Firstly hello to all, I have been hanging around the forum for a while and have followed your wise advice (successfully so far) on various Freelander repairs - TD4 clutch, shifting a crankshaft pulley, fuel pressure sensor wiring and so on. The job that has me temporarily stalled is a simple one - I can't get the rear hub to let go of the drive shaft! Everything else is now free but the drive shaft splines seem to be welded into the drive flange.

Since Land Rover ownership seems to be all about buying bigger tools so that I can hit things harder - any advice from the wise ones about how to get the rear hub off before I make another pilgrimage to the tool store?

Also - that crazy long bolt that holds the hub assembly to the transverse control arms was a pig to remove, it seems to me that a couple of M12 x 70ish mm high tensile bolts would clamp the arms to the carrier equally well and be a lot easier to get out next time - any thoughts?

blodge said:

I can't get the rear hub to let go of the drive shaft! Everything else is now free but the drive shaft splines seem to be welded into the drive flange.

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The hub is a press fit onto the wheel bearing. So it depends on what you are wanting to remove as to your plan off attack.

Nodge68 said:

The hub is a press fit onto the wheel bearing. So it depends on what you are wanting to remove as to your plan off attack.

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Thanks Nodge,
The wheel bearing has gone so I am not worried about doing any damage there. I have a spare hub with a good bearing so the plan was to quickly take it all apart and fit the other hub - no messing around with grinders and presses to get the old bearing out - should be done in a couple of hours - two days ago.

Ok. So you can hit the end of the drive shaft with a soft (copper) faced mallet. I've had to heat the end of the shaft before now to get it moving.
There's a few mm slack in the CV joint to allow the shaft to move before going solid. As long as the hub is still secured to the lower links, you can whack away to get it moving.

I'm not saying that its suitable for this job necessarily, but when top persuasion is needed I find the blunt end of an axe generally has enough weight and leverage with a good swing

Edit : just don't miss cos what ever stops it takes the message.

GrumpyGel said:

I find the blunt end of an axe generally has enough weight and leverage with a good swing

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A copper faced 3Lb hammer will do what's needed, without any risk of damage to the driveshaft thread.

Well the sun has gone down and the midges are biting so I have given up for now. I need the car tomorrow so I put it all back the way it was except all of those bolts should come out easier next time. I can put up with a droning bearing for another week. I don't have a heavy soft faced hammer so I improvised a buffer out of some old copper drainpipe squashed flat and held on with the wheel nuts then I beat the beejeesus out of it with a 5lb hammer. Apart from stampeding the cattle in the field next door nothing moved! I did manage to distort the threads though so wasted half an hour dressing them with a needle file to get the hub nut back on. I was also getting a wee bit worried about what I might do to the differential since those shocks must be going somewhere.

My theory is that the rubber bushes are taking the edge off the impact so that I am not getting a sharp enough blow transmitted to the stuck joint. Next weekend I will take the hub off again with the driveshaft attached, set it up in a vice and get a really good swing at it with a more appropriate tool to start with, I have a 15lb post hammer if I get really frustrated. Plan B is to see if the scrappy has a decent driveshaft and just replace the lot.

Thanks for the advice guys, I will let you know how it all works out.

If you have the complete hub and are just wanting to use your old driveshaft? Then it might be easier to split the shaft at the outer CV, fitting a replacement CV in it's place.

Borrowed a big hydraulic puller - 15 tons worth of shove according to the label. Didn't shift it!
But with the puller in place and fully wound up plus a cold chisel driven between the back of the drive flange and the hub carrier it finally popped.

Phew.
Thanks for the input