bp944

I can't seem to get the grease cap back on my passenger side hub. I've tried using a 3lb hammer, freezing the cap overnight, filing the hub and cap down with an emry cloth. It will not go in. Any ideas?

Van

Most people have issues with getting them to stay on...

Was it hard to take the cap off? Are you sure it's the right dust cap? It's not from some other vehicle? Has anything happened to the cap to make it not round? (Can you measure it's roundness with a caliper or something?)

If you've done any filing on the hub - with a file or emery paper - with that cap off, I'd be *very* worried about the metal filings contaminating the grease and causing premature bearing failure...

bp944

It is the right dust cap since its the one I took off. I had no trouble taking the dust cap off. I have been very diligent about keeping the aluminum pieces out of the bearings. I have excess grease in there that I've been removing with q-tips so none of the interior grease is touched. The part that scares me is while I try to pound the dust cap in, there have been a few metal splinters coming off. Something is very wrong here.

I have taken a caliper I have to measure the cap but the caliper isn't very accurate but the cap can't be off round by more than 1/16th inch. I guess I could just order a new cap and see if it fits or.....better idea, I could try fitting the other dust cap on this side.

bp944

I tried swapping the grease caps and the working grease cap doesn't go into the other hub but goes into its own hub almost too easily. Does this mean my hub is bent?


So doing a bit of research it might actually be a bent hub. I run a set of boxster 17in turbo twists. i think I was supposed to run them with 1/4 spacers on my 944 to clear some issues. I've been changing the bearings to get rid of a wheel wobble that I've had. From this hub. Though....it seems like I'd really have to crank the wheel down to cause a hub to change shape and I would feel a wobble during braking which I don't.

I have no idea how it would get bent, there's a dent on the fender so there might have been an accident awhile back or the guy that pressed my hubs could have messed it up. He isn't exactly the best around.

Van

Interesting...

I just had a thought... is the outer raceway all the way seated? perhaps it's not assembled correctly or something, and that's causing the cap to not go on?

Sounds like it needs more investigating/sleuthing.

bp944

It is, the cap won't even get started going in. Its not even close to touching the race's yet. I tried installing both caps on the good hub and they go in perfectly. I have no idea what to look for.

Will Feather

BIGGER HAMMER! Coming from the world of lifted vehicles, me and my buddies always joke and say "Drive it till it puts you in the woods!!"

But seriously, I never had a problem and they always went on with the tap of a hammer for me. If its not even close then something has to be up considering it came off that very hub.

Van

I guess the thing to do is to figure out what part is holding it up? Part of the edge? All of the edge, something inside the edge (there isn't an extra race in there?)? Something in the center?

You remembered the inner bearing, right? If not, perhaps the hub is too far on and the cap is hitting the threaded part of the spindle.

bp944

It did come off kinda hard. Is it possible the hub bent and the grease cap didn't bend? That seems to be strange to me.

AKCJ

Did you ever get it on?

In your first post you mentioned "freezing the cap overnight". Wouldn't that make the size of the cap shrink? Thereby making it more difficult to get on? Maybe you could try putting the cap in the oven.

Lizard944

The lip on the cap fits into the inside of the hub lip, so yes, you would want to shrink the cap by freezing. I have never had the need to do this. A little grease on the lip then set it in straight and a couple good whacks with a rubber mallet.