BigBlue

Life is good. The new hub came with studs already installed so no pressing required. The price also went down considerably. After tax it cost me $428. A lot better than the $450 pre tax my roommate paid.

yarddog

BB Let us know how you loosen the big hub nut. I need to get mine apart soon and that nut has me worried.

mr T

my biggest problem was findign a friend who had a socket big enough for that axle nut...a lil elbow grease was all it took after that (dont jerk or you'll tear threads on something as old as mine)...i thought the 4 bolts on the back were harder to remove than the nut

BigBlue

This is probably one of the worst days of my life. For starters, I break my 3/8" ratchet trying to loosen the caliper bracket bolts. Not the caliper bolts, the bracket that holds the caliper on. Then I go and get a 1/2" breaker bar with a 3/8"-1/2" adapter since I don't have a half inch socket that fits. I end up twisting the adapter in half. Great. I'm waiting for the front end mechanic at the dodge dealer to get back from lunch so I can ask him what size the nut is. I have no clue how I'm going to get that off. So I decide to take a break from the hub and do the DSS. Install goes nice and smoothly until I get to the part of the bearing and lock ring. Now I don't know if mine is designed differently and the instructions are old but mine didn't come with a snap ring that I'm supposed to lock in with a punch and a hammer. So I'm waiting on a call back from them. On top of that there's a thunderstorm moving in on me and the girl I was supposed to go on a date with today sounded kinda ****** when I told her that I had to cancel. I think I'm gonna go and crawl into a hole and cry for a while.

BigBlue

Quick question. The bolts that hold the caliper bracket on, they are normal threads right? Normal meaning to loosen them you spin them counter-clockwise?

hotdram

From what I remember, yes

~Rob

dodge2001

after you get the caliper bracket off the fun begins. now i tried turning the steering wheel and everything else. hopefully you don't have much trouble. i ended up cutting the upper and lower balljoint to get the steering knuckle off. then i was able to press the old bearing out, it took a 50 ton press to get it out.

my lower balljoint was bad so it didn't bother me much cutting them. hope it goes easier for you than it did with me

BigBlue

That's what I thought. I started working on the 4 bolts on the back of the hub and they don't wanna budge either. And of course I'm stuck until my roommate gets back so he can drive me to get parts and what not. And I just found out that my steering box won't be in until Tuesday. Where's my beer?

CTD NUT

If you don't have access to a decent 1/2" impact gun, the axle stub shaft nut and the 4 bearing hub retainer bolts can be difficult to loosen. These bolts and nuts often seize since they are not removed very often and can be difficult to undo with hand tools.

BIGHEAD

Blue you need to get some 1/2 inch sockets. As tight as all this stuff is, you will just continue to break adapters & such. For the 4 bolts on the back, slide you a piece of pipe over your pull handle or your new 1/2 inch ratchet you need to get. As for the axle nut, I think I use a 1 3/4 inch socket which is in 3/4 drive with big ratchet & piece of pipe. I stick a hefty pry bar in between a couple of studs with the lug nuts on & use that set up tp brake it loose. Be careful though as I have broke some studs this way. You should check your ball joints while your at it. I have pulled my axle out with the hub several times & had no problem putting it back in. Just be careful when putting it in. You will tear up the inner axle seal & your axle tube will start dripping dope. You should have waited on that Dodge guy to get back from lunch & let him fix it.
You would then be going on your date tonight. If the girl was worth going out with to start with, she will understand a man's truck comes first. You mentioned your sterring gear box. What kind of problem is that causing you? I think mine may be leaking fluid from the topcap, but not sure.

BigBlue

I never planned on having dodge install the hub. I just needed them to tell me what size the nut is. They said it's either 1 11/16" or 1 7/8". Once my roommate gets back I'm going to get some hefty 1/2" drive stuff and go to town on this. I've got a 4 1/2' long piece of pipe and a 17" breaker bar. Something is about to give.

My steering box is leaking from the top cap where the adjustment screw is. It's also incredibly loose and has 95k miles on it so I figure that it's time to replace it anyways. I've got one coming from PSC.

DSS just called me back and it turns out I am missing the lock ring. Steve I believe it is told me that I could go to any place that sells bearings and get the lock ring so I'll be off to do that in a minute as well. He was a very nice guy to deal with. Offered to ship me a new one out ASAP or refund the cost of the bearing but I told him no thanks. I highly recommend him.

BigBlue

Finally got the bracket bolts loose. It's amazing how easy things are with the right tools. Now I'm working on the hub nut. Is this thing a normal thread also? I'm bending my breaker bar quite a bit trying to loosen it and it's not coming loose. Any suggestions? I don't want to destroy the threads on anything that's why I'm afraid to put to much strength on it.

BigBlue

Well it's done. I finally got the hub nut off by sitting on the breaker bar. That was a pleasant little drop. Then as I start to pull the hub off the axle shafts start coming out so I had to wrestle with that. But now it's all back together and everything is nice and snug. Still don't know how it drives as I have yet to drive it and probably won't until tomorrow. Thanks for the help yall.

BIGHEAD

Good job Blue. I wouldn't think 95 K miles would be enough to hurt your steering box. Mine has 275K miles on it. I think it is leaking in the same place. You are referring to the kinda mushroom shaped dome cap sitting on top at a little angle? Who is PSC that you referred to? How much was that gear box? How much trouble is it to change out? Thanks

BigBlue

The only reason my steering box went out on me is because I took the truck fourwheeling and I think that finished it off. Mine is leaking around the cap sitting on top at a little angle. Do a search on line for PSC. They are a well known steering box company. I paid $359 overnighted to my front door for a brand new steering box. They also carry the DSS steering brace so I went ahead and ordered that ($179 before shipping).