Note: A suitable puller will be required to remove the drive flange, and a new rear hub nut must be used on reassembly.

Caution: Refer to the
precautions in Section 1.

Removal
1 Loosen the rear hub nut with the vehicle resting on its wheels. Note that the left-hand nut has a left-hand thread, ie it is undone in a clockwise direction. Before loosening the nut, ensure that the handbrake is applied, and chock the relevant rear wheel. A suitable extension bar will be required, as the nut is extremely tight.

2 Loosen the relevant rear roadwheel nuts, chock the front wheels, then jack up the rear of the vehicle and support on axle stands (see “Jacking and Vehicle Support”). Remove the roadwheel and release the handbrake.

3 Free the handbrake cable from its clip on the suspension lower arm.

4 Unscrew the two caliper carrier bracket-to-hub carrier bolts, and remove the caliper, supporting it on an axle stand to avoid straining the flexible hose.

5 Mark the position of the brake disc in relation to the drive flange, remove the retaining spire washer(s), and remove the disc.

6 Unscrew and remove the rear hub nut, and using a suitable puller, pull off the drive flange.

7 Unscrew the four bolts securing the hub carrier and splash shield to the lower arm.

Remove the hub carrier and splash shield, whilst supporting the driveshaft. Support the driveshaft by placing axle stands underneath it, or by securing with string to the underbody.

Avoid bending the driveshaft joints to excessive angles, and do not allow the shaft to hang down from one end.

Refitting
8 Refitting is a reversal of removal, bearing in mind the following points.

9 When reassembling the drive flange and the hub carrier, fit the drive flange to the hub carrier in order to centralise the bearings, then using a soft-faced mallet, drive the drive flange/hub carrier assembly onto the end of the stub axle.

10 Refit the hub carrier/splash shield-to-lower arm securing bolts. Note that there are two types of bolts used to secure the rear hub carrier to the lower arm. The two types of bolt must not be mixed on a vehicle but can be changed in complete sets for the alternative type. A complete set is eight bolts, four each side. Note that the two types of bolt have different torque wrench settings. When renewing the wheel bearings a suitable puller will be required to remove the drive flange, and a new rear hub nut must be used on reassembly.

11 When refitting the brake disc, align the previously made marks on disc and drive flange.

12 Fit a new rear hub nut of the correct type, and tighten it with the vehicle resting on its roadwheels. Apply the handbrake and chock the relevant rear wheel when finally tightening the hub nut.