Dennis Burford

Hey all,

How the heck do you get these things off, short of the special Porsche (VW) tool that makes no sense to me in the manual pictures. I want to renew the grease in my front wheel bearings (one spins real free, the other feels "sticky") and can't seem to yank these hub covers off in the ususal manner. Any tricks greatly appreciated.

Dennis
1896 928S 5-speed

mark kibort

take a large channel lock pliers and grab the sides firmly. rock back and forth until it comes off. tap lightly with a hammer in a uniform fashion when replacing it, and keep on tapping until you feel it seated. (it will feel solid to the hit)
This is how it is done without doing damage to the hub cover.

the internal seal needs to be removed to get out the inner bearing. it will be destroyed went it is banged out by using a large screwdriver or a straight bar with a 10lb mallet not hitting the bearing, just the inside of the seal. the seal is cheap, but you better have an extra one , otherwise you wont be able to reinstall the bearings. if the races are not damaged you can just replace the bearings.

mk

Dennis Burford

Thanks Mark,
Thats what I tried to do but couldn't get the hub cover to budge, and was diggin into the metal some. Will try a similar method with a little tapping force to remove. I used to, back in the day, put the nut back on the spindle and pull the rotor off in quick fashion and the bearing with seal would just pop out of the hub. Perhaps not with this arrangement, will have a spare seal on hand before I attempt.

Dennis

Bill Ball

Somebody recently came up with bolting a muffler clamp around the cap and using that as a point to lever it off.

Here's a post showing it...

https://rennlist.com/forums/showpost...6&postcount=39

mark kibort

you got to get a good big channel lock pliers. they are the 10" long kind. then, you go wide on the setting so you have a good strong grip. trust me, it will come off. rocking up and down with a strong grip will loosen it. no problem.
i dont thin you really want to be banging on the hub. you could damage the bearings. they are not designed for that kind of shock.

large channel locks are the ticket. the hub WILL not win!!
Mk

John Struthers

They also make a variety of mini crow/pry/wreaking bars that can be helpful.
There is one about 9 inches long with a 'rocker' bottomed pry head that worked for me.
The first time I took my grease cups off I'll bet I spent 3-4 hours and every tool in the shop.
Including 8", 10" and 15 " vice grips and channel locks of every head shape imaginable.
They can be a bear! God knows they are tough, too.
Once you get the first one off the other side seems to surrender quickly.
Clean them up and wire wheel them or use emery paper to reduce the outside of seating lip -just a little-, and make sure the thin wall face is de-burred as well.
Enjoy...
BTW
Wait till you try busting the hub nut loose on the rears...Oh Joy!
The torque is PHENOMENAL!
Back to work with you, sHARk ****. And remember, anguish and pain are your friends...

mark kibort

the right wrench is the key for the rears. stop buy the local shop and have them crack it with the air tools! then, you can drive home and remove it yourself!
mk

Jim bailey - 928 International

new bearings and a seal are like $35 or so per hub if one feels "sticky" it really should be changed ...

dr bob

I use a short piece of hardwood flooring from my scrap pile, and drive the caps off with a mallet strategically angled as tight against the hub face as possible. Using the wood eliminates those unsightly tool marks on the cap when you are done. Tap, rotate a little, tap, etc.

I'll second JB's recommendation on bearing replacement if you have -anything- you can feel while rotating the wheel. A little grumpy or sticky? Replace! A little loose? That means metal wear or they were run dry. Replace! Once apart and clean, if there is any scoring or discoloration, Replace! Kinda getting a hint at the direction I'm headed?

When you do replace, get good bearings. Many POLAPS parts are the lowest cost and likely the lowest value. Cheap bearings don't seem to last nearly as well in my limited experience. The failure modes range from 'never seems to hold an adjustment' to 'spin a cone on the spindle, I wonder how much a new spindle costs?' all the way to 'look, there goes somebody's Porsche wheel!'. None of these are good, by the way. 928Intl has the OEM bearings and seals, or perhaps you can find them locally if you shop around. Phone call to Jim plus UPS is cheaper than driving around these days, but you knew that already.

Bill Ball

As to the rear wheel nut, if you weigh more than 150 lbs, a 3/4 inch drive breaker bar 2 feet or more long will do the job. Put it on the nut and stand on the end. A few up and down jumps and it will loosen.

StratfordShark

Here's a trick that worked perfectly for me when I needed to take off the hub covers.

Get a short socket extension. Angle it into the lip going round the cap. Mark 3 points 120 degrees round with chalk or something. With a mallet give the extension a sharp tap at each position. Keep going round till it starts to pop out - it sill only take a few raps.

mark kibort

good segway in to the next question. did you know SKF now has bearings made in Mexico? do we know if these are the same quality as the ones that came out of japan?

Mk

Mrmerlin

when you get the hubs off the front check the inner wheel bearing inner set at the bottom of the spindle see if there are wear marks or burrs, if so then it means that the spindle is worn and the hub will have a bit of side to side play , dont try to make the wheel bearings tighter to remove this play the only way to fix is install new spindles I think that Porsche had spindles made from a metal that wasnt as hard as it could have been and they might have been made a bit undersized as most of the spindles i have seen all have similar wear marks on the inner seating area, you will notice this the most when backing up and applying the brakes it will feel like somethng is loose in the front end its just the hubs shifting , also this may cause a front brake squeal as the hubs will be able to move about especially when at slow speeds

Dennis Burford

Thanks everyone. All good suggestions, I'll try the scrap wood tap first, then my 15 inch channels if that sdoesn't work. I'm familiar with bluing on bearings so will clean and inspect and replace if necessary. Great support here, thanks again!

UKKid35

I'm sure I saw someone here who had spot welded a nut on to the hub cap - makes sense to me.