Between June 18 and 28 of 2017, apart from undertaking a major refurbishment of my Rover's front suspension, I also allocated time for the rebuilding of the same rear hub, as covered within this post of 2011.
I tapped in the two oil seals, applied Castrol EPL-2 to the cups in turn and then placed the inner bearing onto the cup that can be seen above. It was then liberally coated with grease, ensuring that it was worked well within the cage and around all of the rollers.
The outer Timken bearing received a coating of grease. The S & G Walker collapsible spacer can be seen sitting over the shaft, seating against the bearing face. It is a snug fit, positioned by hand. The splines on the yoke shaft received an application of Loctite 609. I had wanted to use Loctite AVV 086. When I contacted Henkel, I was asked why I wanted it. On offering the reason I was then asked for specific details as to the hub and spline dimensions, and whether the hub would again need to be taken apart. I asked again if AVV 086 was still available. I was advised that it is a product that is used for military and aerospace applications, and only comes into Australia under a special order from the Federal Department of Defence
So I purchased a 10ml bottle of Loctite 609 instead. It is a medium strength product, used for splines etc., to eliminate fretting corrosion, so it seemed like an excellent choice.
The hub is secured within the jaws of an offset Dawn vice. Substantial force is required to deliver the necessary axial load onto the collapsible spacer to deliver plastic deformation. The 1/2" bar attached to the socket was bending noticeably as I pulled the bar down. Indeed, I can say without hesitation that this was clearly the most force I have ever applied to anything before.
I was waiting for the bar to either snap or the socket to explode! I was wearing safety goggles just in case
A suitably sized nut was held in place with gaffer tape, to facilitate location of the spring balance. After numerous applications of force, a reading of 4 to 4.5kg was measured. The designated range as per the workshop manual is 2.2 to 4.5 kg ( 5 to 10lbs). The readings were not consistent, but fell without that range. Static friction is greater than kinetic friction, so this would account for the variations. Subsequently, I attached an imperial spring balance to the flange and a reading of 8lbs was recorded.
New universal joints were also fitted into the half shaft, using a G-clamp to press them in. No grease is used on either the yoke eyes or the cups. This method works perfectly, and is substantially better than trying to drift them in. This one a Repco brand.
Whilst this one is a U.K manufactured Hardy Spicer.
It will now sit and wait its turn for service, at some point down the line.
Ron.