JohnnyEF

I am having some trouble changing my GF rotors on her 93 accord ex and I had done a search and saw a post by 4doorH22 talk about getting the hub back into the knuckle by tightening the nut on the axle. This is what I am trying to do, get my hub/rotor back into the knuckle. The bearing or bearings are inside of the knuckle. I cant seem to get enough threads on the axle to show through the hub so I can get the axle nut on there, So the rotor/hub can be pressed back into the knuckle when torqued. I really don't want to take the the knuckle off the car and get the rotor/hub pressed on by a machine shop because time and money. So what can I do so I can get some more threads to show through the hub? I can not get that axle nut on there so I can torque the sucka. I tried pushing the rotor and hub as much into the knuckle but still no thread on the axle will show. 4doorH22 if you read this let me know what you think

SOHCArchangel

take slide hammer, bang into place, torque, this is what i did last time

JohnnyEF

What exactly is a slide hammer? Is it another name for a 5 pound hammer? Is it a regular hammer? Does home depot carry this or lowes? Thanks alot

4doorH22

Okay, so what you have is the hub/rotor combo, with the inner race of the bearing stuck on the hub, right? Clean off the surface of the hub cylinder real good, and put some moly grease on it. Also clean off the surface of the wheel bearing inside the knuckle and coat it with moly grease. Hopefully this will make it slide in further/easier. Especially with a slide hammer like SOHCArchangel said.
Also, it's probably easier to do it with the axle off of the car. To remove the axle you usually have to undo the lower spindle/knuckle nut. IF that's not enough detach the shock from the lower control arm.

4doorH22

A slide hammer is like a backwards hammer. While a hammer is used to pound things IN, a slide hammer is used to pound/pull things OUT. It's just a steel rod with a heavy weight on it. The rod has a base that you bold onto the studs, then you just wail away on the sliding weight. Each time the weight hits the end of the rod, it pulls on the wheel stud.
We did this backwards to put the hub back on. Bolted up the slide hammer, then just kept slamming the weight inwards to force the hub in. It's just a bit safer than using a regular hammer to pound the hub in because the slide hammer is bolted to the hub (via the studs) and you can't miss and break something else.
Okay, this explanation is totally confusing.



[Modified by 4doorH22, 4:52 PM 4/25/2002]

JohnnyEF

Ok I will try this method, So where do you get a slide hammer at? Lowes? pepboys? how much does this tool usually run? So with the slide hammer you can get the hub fully in or just enough to get some threads on the axle nut to torque it down? I think I will have a better understanding when I actually get the tool and I can figure it out. Is there a certain model I should be looking for or brand or size? Thanks alot for the help

weekendracer

What i did on mine was to take a piece of wood and place it in front of the rotor/hub and lightly tap it in with a hammer. I was able to tap it in just far enough to get enough threads showing to spin the nut on. You just gotta make sure you don't push the rear half of the bearing out.

JohnnyEF

Thanks for the reply I will try that also thanks weekendracer

4doorH22

Yeah do that. You may not need the slide hammer, but they do come in handy for getting those pressed-in rotors off? How did you get the hubs off anyway? You should be able to get a slide hammer from any automotive-type store for under $40.

JohnnyEF

Actually I got the rotor/hub out by this trick someone on this board told me, I forgot who it was. What you do is thread longer bolts through the four holes on the backside of knuckle and the botls will eventually hit the rotor and the hub/rotor will be knocked off. I heard tech's use this method all the time. You have to make sure you thread each bolt evenly so the hub and rotor will be pressed off with ease. This method is real easy takes a couple of minutes. I bought the longer metric 10x1.25 bolts at true value hardware, they have a **** load of metric bolts compared to most hardware stores like home depot. Thanks for the help again guys

4doorH22

Wait, that doesn't remove the entire wheel bearing from the knuckle, does it?

JohnnyEF

Actually it only removes the hub and rotor the wheel bearing will still be inside of the knuckle

4doorH22

What are you threading the bolts in to?

JohnnyEF

The four threaded holes in the back of knuckle are used to thread the extra long bolts to knock out the hub/rotor. I believe the four stock bolts that are in the back of knuckle hold the bearing into the knuckle correct me if I am wrong.

JohnnyEF

Oh I called pep boys and they have the slide hammer for rent for free. So the slide hammer should have a fitting that will screw into the stud on the hub? What does the fitting look like that I will need to get the hub/rotor in the knuckle? Also I will need a big hammer correct like 5 pound to hit the weight into the hub?
TIA

4doorH22

The slide hammer I have is OLD-2520 in this picture.

JohnnyEF

Got the new rotors/pads/master cylinder on, brakes work great. Use the slide hammer if you need to change your rotors its easy. Got the hub into place and torqued the axle nut right up. The slidehammer I used was rented from autozone and make sure you get the adaptor peice its a separte rental. It looks like brass knuckles in a way. The last pic 4doorh22 showed had the adaptor on the end of the slide hammer. Using the slide hammer will take off the hub with ease and also you can use the hammer to press the hub enough into the knuckle. This will allow you to torque the axle nut to press everything in place. Some people may say the correct way is to take the hub knuckle to a shop and get it pressed out/in with a machine but I think it is a waste of money when you can do it yourself for free. I hate the hub/rotor **** honda made for the accord to much work. Thanks again people

Chiovnidca

I think using a press to do it is a waste of time to, and I work in a shop that has a press. BTW, alot of techs cuss Honda for that design.