I just bought a pair of good, used rear hub assemblies from David at ‘Everyday XJ’. They are for a custom-car project I’m (slowly) working on.
My question is what I should do for the rear wheel bearings. The mileage on these parts is unknown, but I’m assuming it could be fairly high.
Assuming they spin well, and the endfloat is correct, would it still be a good idea to pull them apart, and at least re-pack the bearings?
If these were early hubs, that would seem like a no-brainer, but David told me once that the later assemblies (post 1980?) were assembled with some type of loctite that requires a press to get them apart. Is that correct, and if so, what sort of force is required to get them apart?
David is correct. My XJ6 is a '72 and I had the devil’s own job dismantling the hubs. Blue Loctite evident. I cut a crescent shape in an RSJ (I beam) and drifted the bearings off - press would be better! My '62 had no Loctite and came apart quite easily. Paul
That’s interesting. A couple of years ago, I found a SII XJ6 in the scrap yard, and was easily able to remove the drive flange by tapping around the perimeter, while pulling with my hand.
I tried the same exercise on a SIII, and had no such luck, so I thought the factory’s use of loctite came later than what your experience indicates.
I expect that in that case there might have been some PO intervention in the first 15 years of its life. We bought it in '87. Dreadful job all the same! Paul