Vacuum Hub Trouble - Need Advice

[4x4RangerGuy]

Hey Guys,

Well today I attempted to replace my stock PVH hubs with some aftermarket AVM lockouts.

As I was turning the plastic hublock to remove it from the hub assembly, the housing completely shattered. As such, the internal metal gears are stuck on the axleshaft inside the hub. It's no wonder the plastic housing shattered, the gears are rusted solid on the axleshaft splines.

Any ideas about how to remove them? I'm thinking of torching them, however I'd like to avoid replacing my axleshaft. I can't knock the axleshaft out of the hub assembly due to the snap ring located BEHIND the stuck hublock gears. The other idea I had was to CAREFULLY cut them out. They are pretty stuck on there.

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[surffishin07]

two letters and a word

PB Blaster

but be carefull it will eat anything and everything just soak let set for just awhile(5-10min) and try again with a pair of channel locks or what ever

 

[TireIron]

Definitly try some PB first and try and work it off that way, if you can get any room on the sides of it you can try a 2 or 3 jaw puller on the gear if you can slip it over the sides. Then you can put a little pressure on the gear against the shaft and tap it with a hammer a little and then tighten it up a little more and tap it some more and it should work off that way.

If not isn't that snap ring just plastic? if so I'd say pick up two new ones, then grab a BFH and hammer the axleshaft inwards to dislodge the gear from it.

 

[4x4RangerGuy]

I think I'll need to take some pictures to show you guys what I mean.

I can't get any leverage because the gears are flush with the outer lip of the hub assembly.

I think I'm just gonna take the knuckle off, and the axleshaft with it. That what I can put it into a vice and pound the crap out of it.

 

[4x4RangerGuy]

Hey Guys,

I snapped some photos of the carnage:

As you can see, the hub gears are rusted flush with the axleshaft/hub assembly. You can also vaguely see where the plastic tabs that hold the plastic hub body to the gearset. They're quite broken obviously.

Now, I've been using an air chisel to try to force the rest of the hub body out of the hub assembly, but with no luck.

Any ideas?

I'm thinking at this point I may need a new hub assembly and axle shaft.

 

[surffishin07]

hate to say it but i think your right so good luck with the wallet crash its gonna leave a dent

 

[TireIron]

Heres what I say you try, obviously at least part of those gears and hub is toast, but you should still be able to save the axleshaft. Get a drill and a tap that matches it and a couple of bolts to match the tap, drill into the side of the gear on each side and tap the hole, make it good and deep and thread a bolt into each side. With these bolts you can either use something to pry on each of them, or run a bar across where the bolts are with a spacer on each side to keep it away from the gear, drill a 2 holes in the bar where the bolts will go through then you can tighten down the bolts and the bar will act as a counter point to give pressure on and pull the gear outward with the bolts.if you get some real good pressure on it with the bolts you can use a little heat and then tap on the axleshaft and the gear should just POP right out once it breaks free. If you're gonna be around the area this weekend we could possibly take a stab at getting it all free up here together.

 

[4x4RangerGuy]

Well, I just got through finishing up with this ABSOLUTE NIGHTMARE of a repair.

Jason, I tried your method, and the gears would not budge.

As such, you wouldn't believe what I had to do. I ended up cutting 3 notches into the outer lip of the hub assemblies, and using my air chisel, I had to chisel out the outer and inner hublock gears from the hub assembly. This meant I had to replace BOTH hub assemblies. I also found the culprit, it was the wheel seals pressed into the knuckle. Both were torn up.

Guys, especially if you live in the rust belt, INSPECT THESE WHEEL SEALS!!! They cost me about $450 in parts alone because they went bad.

On a better note, the AVMs are on and work flawlessly. I will definitely be taking apart my 4WD system every year from now on to inspect everything.