Hi all.

I recently did the wheel bearings on the front-left wheel on my Mini and was going to do the front-right but couldn't get the drum off, so I left it while I worked on other things and was planning on returning to it in the next few weeks.

Anyway, the car developed a funny squeaking type noise coming from the front-right wheel yesterday. I checked it out this morning and thought the wheel nuts might be loose. The wheel nuts were fine, but the hub was wobbly, so I checked the centre nut on the hub and the split pin was still intact, but the nut was finger tight.

I have had this happen before on both front tyres of my Mini. Last time I checked this bolt and torqued it up was probably around a year ago.

Does this indicate that the spacers or flanges in the hub are wearing? Or is it a common problem with Minis and does it just require periodic re-torquing?

When I did the front-left wheel bearing I found the drive flange was pretty mangled due to wear and spun bearings so I had to replace it with a spare off another car. Is it likely that I have a similar sort of problem on the front-right and that this is causing the nut to keep coming loose?

Also, is this likely to have caused further damage to the bearings? If I can't get the brake drum off I may just torque it all up and leave it for another couple of weeks, as I have a lot of other jobs to do at the moment. If it is likely that I have wrecked the bearings I will get onto it today.

You can sure try and tighten in up to see how it goes, but it probably indicates that the drive flange will be worn. And if it was allowed to go for very long then the bearings would have had to soak up the punishment as well.

Have a look and see how well it comes up once nipped up, but you may consider later replacing the drive flange and the bearings as a pair. It's a pretty quick job.

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.

You seem to have two problems there...the hub problem should not be preventing you from removing the drum...

If the drum has been on there forever, then the shoes may have "grown" if contaminated with brake fluid....they could also be running in a well worn groove.

Back-off the adjusters, remove the two csk screws, gently tap between the wheel studs with a large hammer....twist the drums back and forth manually to see if they move....they should just come off.
(ifn yer lucky )

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"Show me the Mini!"

The problem with the getting the drum off is the screws holding it on. The heads are damaged and they are pretty tight. I have CRC'd them up but they aren't budging so I may end up drilling them out.

If I do the wheel bearings I will check all components for wear while I am at it and if anything has worn I will replace it. So chances are I will be replacing the drive flange when doing the bearings anyway.

You can get an impact driver which will help with the screws from Supercrap for about 15 bucks. Works well enough for the once in every 4 years I use it..

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.

Yep...or whack the right size cross head screwdriver with a mallet or another suitable persueder

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"Show me the Mini!"

Well, I decided to fix it rather than bodgying it up and possibly causing further damage.

I got an impact driver and it worked a treat for getting the brake drum off. I have previously used the screwdriver + mallet method, but I think the screw heads are too far gone for that method now.

When I disassembled it I found that the bearing had been spinning against the spacer on the drive flange and worn a groove in it about a millimetre deep . The inner race had been spinning on the shaft and had then chattered after that, so the drive flange was trashed. I got a spare out of the parts car though. I checked pre-load according to the method in the howto (thanks doc) and it was good, and it all fitted together nicely, so it should be sweet.

I also replaced the brake hose and all the balljoint dust covers while I was at it because I don't know how old they are.

Thanks for all your help guys.