Next I focused on getting the hubs and rotors fixed up. I pressed out the lug nut posts and separated the old rotors from the hubs. The old rotors were pretty warped. The last time I drove the truck back in 2004 I remember her shaking like mad. I also remember the brakes locking up on occasion. I’ll never forget one time when we were heading up to Lee’s Ferry and Bernadett was driving. She was approaching the left turn off the highway south of Page and she locked up the brakes and slid to a stop. I was holding on for dear life. Old Bessie did required considerable finesse. This time around I upgraded the rotors from the solid plate to vented rotors and also added larger calipers.
After removing the oil seals and races, sandblasting the hubs and a little cosmetic grinding, a couple coats of POR were applied. Once the hubs were dry I pressed in the new races, mounted the rotors and pressed in the lug nut posts and then packed the inner wheel bearings with grease, installed them in the rotor, and pressed in the inner seals. Replacing the 8mm posts for the locking hubs was a challenge and required running a die over the replacement posts to get them to fit into the hubs. Finally I added grease to the rotors and mounted them on the spindles.
