With the axleshafts and brake components in place, let's turn our attention to the hubs and drums. The wheel studs were swaged in place at the factory, locking the hub and drum together as a solid unit. Unless replacing either of the components, there is no need to separate the hub and drum, which would require drilling or cutting out the wheel studs.
Inspect the roller bearings and races carefully. Mine looked pretty good, but after half a century it is not a bad idea to replace them. Keep the bearings and races together as a matched set if reusing the present bearings. Don't mix a new bearing and old race or visa versa, but replace them as a matched set. Here is a view inside the drum, showing the inner and outer bearing races. Note the notch inside the hub:
Here a hammer and brass drift are being used to drive out the outer race. Flip the drum over to drive out the inner race:
There is one slight problem when the drum is flipped over. The straightedge is showing how the edge of the drum will contact the workbench. As you hammer against the hub, the face of the brake drum will flex and the race probably won't budge. Rest the hub against a flat wooden block for proper support:
Install new races with a bearing driver set. The tone made by the hammer will change when the race is fully seated:
With the races installed, it is time to pack the bearings. You can work new grease into the bearings by hand, or use a bearing packer. Note the grease squeezing out around the individual rollers:
The greased inner bearing must be in place before the seal is installed:
With a bearing driver, install the seal. This view shows the seal installed, loosely holding the inner bearing in place for assembly onto the spindle. Grease the inner lip on the seal where it will ride against the spindle. Smear a couple of good-sized spoonfuls of grease around the cavity between the bearings. Under operation, this grease will heat up and flow to keep the bearings well lubed. Don't add too much grease, as there must be some room for normal thermal expansion:
Here the hub and drum are on the spindle. The freshly packed outer bearing is about to be installed:
A hardened thrust washer is placed against the outer bearing, and the first of two nuts is tightened per the manual. Tighten the nut while spinning the drum. When the drum starts to drag, back off the nut approximately 60 degrees. Use a 2-1/16" socket. A deeper socket than this would have been helpful, as the tip of the axleshaft interfered with the breaker bar:
Here is a close-up of the nuts and washers. After the first nut is properly torqued and then backed off, the non-hardened tab washer is sandwiched in place by the second nut. The tab on the non-hardened washer should face outwards or it will interfere with the hardened thrust washer:
Neither washer can spin because of an inner tab that fits in a groove in the spindle. The non-hardened washer is sandwiched in place between the two nuts. The manual is not very clear on how to lock the nuts in place. It doesn't specify whether to bend that washer inwards, outwards or in both directions to lock both nuts. Reading between the lines in the removal instructions, it appears only the outer nut was locked in place. I chose to lock both nuts in place. A blunt chisel worked well to bend the washer in around the inner nut. To bend a second part of that washer outwards was a bit trickier, as there was not much room for any leverage with a thin prybar. One suggestion is to tighten the outer nut as normal. With a marker, draw a line to indicate where the bend will be on the washer. Then undo the outer nut, remove the washer and hold it in a vise to start the bend. No more than 15 or 20 degrees is needed initially. After the bend is started, reinstall the washer and nut. The bend can then be completed more easily. Keep track of which way the outer nut was facing, because if what had been the outer face is now against the washer, the bend may no longer be in the correct spot:
You may find the old nuts damaged. Lacking the proper socket, a chisel may have been previously used to turn the nuts. This is not a recommended practice since it can severely weaken the nuts. Oh heck, I'll get on my soapbox and say this is downright stupid. It might be okay for a trailside repair when the sun is setting and the buzzards are circling. However, you'll want to replace the nuts afterwards when back in civilization. There are some trailside repairs which don't need to be redone afterwards, but this is not one of them. I have personally seen the aftermath of what can happen when a chisel is used on these nuts and it wasn't pretty. This was after brake work done by a "professional" shop on a different vehicle with the same bearing and hub arrangement. The nuts broke about a year later and the hub/wheel combo came loose.
Now wishing to tempt fate, I purchased a new set of spindle nuts and washers at my local 4x4 shop but found them to be substandard. The inner tab on the washers did not fit the groove properly. The threads on the nuts were not cut deep enough, causing great difficulty to thread them in place. While a new set of nuts and washers is highly recommended, take a moment to check their fit before you need them.
Courtesy of 4x4Wire.com, check out this retrofit option with a ratcheting nut and special socket. I didn't know about this until my axle was completed, but may use this upgrade in the future the next time any maintenance is needed.
The Bendix axleshafts I'm keeping require shimming at the hub to control end play. Shimming is required on early axleshafts with threaded ends and straight bushings in the spindles. Later axleshafts, which don't need shimming, are flush at the end of the splines and use flanged bushings in the spindles instead.
The shimming details are specified in the manual. This image shows a stock driving flange, which connects the axleshaft to the wheel hub. Per the manual, the nut on the end of the axleshaft is fully torqued while two bolts as shown are snugged finger tight. The bolts move the two halves of the Bendix Joint towards each other. Feeler gauges are used to determine the gap against the hub. Shims are added, giving a total thickness .015"-.040" thicker than the gap. This is how the end play for the Bendix Joint is determined. These shims are no longer produced. You will either need to find used ones or make your own. A gasket also fits against the hub, so don't forget to include that thickness in the shim pack:
The same process is used with Warn Hubs. The inner section of the hub is tightened on the end of the axleshaft. Two bolts are snugged hand tight, the gap is measured and the proper amount of extra shims are added:
In addition to the factory types of axleshafts with or without the threaded ends, you could also find a third semi-mutant arrangement. The threads may have been cut off to fit later style locking hubs. You might see a non-factory looking cut on the end of the axleshaft. The nut and threaded section are not critical and can safely be removed on early Bendix Joints. The center ball of the Bendix Joint limits the maximum engagement between the two axleshaft halves, making the nut somewhat redundant. However, there is one important distinction between a sawed-off axleshaft and one that came from the factory without the threaded end. The difference is the manner in which the endplay is controlled between the two axleshaft halves. The factory non-threaded type, with its endplay controlled by a flanged spindle bushing, doesn't have a shoulder at the inboard end of the splines as shown in this picture:
That shoulder positions the outer axleshaft against either the stock driving flange or locking hub, limiting the endplay within the Bendix Joint. Since you will bolt a locking hub or driving flange against the shoulder, it is important that shims be used as described above. Otherwise, there will be no endplay in the Bendix Joint, leading to its early demise. The steering may bind, never a good thing. Locking hubs aren't designed for much endwise force, so their bearings will also be over stressed. If your axleshaft ends aren't threaded, a quick look for the shoulders behind the locking hubs or driving flange will tell you if you must use the shims. As a consolation, as long as the shoulders are present on sawed-off Bendix axleshafts, there is no need to convert to the later style flanged spindle bushings. I don't know that I would recommend cutting off the threaded ends on Bendix axleshafts, but could not see that it would cause any harm as long as the same shimming procedures are followed. All bets are off for Rzeppa Joint axleshafts, as I know nothing about them.
With the threaded ends, don't forget the cotter pin in the axleshaft nut. It was quite difficult to install with the Warn hub because the nut is partially recessed. Here is the rest of the Warn Hub installed. More details about the locking hubs can be found in the section about the full-floater rear axle conversion:
As a final check for internal clearances, with the vehicle still on jack stands, engage the locking hubs. Make sure the brake drums can be turned freely while the steering is turned from lock to lock. This will ensure that no binding is occuring within the axleshaft joints inside the knuckles.
