it leaks again. If it does then I guess hub needs to come apart but I am hoping it was just stopped that allowed a bit of hot oil out.

The one that leaked last year has not leaked since I pulled it apart but replaced nothing.

I will top up tomorrow.

Garry

Re: Feeling Grumpy Today - Hub bearing issues

Posted: Sun May 13, 2018 7:15 pm
by heinkeljb
Last trip out with all the othe 24 Haflingers at the Dutch Treffen this weekend and I thought I would check the rear brakes at the campsite. Have only put new shoes and rear wheel cylinders in a couple of weekends ago thought it would be a good idea!

Rear hub off and I see it has been leaking oil from the hub. Wheel cylinder was bone dry but the oil drip tang had oil on it so definitely hub oil. Can’t do anything about it in the middle of Holland in a campsite, so to the oil and we have driven most of the way bck. Writing this on the ferry across the English Channel. About two and a half hours drive when we land in a couple of hours to get home. Then next weekend, I take it apart and replace the oil seal.

John