Need help with rear wheel hub; bolt snapped

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I was in the process of trying to change my parking brake shoes on my 2009 Hyundai Elantra when I accidentally snapped off a bolt head of one of the 4 bolts required to remove the hub (rear passenger side, bottom left bolt if you are looking at the hub). The other three came out just fine. This style of parking brake is one of those mini drum types on the inside of the rear rotor.

If the axle flange doesn't have threads (and only the hub flange does), I think I may be able to still remove the wheel hub. I tried yesterday by banging the [censored] out of it but had no luck. I'd rather not beat it into a pulp because I want to reuse the hub after working on the parking brake.

My next course of action is to go rent a slide hammer and to just try the other side. That way I can know for sure if there are no threads on the axle flange (and therefore wasting my time on the other side by trying to beat it out with a stuck bolt body still present). I'm also going to get some PB Blaster and see if that helps because I was using WD-40. I think I may have some Kroil around but that will be more of a pain in the butt to apply.

Has anyone snapped off one of the bolt heads while trying to remove a wheel hub? If I try to drill it out from behind the axle flange, there are various suspension components in the way that I'd have to remove even to get a decent angle on the broken bolt. I've never tried that before and wouldn't want a broken bolt on a funky angle to be my first attempt. Any suggestions on what to do next?
 
Originally Posted By: Donald
You weld on a nut or bolt to what is there.

Impact wrenches often get off bolts/nuts where a breaker bar snaps it.


This been there a few times.
 
Both parts cant be threaded. If the bolts go in from behind only the hub is threaded, if the bolts go in from the front through the hub then the stub axle flange is threaded.
 
Originally Posted By: cjcride
Try Hyundai-Forums.com

Welcome

Tried Hyundai Forums but no response. I didn't start a new thread though; only updated an old one so maybe that's why.
 
Originally Posted By: Trav
Both parts cant be threaded. If the bolts go in from behind only the hub is threaded, if the bolts go in from the front through the hub then the stub axle flange is threaded.


You're right, only the wheel hub is threaded. After getting the thing off today, I was able to peer in the hole and it looked like there were threads in there due to all the rust buildup but low and behold there wasn't.
 
Originally Posted By: JTK
Why the hub removal just for P-brake service?


Because it's an absolute pain in the [censored] to do with the hub in the way. I was able to disassemble all the hardware today, but reassembly if I hadn't gotten the hub off would take me a really long time. Figured it's just easier to pop off the hub, service the parking brake, and pop it back on. The broken bolt decided otherwise!
 
Success! To an extent at least. I ended up disassembling the parking brake hardware despite the wheel hub in the way.



I knew I wouldn't be able to reassemble it unless I was able to remove the hub. I borrowed a bolt extractor socket set from my ex's dad, and through one of the holes on the wheel hub, I was able to get it banged down nice and tight on the end of the bolt.



After heating the surrounding area, I was able to move the bolt forward like a 1/2", and suddenly it came to a dead stop. I removed the extractor socket, popped on the slide hammer I rented from Autozone, and was able to pull the hub off on the 2nd try. At this point, the bolt was still stuck in the hub.



I took the hub over to my ex's dad's house because he has more tools and a better work space. After a solid 30-40 minutes of heating up the hub while in a vise and cranking the [censored] out of the bolt with various tools (vise grips, pipe wrench, channel locks, and finally an extractor socket coupled with a huge ratchet), the [censored] thing came out.

My only issue now is 2 of the 4 holes on the wheel hub feel like they have buggered up threads. I tested all 3 remaining bolts in both holes and they won't go in more than one turn before I encountered resistance. So tomorrow to start the day off I get to fix the threads on the hub, which I've never done before. My ex's dad can't help me there as he only has a SAE tap and die set. I either need to 1) Find and pay someone to do it, 2) try it myself, or 3) buy a new hub.
 
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IF I were doing this job I would replace the hub, all that heating with a torch may have buggered the bearing grease and a new hub may be in the cards sooner than later anyway.
Well done getting it apart. nice save.
thumbsup2.gif
 
Suggest following Trav's advice. New hub. Use never seize on the bolts. Hubs are cheap relative to the hassle of changing as you found. Don't want a future bearing failure.
 
Originally Posted By: Trav
IF I were doing this job I would replace the hub, all that heating with a torch may have buggered the bearing grease and a new hub may be in the cards sooner than later anyway.
Well done getting it apart. nice save.
thumbsup2.gif



Agreed. Either the grease got messed up, or the seal was damaged, which will let water and foreign debris in which will ruin the bearing too.

Don't buy the $49.99 bearing from Autozone or Advance Auto either. Buy OE, SKF, BCA, Timken or other premium grade part.
 
Originally Posted By: nolan7120
Originally Posted By: cjcride
Try Hyundai-Forums.com

Welcome

Tried Hyundai Forums but no response. I didn't start a new thread though; only updated an old one so maybe that's why.

BITOG is the Best, quick replies and a lot of helpful informed members.
Hyundai-Forums is a quite a bit slower for replies.
 
I ended up not replacing the wheel hub. I figured if it goes bad, since I put anti-seize on the threads, it should be much easier to take apart. Anyway, I've had problems galore since I put everything back together. This is cross-posted at Hyundai-Forums. Here's what happened:

I replaced the parking brake hardware this afternoon. Afterwards, I mounted the wheel hub and torqued down the 4 bolts to about 44 foot lbs (source I have says 43-50). I noticed that the rotor went on rather snugly over the PB shoes. The star wheel was totally bottomed out, so there was no more room for adjustment. I loosened up the adjusting nut by the parking brake handle and that seemed to help things a little (or maybe it was my imagination). I then went for a test drive.

At first there was a nasty grinding noise and pulsating in the pedal, which seemed to go away after I pulled up on the PB lever a few times while going slowly. The brakes then operated fine afterwards. The PB had no real bite though and wouldn't even hold the car still when it was in drive. So I decided to tighten the adjustment nut again to see if I could get the PB working better. On the next test drive, there was a grinding noise again. This time the ABS light came on (it might've come on earlier during the 1st test drive but may not have noticed).

So, when I start up the car (has happened 4-5 times since the 2nd test drive), the ABS light comes on. Once I get going, the ABS light goes off. The brakes also make noise at this point while the light is off. Pulsing and a nasty noise. After a minute, the ABS light comes on then the brakes operate fine. No noise, and no pulse - just the annoying yellow light.

Can an improperly adjusted e-brake cause the ABS light to come on? Would it cause pulsing in the pedal and noise? The noise sounds like it's coming from up front, which is weird.

One other thing to mention... while removing the stuck bolt from the wheel hub, there was a LOT of heat involved. I noticed the tone ring had gotten warped ever so slightly from the prolonged heat. Can this be affecting the ABS light? I don't feel any vibration from the hub while driving. It feels like it did prior to me messing with everything. I had the rear of the car jacked up for 3 days straight.

I'm at my wit's end with these 3 days of going nuts with the car, no results, and messing things up even more. Any help would be much appreciated! Sorry for the novel...
 
Originally Posted By: HoosierJeeper
I could see the tone ring causing it, but is there a sensor there that could have gotten damaged?


There is the rear wheel speed sensor which measures the spinning of the tone ring (I think) but I don't think it could've been damaged at all. I might pick up one of the Autel 619 computers because it can read ABS codes in addition to SRS and CEL codes.
 
If you know the pinout at the ABS computer you can check the sensor with a voltmeter set on AC and spinning the wheel while the voltmeter is on the sensors two pins. If all is OK you will get a voltage meter. Spin the other side to see if they are close. Front may be different than the rear. Unless it is a three wire sensor.
 
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