Absolutely give them a ring. I've had stuff from them which is not listed on their website. They are very helpful people and I think they have/can procure lots of stuff they don't list.
General Rear axle removal.
- Thread starter tonyn
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General Rear axle removal.
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The OEM studs will be crusty rusty and near impossible to clean, though you might be able to get a die nut into the (very restricted) space. The best option is heat. No need to go mad just get it to at least 120 degs C. This will soften the thread lock holding the studs into the hub spindle. That will allow a deep socket to spin out those rusty horrors and off to the bin.
The rust jams and weakens the threads. If any start to snag or the nuts turn on the studs, you'll need to go very carefully. It's probably easiest to split the nuts either by drilling into a flat or (if there's enough space) a nut splitter. If you keep on going, the nuts are likely to shear the threads and just spin in place.
Replace the studs with 10.9 HT bolts and washers. Make sure you cut them to the correct length and fit with red Loctite. When done, coat with rust protection. HT bolts are unlikely to have long life protection if anything at all.
Edit - When I did mine, all I had was a 24" breaker bar and ordinary length sockets and a decent set of drills for splitting nuts (talk about making life difficult). An impact wrench will help but only if the threads are clean (strong chance it will simply spin the nuts).
The rust jams and weakens the threads. If any start to snag or the nuts turn on the studs, you'll need to go very carefully. It's probably easiest to split the nuts either by drilling into a flat or (if there's enough space) a nut splitter. If you keep on going, the nuts are likely to shear the threads and just spin in place.
Replace the studs with 10.9 HT bolts and washers. Make sure you cut them to the correct length and fit with red Loctite. When done, coat with rust protection. HT bolts are unlikely to have long life protection if anything at all.
Edit - When I did mine, all I had was a 24" breaker bar and ordinary length sockets and a decent set of drills for splitting nuts (talk about making life difficult). An impact wrench will help but only if the threads are clean (strong chance it will simply spin the nuts).
Last edited:
So I finally got around to doing this job.
It is possible to do without dismantling the complete rear brake assembly.
This is how i went about it.
Firstly , thoroughly soak all nuts, bolts and union's in penetrating oil, every day ,for at least 3 days before you start.
Dont bother to try and undo the upper brake pipe from the top union, just cut the flexy and then you can undo the top union by holding the brake pipe connector still and turning the flexy.This prevents the possibility of damage to the plastic coated brake pipe, and the bottom flexi pipe union can be removed in the same way.
Disconnect the electrical connection for the abs sensors on both sides and unclip.
The brake pipe feed into the rear cylinders will probably twist and shear even if you remove some of the plastic coating from around the joint, I did try and remove them in one piece but they sheared, so made a set of new ones from copper.
As for the eight studs that hold the brake drums and stub axle onto the axle, 4 of the nuts came off and 4 the complete studs and nut came out, so fitted 4 new nuts and thread locked the 4 studs back in.
Once you have disconnected the brake pipe feeds to the cylinders, and the 4 fixings to the back of each stub axle, nearly forgot to mention , disconnect both handbrake cables from the handbrake itself in the cab, so now you can remove both rear complete drum assemblys and just place them under the car.
Parts I bought to do the job,
2 rear brake flexi pipes
5 (in a bag) stub axle nuts
4(set of) flexi pipe securing clips
All ready had the brake pipe kit to make new rear pipes.
Hope this helps.
Cheers
Tony
It is possible to do without dismantling the complete rear brake assembly.
This is how i went about it.
Firstly , thoroughly soak all nuts, bolts and union's in penetrating oil, every day ,for at least 3 days before you start.
Dont bother to try and undo the upper brake pipe from the top union, just cut the flexy and then you can undo the top union by holding the brake pipe connector still and turning the flexy.This prevents the possibility of damage to the plastic coated brake pipe, and the bottom flexi pipe union can be removed in the same way.
Disconnect the electrical connection for the abs sensors on both sides and unclip.
The brake pipe feed into the rear cylinders will probably twist and shear even if you remove some of the plastic coating from around the joint, I did try and remove them in one piece but they sheared, so made a set of new ones from copper.
As for the eight studs that hold the brake drums and stub axle onto the axle, 4 of the nuts came off and 4 the complete studs and nut came out, so fitted 4 new nuts and thread locked the 4 studs back in.
Once you have disconnected the brake pipe feeds to the cylinders, and the 4 fixings to the back of each stub axle, nearly forgot to mention , disconnect both handbrake cables from the handbrake itself in the cab, so now you can remove both rear complete drum assemblys and just place them under the car.
Parts I bought to do the job,
2 rear brake flexi pipes
5 (in a bag) stub axle nuts
4(set of) flexi pipe securing clips
All ready had the brake pipe kit to make new rear pipes.
Hope this helps.
Cheers
Tony
Thanks Tonyn, that's very helpful. Did you undo the front brackets from the floor or the two big through bolts? Did the bottom shocker bolts come out without too much of a struggle? Really encouraging to hear none of the 8 hub studs sheared. Where did you buy the stub axle nuts and are they anything "exotic" or just normal hardness?
Congratulations on a successful job.
Took the brackets from the floor pan, made it easier to remove the 2 large mounting bolts that go thru the bushes.
The shocker bolts not a problem as I had replaced the shocks recently and greased the bolts on refitting them.
Bought the stub axle nuts from a main stealer, they come in packs of 5 strangely,
they weren't cheap, surprise surprise, If i remember around £25 a bag.
Didn't want to chance fitting anything else.
The shocker bolts not a problem as I had replaced the shocks recently and greased the bolts on refitting them.
Bought the stub axle nuts from a main stealer, they come in packs of 5 strangely,
they weren't cheap, surprise surprise, If i remember around £25 a bag.
Didn't want to chance fitting anything else.
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The bottom shock bolt on my Mutijet axle sheared off. I was leaning on it but not horrible hard it's M10 after all. That along has swapped the axle as there's no way to get the fragment out. However the whole thing was a mess pf rust under dried-up Waxoyl so no real loss.
The metal brake pipe flare nuts are easy to loosen with a gas barbecue lighter flame. ut the rubber hoses and spin off the fragment then use heat on the flare nut. Enough to soften the plastic coating is all you need. I replaced the whole line from underbody flare nut to brake with braided stainless hose. At the front I ran braided all the way from ABS block to the brake.
The metal brake pipe flare nuts are easy to loosen with a gas barbecue lighter flame. ut the rubber hoses and spin off the fragment then use heat on the flare nut. Enough to soften the plastic coating is all you need. I replaced the whole line from underbody flare nut to brake with braided stainless hose. At the front I ran braided all the way from ABS block to the brake.
