Front hub grease?

[strawboss]

I'm working on the front hubs of my Mirage, replacing the dust shields/brake pads etc & have the hubs off.

The FSM recommends Molykote BR2 Plus "or equivalent" when reassembling but I can't find it unless I buy the 14 oz tube listed on Amazon for $80 Cdn....and I can't find a cross reference.

What would guys like Fummins use?

[Fummins]

I just run them til they pile up then replace the bearings. They usually last a long time. My 14 has over 300,000km and they're still fine. I'd just use whatever grease happens to be in my grease gun at the time, which is a variety of damaged written off stock or customer returned stuff.

[strawboss]

I just run them til they pile up then replace the bearings. They usually last a long time. My 14 has over 300,000km and they're still fine. I'd just use whatever grease happens to be in my grease gun at the time, which is a variety of damaged written off stock or customer returned stuff.

Ok, that's good then, the last fwd hub I worked on was over 30 years ago,on a Ford Escort & all I remember was I didn't preload the bearings properly!

[Fummins]

I haven't looked up axle nut torque in a while. Turns out the Mirage and my Kawi side by side both call for almost 200ft lb. I haven't had either one fail yet and have had quite a few apart.

[strawboss]

I haven't looked up axle nut torque in a while. Turns out the Mirage and my Kawi side by side both call for almost 200ft lb. I haven't had either one fail yet and have had quite a few apart.

Yup, I looked it up yesterday....200 ft lbs, +- 20. Thanks for the info though, nice to have confirmation.
Glad to have a torque wrench that goes up that far!

[Top_Fuel]

...replacing the dust shields/brake pads etc & have the hubs off.

I'm confused (nothing new there).

You pulled the hubs out of the front wheel bearings? So are you replacing the wheel bearings?

[strawboss]

I'm confused (nothing new there).

You pulled the hubs out of the front wheel bearings? So are you replacing the wheel bearings?

No, I thought that just pulling the hub didn't necessitate replacing the entire bearing.

I used a slide hammer to remove the hub and install a new dust shield in situ, then tap the hub back in and drive it home with the axle nut.
I have a hydraulic press but wanted to avoid the extra work in removing the entire knuckle just to install the dust shields.

[Top_Fuel]

I thought that just pulling the hub didn't necessitate replacing the entire bearing.

I've always worked off the assumption that when you pull the hub out of a pressed-in wheel bearing, half of the inner wheel bearing race is coming with it...and damaging the bearing in the process. I understand what you are doing now. I just didn't know you could do that. You don't have anything to lose.

...wanted to avoid the extra work in removing the entire knuckle just to install the dust shields.

If you had the hub out, you had already done about 75% of the work required to replace the bearing. You don't have to remove the knuckle from the car to press a bearing out and press a new one in. There are bearing tools that let you do this with the knuckle still in the car. In the case of the Mirage, you don't even have to touch the tie rod end or ball joint. You don't need a slide hammer or impact, either.

I have a "how to" I will be posting shortly on how to do this on a Mirage. I have a few more pics to get organized.

[Basic]

I've always worked off the assumption that when you pull the hub out of a pressed-in wheel bearing, half of the inner wheel bearing race is coming with it...and damaging the bearing in the process. I understand what you are doing now. I just didn't know you could do that. You don't have anything to lose.

If you had the hub out, you had already done about 75% of the work required to replace the bearing. You don't have to remove the knuckle from the car to press a bearing out and press a new one in. There are bearing tools that let you do this with the knuckle still in the car. In the case of the Mirage, you don't even have to touch the tie rod end or ball joint. You don't need a slide hammer or impact, either.

I have a "how to" I will be posting shortly on how to do this on a Mirage. I have a few more pics to get organized.

Looking forward to that good sir!

[strawboss]

It looks like I may have got in over my head.

Like I said I pulled the hub, installed the new splash shield and began the re-install of the hub.

Used a 5" section of pipe and a 3 lb hammer to drift the hub back in, then used the torque wrench to pull the hub in the last few millimeters (or so I thought), checking the clearances against the unmolested hub.....



Installed the mount for the caliper & did the pins/pads deal but the assembly won't jive, the disc/hub assembly looks like it's 3/16" farther out than it was before, the outer pad isn't even close to clearing the rotor....crap.

Top Fuel mentioned a special tool for this job, I think saw it online and figured that was a lot of $ for a job I'd do once/ twice so used my slide hammer

I even removed the first caliper mount and installed the other thinking they might be left/right handed but nope.....

So I figure I'm gonna have remove the entire knuckle, buy a new bearing and press in in with my 20 ton press?
All to change a splash guard.....

I may just use a BFH first to gain that last bit of clearance, but that would probably Fubar the bearing if it's not already.

I'm gonna just leave the other front wheel sans shield when (If) I get this back on the road, lol!