The next day I found the second hub had moved slightly on the half shaft and it was then possible, with difficulty, to remove the rest of the hub.
I took the half shafts and new hubs to Blaker welding in Dial Post to have the hubs pressed back on.
The weekend was time to actually swap the axles. Quite an easy job really, mainly because the old axle had already been dismantled 10 years ago and it hadn’t seen the outside world much since.
On the old axle, the brake drums were new, the bearings and seals had been replaced and most bolts were new. All this c
ame off easily without having to undo any brake hoses. The old axle was slid out sideways and then offered up to the “new” axle. The “new” Diff had some extra backlash so the Diffs were swapped. A new gasket was made from a Not-made-from-wheat-made-from-oats-instead-abix packet as both old ones were demolished.
The “new” axle was then slid into place and bolted onto the springs. The original brake backplates then bolted into place.
Time for a tea break.
