Hub seal failure now i presume...

[Forkie]

Me and the 'S' are going to seriously fall out soon if she doesn't start playing ball .Having not found the enthusiasm of late to 'get out there' because of the cold,i decided to try and find some today.Looking like Michelin man,i set up some better lighting (too cold to have the garage door open )and continued my quest on sorting the rear brakes (N/S).

A pair of NOS Lockheed cylinders and a set of NOS Lockheed shoes with adjusters have been aquired.I didn't think on my first viewing of the shoes that they looked contaminated,but with better lighting today i had second thoughts (i intended changing the shoes as par for the course).This is where my heading comes in.It looks more like grease,rather than a fluid/dust gel.There are small clumps on the inside of the shoes,and behind the hub itself is pretty lagged.So i take it the hub seal is on it's way out...

So pointless fitting new brakes with shot hub seal.I am aware this is a problem task.So what is my best option? I really don't want to have to shell out a ton a side at the minute .At the same time,i can't quite remember exactly what the 'problem' is. Was it changing the bearing? Looking at CW's ad;' Rear hub,good s/h,smooth bearings,no excessive play' OR 'Rear hub,as above with average male spline driveshaft and UJ'. Would either of these be a straight forward option without the need of special tools? And in the second option,the 'male spline',is this the Stub Shaft?

Another querry - the top spring on the shoes was outboard,not inboard as the workshop manuals state. Any tips on how that is best achieved?

Just to clarify no hub components have been removed yet.Thanks in advance.

[Alan Chatterton]

Top spring should be "outboard"..... its the lower one to the back of the adjuster which is "inboard", ie, behind the hub.

Never had a hub seal go, but sounds like it if you have grease on the inside.

I would go for an recon driveshaft assembly from Ealrparts...... I had a pair on the yellow estate. New hub bearing, both u/j's, all new rubber and painted, nice.... I think they were about £130 per side........

[Alec]

Hello Forkie,

personally I would clean all the grease out and monitor the hub. If it is smooth running and has no play then it's probably good for a few more miles. There should be little pressure inside the hub to force out any more grease (It could have been overfilled when assembled?).

Alec

[Mike Stevens]

Hi Forkie,

If it's not one thing it's another!

I think the spring can go either inside or out. I believe they normally go inside, but fitting it ouside is easier. I don't think it'll make much difference. The one I always struggle with it the smaller one at the bottom. The one that goes between one shoe and the handbrake lever.

I'm with Alec on the hub seal. There shouldn't be much grease inside the hub - it's s sealed system anyway. It may just have been overfilled when last rebuilt. If there is no play or noises I'd give it a go. If you clean all the excess off I don't think you'll have too much problem. Also remember that rear brakes are important but in normal motoring, it's the fronts that do most of the work - about 80% maybe? Someone will correct me if that's wrong.

Good luck in the cold. This morning (about 11:00) it's still -5 in the garage up here in 'sunny' Oxfordshire!

Cheers,
Mike.

[Jonathan Lewis]

Provided that the hub action is smooth and that there is no apparent excessive end-float, I'd second Alec and Mike's suggestion of cleaning out the brake drum and keeping a close eye on things for the time being. In my experience, it is not that uncommon for newly-overhauled hubs to leak a small amount of grease into the drum when first used and, providing that the amount of grease lost is not great and that it doesn't continue to leak over time, the issue seems to be annoying rather than worrying.

If not, or you still have doubts, the Alan's suggestion of a reconditioned driveshaft is probably the best way forward - a known/tested s/h hub may be marginally cheaper, but you've got to fit it to the old driveshaft so if you need to replace UJs and spline gaiter as well, eventual cost to you might not be much different...

Regards,

[wild bill]

Forkie,are you certain it's grease that's leaking?To quote an old Scots saying-are you looking for snow,and there's none falling-your'e not looking too deep,are you?
I have had,in the past,occasions where cylinders have leaked,mixing the brake fluid with the brake "dust in the drum,and turning it into a grease like paste,very dark brown in colour(and messy as hell).
I'm with the experts here,I think I would do the brake overhaul as planned,wash down all with brake/clutch cleaner,and if you are not too sure of the drum surface,clean it with petrol & set it alight to burn off any fluid residue___HEALTH AND SAFETY TO BE OBSERVED AT ALL TIMES! Then monitor the hub seals,it should only be grease,not gear oil if it does leak1
Good luck,Bill.

[Steve Knight]

Didn't we used to boil the shoes in water for a 1/2 hour to get the oil out. Just as a temporary bodge of course ! Saves ruining a new set while we find out the problem / or get an MOT.

[wild bill]

Never tried that with shoes Steve.Always(before brake and clutch cleaner)used to wash shoes down with petrol,"flash fire" them and lightly sand them off.With doing the same to the drums,it would take off the "glaze" if the shoes had been running leaking for a while .
Cheers,Bill.

[stag estate man]

hi
dont do what i did and put the contaminated brake shoes on a baking tray in the oven gas mk6 to burn off brake fluid. The wife gets a bit miffed and the house gets a bit smelly
Women you just cant please them.!!!!
cheers grahame

[sorbs]

I think 'male spline' refers to the main driveshaft splines. A second hand hub will often come with this section of driveshaft attached.

If you get clonks as you pull away and it's not the UJs then there is fair chance you have wear in your driveshaft splines.

I wouldn't waste time and money on used hubs, I've never found that they last very long probably as a result of having been lying around in someone's garage or shed for years without regularly having had grease circulated around the bearings.

When I think of the time and effort I put into sourcing used hubs, fitting new UJs etc. only to end up with too much play / noise in the hub a few months later as well as having driveshaft clunks du to mixing and matching old worn components, I wish I'd bitten the bullet and bought exchange driveshafts to start with.

I agree it'd be worth cleaning off your brakes and seeing what happens as well as making absolutely sure you don't have a wheel cylinder leak.