Removal of Dust Cap on Frt wheels bearings

[jthwan22]

same idea using iron pipe, end cap and slide hammer

[jpahemi]

jthwan22:
That's a pefect set up, a few wacks and viola, it's off, right?
J.P.

[Wil Ferch]

I'm tellin ya... at least for the deep seated Turbo style...

it's not just a few whacks.....plenty of whacks until the slide hammer broke !!!!!!!!!

I should think the original post using screw type leverage is much more elegant than "whacking" in an area that is close to bearings and such ..

Wil

[dillinger]

Originally posted by CO_Porsching
Here's an easy way to remove those difficult dust caps with items you can purchase anywhere. No more pounding with or cussing... This is so easy my 8 yr old could do it!
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This is the only way I could get my Dust Caps. I'm sure they had never been touched since they left the factory in 1984. I started by using the pounding method and after about 3 hrs gave up (sweaty, brused, and beaten...). I hope this helps!

------------------
Chris Bell
1984 911 Coupe

Thanks Chris! I'm glad you posted this recently. I needed to adjust my wheel bearing play and repack (both wheels) and your post really came handy. It made this job real easy.

Don

[htron435]

I'm glad this post has suddenly resurfaced! I'm upgrading to Carrera brakes, and it will be nice to actually be able to remove the dust caps!

[on-ramp]

Chisel and hammer works best, per John W.
Out in 2 minutes.
simplest solution is always the best.

[htron435]

As JW should know what he's talking about, I'll try that before investing in the exhaust clamps.

[randywebb]

"simplest solution is always the best."

- The motto of the Donner Party....

[martinc]

Is it possible that this many people are taking this cap off for the first time, ie changing the rotors for the first time. On an 84 even? Is there some way to change the rotors without taking the dust cap off or do these cars have really low mileage or just long lasting rotors?

[930yyc]

Thanks for the posting of the clamp/hammer method, worked beautifully today! Hooray for the new search engine as well.

[ZOA NOM]

Wow, lotsa ways to skin a cat. I went with simplicity:

Grip tightly at 12 & 6 o'clock.
Rock up and down to loosen.

[bigrubberjeep]

Oh boy, this has to be done to re-pack bearing doesnt it?

[KFC911]

Originally posted by bigrubberjeep
Oh boy, this has to be done to re-pack bearing doesnt it?

Yes. I wish a simple 'pliers solution' would have worked for me (I tried that too), but they wouldn't budge, and I'd have risked 'rocking the car off the jackstands'. In my case at the time (<50K miles), I'm pretty sure the dust caps had never been removed before. Some are obviously harder than others to remove, so if they do become a PITA, the muffler clamp(s) solution sure worked for me.

[jazzbass]

Edit: Never mind. I originally posted about a quick and cheap ($5) way to duplicate the factory bearing cap puller. However, Quicksilver's way (below) is clearly better and my copy of the factory tool - which really just makes the job slower, harder, and more expensive. I have removed this post so as not to lead any other Pelicans down the road of difficulty and financial ruin with my stupid tool. Sorry about that.

[Quicksilver]

I'm trying to figure out what the problem with using a hammer is. I use a picklefork to get at the side of it and it comes off real easy. I realize that the dust cap is no longer in concours condition but jeez... This is just a dust cap and that is how you take them off!

(I am trying to understand how someone would think a special tool that drives 3 pointed pins into the cap is somehow better then the tried and true method. Except for the fact that it is more difficult, more expensive, and slower, I fail to see where it does a better job.)

[jazzbass]

Originally posted by Quicksilver
I'm trying to figure out what the problem with using a hammer is. I use a picklefork to get at the side of it and it comes off real easy. I realize that the dust cap is no longer in concours condition but jeez... This is just a dust cap and that is how you take them off!

(I am trying to understand how someone would think a special tool that drives 3 pointed pins into the cap is somehow better then the tried and true method. Except for the fact that it is more difficult, more expensive, and slower, I fail to see where it does a better job.)

Excellent and insightful post. You are, of course, 100% correct - the hammer method is clearly the *right* way, and anyone who would consider anything else has no business working on a Porsche. The idiots who came up with the 3 pointy bolts screwed into the dust cap were those dumbass engineers at Porsche, who clearly don't have your mechanical prowess. WTF were they thinking? That pulling the dust cap off with a single, outward motion would avoid egging out the soft aluminum of the hub the way beating it back and forth with a hammer does? And really - who has time to put the special tool over the dust cap, tighten two screws and smack it with one blow from a slide hammer? It takes like 30 seconds! I don't have that kind of time - I mean, I need that dust cap off NOW! Not in half a minute!

Hopefully Porsche engineers will start calling DIY mechanics who frequent internet BBSes for advice in the future, as this is clearly the best source for technical information. You should email them your phone number so they can contact you directly in the future.

Thank you for setting me straight on this, I have seen the light of reason and deleted my previous post.

[}{arlequin]

Originally posted by jazzbass
That pulling the dust cap off with a single, outward motion would avoid egging out the soft aluminum of the hub the way beating it back and forth with a hammer does?

bingo. the hub is very precisely made and easily damaged. (this is why there is only one 'correct' way for installing bearings/races into them.)

maybe if you only use the car to pick up your kids from school or have a funrun for coffee, you'll be fine. but if you do any type of speed events any of the "other" methods can be damaging your hub. even prying the cap off can distort the hub or even scratch it causing stress risers. having a wheel fall off is not what the factory intended. not to mention the fact that once you *uck it up, you'll never have a well-seated bearing race, decreasing the life span of your bearings exponentially etc etc etc...

btw,
have you looked into buying a new hub? why don't you check pelican to see how many they have in stock

were you to find one, what do you think costs more, the correct tool (or its $9 replica) or the hub? oh wait, i know... you can buy it used from the classifieds forum, right? yep, *that* particular hub was probably also beat w/ a hammer by some other clown. even at $50 that will not be such a good purchase either...

i'm not going to question porsche engineers, i'd rather do (or replicate) what they would do.

oh yeah.... if your slide hammer broke, you've got a cheap ass hammer. get yourself an 'sk', 'snapon', or at least a 'craftsman'

[randywebb]

Well, I guess that point has been made...

Are we still cool with the double muffler clamp procedure??

[mthomas58]

Wow! Helluva lot of "over-engineering" in this thread. A couple of light hammer taps is all that is needed! I wasted over an hour trying the muffler clamp trick and in the end used the low tech BFH method.

[rfuerst911sc]

It's funny this past Saturday I removed the dust covers on my "lowly" 914 rolling chassis and it took all of 15 seconds. The "lowly" 914 covers have a raised area on them along with a space around the perimeter that allows a screwdriver to be inserted and pop off they come. I am useing "lowly" tongue in cheek but it makes you wonder why Porsche made it so difficult on the premier model and so easy on the entry level model?