Defender axle circlips

[Fraz]

Hi Guys
Would missing rear axle circlips cause the hub nut to come loose, break the bearing seal, spew grease everywhere, ruin the bearings and stub axle and explain why I need to pump the brakes everytime I use them?? :mad:

The reason I ask is that a certain joint did not put them on when installing new axles. I would have done it myself, but when the lockers went in, said place found the existing ones pretty shot, and installed new ones.

Oh and 01 TD5 130 :)

Cheers

[Squatdog]

No i cant see how it could but when ur new axle's were put in they should have noticed if the wheel brearings were gettin a bit dry ,have u been goen thru lots off water ?

[JDNSW]

No.

John

[Psimpson7]

Another No!

[JDNSW]

The only things that will cause a hub nut to come loose are:-

1. Faulty lock washer - e.g. reusing an old one
2. Failure to adequately tighten the locknut and bend over the lock tabs properly
3. Tightening lock nuts with dirt between nuts and washer.
4. Severe rust due to water ingress
5. Incorrect assembly - e.g. leaving out the keyed washer that prevents drag from the bearing trying to turn the lock washer.
6. Bearing failure - which may have a variety of causes itself

John

[lambrover]

I would be putting the cir clips on very soon though, they are to prevent the axles from going into the diff center past the side gears, things go crunch if that happens

[Xtreme]

Td5 110's that I've had experience with use a single 'stake nut' to secure the hub & bearings etc. If this was not replaced or was not 'staked' (possibly easily overlooked if not experienced or in a hurry) then it could quite easily undo with catastrophic results.

Is your 110 fitted with this type of hub nut or does it have the older type with the two nuts and tabbed lock washer as described by JDNSW in above post?

Personally I feel that the twin nut type is superior and I have replaced mine with this type - only need to replace the lock washers when servicing bearings instead of the whols nut - and I've even reused the old washers occassionally by bending a different section to perform the lock.

[JDNSW]

..........and I've even reused the old washers occassionally by bending a different section to perform the lock.

Using old lockwashers is acceptable provided you understand what you are doing and how they work. The most likely point of failure is not the bit that is bent over, but the tab that fits in the keyway, and you have to be very certain that it is undamaged and still a good fit in the keyway.

But I must say that in over fifty years of experience with Landrovers, I can only recall one case of bearing nuts coming undone. That was in PNG, leading to loss of a (rear) wheel. Unfortunately I did not have an opportunity to examine it, so I can't comment on why it failed. But certainly my experience suggests that their failure is quite unusual. On the other hand, since they dropped oil lubrication, it seems that bearing failure has become common - I have very rarely had to replace a bearing, and then because they became noisy, not failure. The bearings on my 110 are original, done nearly 500,000km.


John

[Blknight.aus]

if the circlip is setup within the the correct tolerance range but the circlip is installed backwards (yes, they are directional) and the bearings are not done correctly or have failed you can get the hub knocking the circlip out.

[weeds]

i say yes......

cause if they cannot get the circlips right than you wouldn't expect them to be able to assemble a whole hub assembly properly i.e. not using lock washer, staking the nut etc etc

hope they got your locker install right

[Xtreme]

The most likely point of failure is not the bit that is bent over, but the tab that fits in the keyway, and you have to be very certain that it is undamaged and still a good fit in the keyway.
John

Good point John.
Also, the later lockwashers & stubaxles - not sure when they changed - utilised a flat section instead of the keyway and were therefore less prone to damage in that area.

[Fraz]

Thanks guys, As it turns out, I spoke with the mechanic that did the work, and he said there was 'no circlip on the old axles', which leads one to wonder why he did not inform anyone that there were none on the now new ones, considering he knew they needed to be there. :eek:

Aside from that, It seems that the flanges and hubs were removed for the locker install, and were never re-torqued properly.. They have simply failed from too much play.

Good news though, management were very understanding and agreed to replace the gear, but I will be installing it as its on axle stands in my garage right now. All goes to show that if you keep your cool and smile, things can work out :cool:

The bad news is that BMI only have one stub axle, so I have to wait till friday at the earliest :( But you cant have everything hey...

Cheers again
Fraz

[Fraz]

forgot to mention, The lockers are great :cool: There was one issue with an o-ring on the front but unrelated to this post.

And, The nut is the single one that you smash the side into the key.