Everett Ogilvie

Guys, please advise - I need to remove my e-brake assembly so I can install Gary's new T1 brake rotors and calipers. We are putting the same parts front and rear and the hats are not set up for the e-brake. My car has 2004 Vette hubs, but I have never had occasion to disassemble one so any inputs are appreciated. In this picture you can see that the 3 through bolts can't be accessed because the flange is in the way (red square). I suppose I need to remove the safety wire and the axle/flange bolts (2nd red square)? Or, do I need to remove the large outer nut? Or, all of the above? If I have to remove the outer nut I assume I should leave the axle flange bolts in place and have the wheel/tire on so that the large nut can be loosened?

The goal is to remove the e-brake setup, which I assume means the hub has to come out/apart.

Thanks for any tips!

0Randy@DRM

Remove the upper or lower ball joint. Remove cv joint-axle. Then remove the three bolts holding in the bearing. If you undo the safety wired bolts you will have a mess on your hands. It appears to be lobro style cv-joint.

Randy

Everett Ogilvie

Thanks for the reply Randy. When you say "remove cv joint-axle", can that be done without removing the safety wired bolts in the pic? Forgive my ignorance on this - I have not had one of these apart, so I prefer not to take apart anything that I do not need to. I guess what I am not clear on is what is splined and how it comes apart. If I remove the upper or lower ball joint then the upright can move enough for me to access the 3 bolts, and then will the cv joint slip out of the splines (do I have to remove the large outer nut?)? Thanks, sorry for the dumb-a$$ questions - I really am a pretty good wrench, just have not worked on one of these yet. Thanks again.

sperkins

Only remove the hub if you plan on removing the backing plate. You can get everything else off without pulling it.

0Randy@DRM

It's been about 10 years since we had a cv joint like that in a gm bearing. From my understanding you should be able to remove the large nut on the axle and get it completely out of the way. With a ball joint off you should be able to get the axle out of the car all together. Then the three bolts to get the hub-bearing off.

The safety wired bolts hold the cv joint assembly together, which will get messy........

Like said above. If you aren't planning on removing the backing plate, you don't need to do any of this. Remember the backing plate does move the wheel bearing-hub out so it may mess with the brake placement. When we remove the backing plate, we normally cut out around the hub area and leave the tab for the wheel sensor.

Randy

Everett Ogilvie

Thanks again for the replies. The goal here is to remove all the e-brake setup b/c my new rotors/hats won't fit with the e-brake. So the REAL question is around how much has to come off to remove the e-brake parts, which I assume are all Corvette parts. Having never had one of these assemblies apart I can't be sure, but it looks like the hub has to come off/out in order to remove the e-brake parts.

mgarfias

Everett, Randy is saying you can pull everything but the backing plate without pulling the hub. The backing plate is most likely not going to be in the way, so you can safely leave it there.

Also, hes saying that if you do pull the backing plate, that you'll change the rotor to caliper dimensions, and the best bet is to cut the backing plate so that its there, giving the spacing, but is completely gone otherwise. Oh, but they leave the tab that the speed sensor clips to.

Everett Ogilvie

I think I finally get the picture, and thanks again for the replies one and all.

I guess I did not tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth - I also need to put in my longer ARP studs..... but I read a few posts about either drilling a hole in the backing plate, or maybe some plates already have holes in them? Either way, it sounds like with a hole, one can hammer out the old studs and hammer in the new? If so it sounds like all this can be done without pulling the hub. Thanks again guys. Can't wait to get the new brakes installed.

dbratten

This may not be completely accurate as I only have experience on a C6. But, I see no reason to leave the backing plate on the car if you are no longer using the e-brake. On my C6 I was able to take out the upper a-arm bolts, and disconnect the tie-rod to swing the arm and spindle down enough to allow the drive shaft to be pushed back (after removing the large shaft nut) and out of the hub. I run base size (12.8") front rotors on the rear along with front calipers.

I then removed the lower arm from the spindle at the ball joint giving access to the lower hub bolt. Leaving the lower arm in place maintained alignment. I removed the hub by taking out the 3 torx bolts. I don't recall what else needed to be removed to take off the e-brake backing plate and assemble. It was quite a while ago but, if needed, I can reconstruct it as I still have all the OEM parts.

With the hub removed from the spindle it is easy to change to the ARP studs using a press or BFH. I added some red Loctite to the 3 hub bolts and torqued them back in. Finish by reinstalling the lower ball joint, sticking the axle back into the hub and securing the upper a-arm the frame. Tighten everything remaining.

0Randy@DRM

Please pull the hub off. It's less stressful on the ***** in the bearing. For those like myself that can't type, do movies Note zero hammering on the bearing. All the force was on the flange.



Randy

Everett Ogilvie

I guess there are lots of ways to do things, and then there's the right way - thanks for posting the vid!

Everett Ogilvie

Hi Guys, reviving this thread with another question. I am finally getting around to disassembling the rear hubs, and I read at least one C5 rear hub procedure that stated the axle nut is 34mm. Mine is much larger - it mic'd at 1.6", which makes it a 41mm socket. Is this a Corvette nut/size, or do I have something unusual on my car? Guess I will head to Grainger or Harbor Freight, although I don't usually like cheap tools. Looks like Sears offers a 41mm for about $25.

I am primarily curious to find out if the 41mm nut is found on some Vettes or if it is unique to my car, which Randy mentioned has a different style CV joint.

mgarfias

I'm pretty sure we're running with a 34mm nut, and what you have is something odd.

Bill Dearborn

I thought the C5/C6 nuts were 33 mm?

Bill

TedDBere

That's neat Randy, but I'm a minimalist. I just take a hardened deep-dish socket that fits over the threads of the stud, put it in a vise with the socket and the head of the stud touching the vise and tighten. Seats the stud smoothly without any damage to the bearing.

Both methods work, I just have less to clean up and put away...lol.

Everett Ogilvie

Every thread I read about this (and I read them all) says a 33 or a 34 socket works, although one post said some replacement nuts were just a touch larger and the 33 would not work - his point being that a 34 socket works on all the nuts....

...except mine which are definitely 41mm. Sears did not have one but they had a 1 5/8 which I bought and the nuts came off fairly easily.

Update - today I took it all apart and removed the rear hub and entire e-brake assembly including the backing plate. I am having the ARP studs pressed into the new SKF rear hubs. Gary is working on custom caliper adaptors front and rear for his new T1 kit to get the proper caliper-to-rotor spacing because my car does not have ABS (thus no stamped steel plate between the front hub and the upright, and I have removed the rear e-brake backing plate). Thanks to everyone who replied to this thread - having never had occasion to do this job in the past, your info and tips were a big help.