removing front hub dust cap -how?
 

trying to adjust front hubs and i can not get the dust cap off :mad:

any tips? what is the procedure? i tried pliers and still no budge.

Some put a hose clamp on it to get a place to start prying. There have been dozens of threads....



(sorry)

yea
best one i found is this one just now
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/showthread.php?t=30789&highlight=dust+cap+front+hu bs

i dont wanna use too much force cause all ive got is the wheel changing jack!!!!!!!! no lift or hydraulic jack or stands

another one
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/440610-trouble-prying-off-front-wheel-hub-covers.html?highlight=dust+cap

back to the garage i go

I tried everything, short of making a device that uses pusher studs (other have made this). Only thing that works was a small hammer and a little block of wood. Strike the edge and turn, repeat until it comes out evenly.

But, try the other methods first. This one has a tendency to scuff up the cap, but the cap itself is pretty robust.

I love this from one of your threads:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1095618288.jpg

The gentlest and best---> http://forums.pelicanparts.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=183349&highlight=dust+c ap+removal+Ferch

thanks guys. i gave up. without a safe way to get the car up, i dont feel safe about banging or rocking or putting any leverage on it with just the spare tire jack holding it. ill have it adjusted when i get some oil lines replaced by a mechanic soon

i admit, i feel like half a man not being able to get a measly cap off the wheel.!!!!!!

i admit it, i cant do it. i call jon. he gets it off with voodoo, or something.

If you don't even have one cheap jackstand--better two cheap jackstands--you shouldn't be working on your car. There was an article in the New York Times the other day on one of the surprisingly large causes of automotive deaths that have nothing to do with driving being cars that kill people working on/under them.

The article was built around the recent death of a once-famous baseball player--can't remember his name, since I don't follow baseball, but I knew I'd heard it--who was working under his truck, which was running, when a piece of his clothing got wrapped around the revolving driveshaft and he was essentially crushed to death. Not that a jackstand would have helped him, but you're right to stop working on the car because you were nervous about its instability.

Do you have an old tire and wheel to drop it down on ? Thats what I use when in a pinch. In a truck I just use the spare. A Porsche wheel thats another story.

What does taking a dust cover off have to do with possibly being crushed *under* a car?

I agree in principle.....work under a car only if well and properly supported, but taking a dust cover off means I'm way off to the side.

Trust me on the earlier post.....easy peezy.

the only reason i used the jack was to remove the wheel..and, the bentley books says to "gently pry off the dust cap" which insinuated, or at least lead me to believe, i could "gently pry" it off

once i realized that it requires either force or jedi powers, i stopped

i aint no dummy

now can anyone tell me if im damaging the hub by driving it...when grabbing the wheel, i feel a "click". its not terrible but i feel it in my steering at higher speed...vibration, slight pull to the side etc...

its been this way for at least 4,000 miles i suspect. it will be another few hundred till i fix it

Well, it's no wonder that people get hurt working on their cars perched on old tires, bricks and stacks of two-by-fours. I've watched people work on front wheels all nicely yoga-positioned with their thighs and knees under the wheel, so maybe you, Wil, don't do that, but there are those that can remove a dust cover in a way that potentially will put them into a mobility scooter for the rest of their Porsche DIY days.

I had a friend lose a finger changing the snow tires on his Saab last winter using just the car's jack. He wasn't under it either.

Grabbing it how, at 12 and 6 or 9and 3? If you can feel movement at 12 and 6, don't put hundreds of miles on it until you know what the problem is. You could damage the spindle.

its only at 12 and 6 milt. what does this mean? its been like this 1 full season im sure, probably 3 or 4,000 miles

what have i done?

cats paw. very easy.

i dunno what cats paw is but i saw you at a loose wheel when you pulled at 12 oclock. did you figure it out? now im worried its a worn ball joint but im not sure how else to check that
edit:reference ball joints
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/432118-what-procedure-checking-my-ball-joints.html?highlight=12+front+hub

cats paw is a nail pulling tool with two claw ends.

the 12 o'clock play was not able to be fixed via bearing adjustment and turns out to have been worn spindles.

