- City
- Marysville
- State
- CA
I wasn't going to do a thread about this, because it's been covered already in various places on the internet, and there aren't that many of these kits available anymore....
Well, it turned out to be a little bit more time consuming than I thought it would be, and I've only done one side! For this post, I don't have any pictures (except for the finished product), so I'll describe a few details, and take more photos when I do the other side.
This all started last year when I was mounting new wheels, and I discovered that my driver side axle flange was loose. I had intended to install one-piece axles and move on, but I saw this used Warn kit for sale here on this forum, for about the same price as a good one-piece axle kit. So I bought it.
Tearing everything apart was easy... the flange was already loose, so I pulled it off the axle, removed the bearing cap bolts, re-installed the flange, and used the brake drum as a slide hammer to pop out the axle.
The brakes were all rusty, and filled with cobwebs, so I decided to replace everything. The cost is pretty reasonable, and now I know it's new.
I cleaned up the backing plate, and bolted it on along with the Warn axle housing, using the original four bolts, and added a fifth bolt to the bottom hole (more on this later... I didn't have the Warn T-bolts that originally came with the kit).
Then I re-assembled the brakes with a new cylinder, new shoes, and a new parts kit. This is always fun, when you haven't done it for a while!
Once the brakes were set up, I decided to test fit the wheel hub to make sure everything was going to fit... well, it didn't. There is an e-brake bar that runs between the brake shoes, underneath the wheel cylinder, and that bar was rubbing on the wheel hub. This is actually addressed in the Warn instruction sheet, but I hadn't caught on to it. Apparently the previous owner had this problem too, because the hub is pretty scuffed/scored where the bar was rubbing.
So, I took the brakes apart again, and followed Warn's instructions about how to bend the bar to clear the hub. You can't bend it too much, because it will hit the wheel cylinder if you do. I fussed with this for quite a while before I got it right, but eventually it worked out.
I did another test fit, and the e-brake bar cleared the hub, but I could still hear some rubbing. It took me a little bit, but I found it. Remember the fifth bolt I mentioned above? Well, the bolt head sits a little closer to center than the other four, and one corner of the hex head was rubbing the back of the hub! The kit originally came with "T-bolts," which are very low profile... but I don't have those. So I put a socket on that bolt head, and turned it so a flat was along the edge of the hub, rather than a point. It doesn't clear by much, but it clears!
Test fit complete, I greased everything up, and installed the nut, lock washer, and lock nut.
The rest went pretty well. The axle slid right in, and the locking hub parts worked as expected.
View attachment 59712
Now I can drive around without fear of my wheel falling off!
I'll do the other side soon, and take some photos. Now that I know what to expect, it should go pretty smoothly... with the added bonus of having to break loose a very tight axle flange!
Well, it turned out to be a little bit more time consuming than I thought it would be, and I've only done one side! For this post, I don't have any pictures (except for the finished product), so I'll describe a few details, and take more photos when I do the other side.
This all started last year when I was mounting new wheels, and I discovered that my driver side axle flange was loose. I had intended to install one-piece axles and move on, but I saw this used Warn kit for sale here on this forum, for about the same price as a good one-piece axle kit. So I bought it.
Tearing everything apart was easy... the flange was already loose, so I pulled it off the axle, removed the bearing cap bolts, re-installed the flange, and used the brake drum as a slide hammer to pop out the axle.
The brakes were all rusty, and filled with cobwebs, so I decided to replace everything. The cost is pretty reasonable, and now I know it's new.
I cleaned up the backing plate, and bolted it on along with the Warn axle housing, using the original four bolts, and added a fifth bolt to the bottom hole (more on this later... I didn't have the Warn T-bolts that originally came with the kit).
Then I re-assembled the brakes with a new cylinder, new shoes, and a new parts kit. This is always fun, when you haven't done it for a while!
Once the brakes were set up, I decided to test fit the wheel hub to make sure everything was going to fit... well, it didn't. There is an e-brake bar that runs between the brake shoes, underneath the wheel cylinder, and that bar was rubbing on the wheel hub. This is actually addressed in the Warn instruction sheet, but I hadn't caught on to it. Apparently the previous owner had this problem too, because the hub is pretty scuffed/scored where the bar was rubbing.
So, I took the brakes apart again, and followed Warn's instructions about how to bend the bar to clear the hub. You can't bend it too much, because it will hit the wheel cylinder if you do. I fussed with this for quite a while before I got it right, but eventually it worked out.
I did another test fit, and the e-brake bar cleared the hub, but I could still hear some rubbing. It took me a little bit, but I found it. Remember the fifth bolt I mentioned above? Well, the bolt head sits a little closer to center than the other four, and one corner of the hex head was rubbing the back of the hub! The kit originally came with "T-bolts," which are very low profile... but I don't have those. So I put a socket on that bolt head, and turned it so a flat was along the edge of the hub, rather than a point. It doesn't clear by much, but it clears!
Test fit complete, I greased everything up, and installed the nut, lock washer, and lock nut.
The rest went pretty well. The axle slid right in, and the locking hub parts worked as expected.
View attachment 59712
Now I can drive around without fear of my wheel falling off!
I'll do the other side soon, and take some photos. Now that I know what to expect, it should go pretty smoothly... with the added bonus of having to break loose a very tight axle flange!
