Front end slammed. Not what your thinking

[Matahoe]

So my friend and I were changing hubs on his 99 chevy pickup. We took the cv axles out but one was shot so we decided to put it off for another day. Thinking everything was ok we put it all back together. We got maybe 200 feet down the road when the wheel fell off and rolled ahead of us. The truck took a nose dive and the spindle dug into the ground. Yeah the hub was split in two and all the bearings came out. The wheel caused a bit of damage to the wheel well but its fixable. So just remember to put the cv axles back on as it holds the hub bearing together!

 

[Scottydoggs]

my old boss pulled that dumb ass move, only his wheel came of @ 70 mph.

never run a hub with out its axle in place or that wheel is coming off.

 

[PG01]

Big debate over this....

 

[Tonyrodz]

Iirc, there was a guy on here with a Denali who deleted his. He said with no issues.

 

[PG01]

Iirc, there was a guy on here with a Denali who deleted his. He said with no issues.

Yeah i think thats it but he eventually agreed with whoever he was arguing with

 

[Scottydoggs]

if you want to delete the axle you need to use a two wheel drive front hub.

or cut the axle end off and bolt it in the hub.

 

[Matahoe]

As an update...oh yeah... his brake caliper is all mangled and broken, the tire has scratches, the wheel well is buckled a bit and the brake hose was torn off when the brake caliper bracket was busted by the rotor being pried off. Also the brake pads have a big rotor gouge. Not to mention I need to figure out if the alignment is now screwed. We may need to replace the lower or upper control arm as well! Darn.

Thanks for the colorful insights. This sucks but i guess you live and learn.

 

[M1Gunner]

I had an axle come loose from the front diff. My lift spacer and a few bolts were no where to be found. So I removed both the half shafts and drove like that for at least a week waiting on new parts from RC. Never had an issue.

 

[swathdiver]

Is this an issue for certain generations? Is that '99 a GMT400?

 

[Matahoe]

We got it back together. Around $700 - $800 spent on brake pads, rotor, caliper, brake hose, lower control arm, brake fluid and of course a new Timken wheel hub. The one that split in two was a genuine gm dealer hub. I dont think there is much difference. They both have Timken bearings.