did you leave the spindles?

i just read every thread i could find on spindles, hubs, bearings, 12 and 6 o'clock....

i guess the only way to know asap is to pull off the dust cap and try to tighten. perhaps i get a muffler clam and some jack stands and do it tomorrow

assuming the spindles are worn and its not a strut component or etc... i see threads where its mentioned that its really no big deal to leave a worn spindle alone for some time

i dunno. thats not usually the way i do things but if this is a costly procedure, im inclined to leave it. if its going to end up more costly in the future by driving on it, then ill proceed according to budget - which is basically zero for a while

the non-porsche shop i had the car inspected at last year was making a big deal about the "click" ... so i was afraid he or another place may not pass it this year, which is why i decided to check it out tonight....cant see how this is a safety issue though - unless that spindle is heating up to the point of failure? possible?

2" exhaust clamp does it pretty easily, but yeah, with just a tire change type jack under the thing, not a floor jack or jack stands, I'd not want to be rocking the boat too much either.

Brand new struts coming monday. I'd surely adjust first and see if that's it. Are you coming to hershey? If so stop the guy in the 2.4 shirt and ill show you what to look for.

Find yourself one of these. It's just the ticket for removing stubborn dust caps.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1240655882.jpg

it looks like the struts come with the spindle when you buy the strut, is that right?

i dont like the price of those....$623 each side :(

ayup, not cheap.

but i took a look at at a few sets of struts at Hershey yesterday and didn't see any that didn't have the same wear markings as mine.

hope this helps...

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1240773449.jpg

thanks. i bought two, 2" muffler clamps and a lug nut per the link above. seems like the easiest way to get it off...ill try it next weekend

Just spent a while cursing in the garage. Tried the exhaust clamp and other alternatives. In the end there is No question that a piece of wood and a hammer, combined with slowly rotating the hub is a winner. Nice thing about the wood is that it doesn't leave any marks.

I realize this is an old thread, but since it has been reopened and I just read it, I'm wondering why it is that we buy these 'once luxury sports cars' to fix up and use, but some won't go to Sears to buy a set (or four) jack stands and then to Lowes for a piece of 1/4" aluminum/brass rod (or even to the auto parts store for the muffler clamp deal) and then get the bearing cap off quite simply and safely. The condition of my bearing caps has become no worse than they already were with me removing them with a 1/4"x5" aluminum rod and hammer... and my car was shown by complete service records to have always been serviced by Porsche certified shops. I think in some ways, we take better care and exercise improved methods for servicing our cars. Sorry to ramble.

Do what porsche did on the turbo dust covers just tack weld a 17mm nut on center of dust cover then you can connect any axel puller to it with a 10x1.50 bolt and use a slide hammer to pull off the cover . Done

Post #27 is the answer. use a blunt chisel, angled back like in the picture and a hammer. a little on one side, rotate 180° and repeat. why is a simple job like this such a ball buster for so many? rube goldberg contraptions, etc.

edit: changed post 22 to post 27. need glasses.

Mark Fidrych, former Detroit Tigers All-Star pitcher, dead at 54 - ESPN

My wife doesn't let me crawl under the car unless I tell her where the life insurance policy is and she makes sure it up to date.

That pulls off the Fuchs center caps.....


On dust covers, BF Channel Locks....works every time. Grab it like a beer bottle cap. Rock it up and down.

post 27, sorry.

This is the tool I made to take my caps off.

You can borrow it if you want.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1292803921.jpg

those explosive bolts on the Space Shuttle's Solid Rocket Boosters could be adapted to blow the dust caps off of our 911s

there is a great video of them in action on the Space Shuttle thread in OT

Agree. Tried various methods, including blasphemously invoking the name of the Creator ; finally used a short cold chisel (5x1/2") and hammer. Came off easily!

I'm tellin' ya....go back to post #7 and review that method....no "jarring" or poundng involved, a real piece of cake. Leverage.

And for the poster that said use the Turbo method....well...one time we worked on a Turbo with that welded-on nut and we BROKE the slide-hammer !!!.....dust cap....right !