Did a brake job on the front of my '66 2WD and hubs are junk. When rotating the tire; the tire hops up and down. Traced it back to both hubs. Is this common with these old cast hubs? This is not a spindle, tire or brake drum problem. Studs are new and correct.
Thanks!
Eric

 

Is this a 4x4 we speak of? if so mine had a hub go bad not too long ago. Just get some milemakers or warns and you will be good to go. Thats what I did.

 

Sorry. Its 2WD.

 

Old cast hubs have steel races. Unless hubs are cracked (altho I have not ever seen a cracked one), look elsewhere, possibly bearing issues or maybe the spindle nut adjustment?

 

Is the nose of the hub beat on or damaged? This could cause the dust cap not to sit properly causing the wheel to bind and rotate up and down when turning the wheel.

 

Is the nose of the hub beat on or damaged? This could cause the dust cap not to sit properly causing the wheel to bind and rotate up and down when turning the wheel.

 

bump bump ....

 

The stud holes are not drilled properly in the hub. The dust cap goes in fine and that wouldn't effect wheel placement.

 

I've never heard of that. Is this the original hub? If they were mis-drilled, that means someone's been driving it that way for 45 years! Something doesnt sound right here.

 

It has me puzzled as well but when comparing the left and right side hubs; they are slightly different. Something has been done in the past that has me pulling hair! lol

 

Chief, You are right on! If the hub was somehow mis-drilled, so was the brake drum.

Since they both spin together, the brake shoes would have destroyed themselves the first time you tried to stop at 30MPH; that is, IF you could have even controlled a truck at that speed when both front wheels hop.

jeeper, you need to look further into this. Maybe give us a better description of events that might have caused the problem.

Did it just start after the brake job was done?

 

This truck is an Az survivor and hasn't been driven a whole lot. The original owner passed away and it was sold in an estate sale. The buyer never drove it and it sat. It was then sold to another guy who parked it and never drove it. Most people would die to have the body on this truck. The bed has never been used! No rust, no damage....nothing. I am finding as I go through things that the truck has suffered from miner rigging here and there. The two front hubs do not match so that tells you something. It's just a small difference in machining. The lug holes are spaced correctly and drums drop right on. Picture this....the center of hub is off center. That leaves a high spot when rotating the hub. It's exaggerated when you mount the tire/wheel on as it's farther out from the fulcrum point of the center of hub. Does that help? I've only driven the truck once before tearing it down for mechanical restoration. That was at slow speeds. That drivers front had to hop like a son of a gun! Backing plate was all grooved from shoes shifting as well as the drums being all grooved up. The hub bearing actually spun slightly on the spindle but it's ok.

P.S. I lied. I forgot that we thought the drum center holes were not big enough to press over hub center. We machined .030" off the center hole of drum to get it to press onto hub. This is what led us to look further into the hub. The new drum would not bolt flush on the hub due to the hub being off.

 

I would look to find a hub or hubs. The hub is off center, that would be confirmed by what you have found and be backed up by the damage to the brake shoes and backing plate as you describe.

It can be likely be repaired by a machine shop, but new hubs from a pick n' pull would solve problem better, which is what I'd do.

Not that it matters now, but if you don't tighten the lug nuts properly, they loosen and the loose wheel will damage ALL the studs to the point they have to be replaced.

Maybe the problem went on long enough it distorted the stud holes. If PO 'repaired' these himself in his backyard, they might be off center. Not sure why the hubs would not match if that was the case, though.

 

Bill W. is coming to my rescue this weekend with some hubs. One of my hubs has a 1/4" wide groove machined into the outer circumference of the face of the hub. The other hub doesn't?

 

Way to go BillW!!

Let us know what the heck is going on there.