With less than 2 months of four wheeling my '85 CJ-7, I started having hub problems. Within 7 days I managed to break both locking hubs, replace them, then brake another one. As I found out, the 5 bolt mounting flanges are very weak, and the bolts tend to loosen up. I converted my hubs from the 5 bolt mount to the early Jeep/Scout II 6 bolt mount. This is a somewhat involved conversion, but is not very difficult to do.

Parts Required:

    All parts required can be found on an early (pre '78 I think) Jeep CJ or any year Scout II. If you use Jeep parts, you can also use the brake rotors if they are good, or use your old rotors. With Scout parts, the rotors are too thick and have to be replaced with CJ rotors. You can re-use your old rotors if they are in good condition.

    You will need the outer hub assemblies and inner wheel hubs. You should use new wheel bearings when assembling the hubs. You could remove the outer races from your old hubs and re-use them, but I wouldn't recommend it.

Hub disassembly:

    Remove the 5 bolts holding the outer hub assembly onto the wheel hub. Jack up the Jeep and remove the front tires. Remove the two bolts holding the brake caliper, then tie the caliper out of the way. I know, you always just hang it from the hose and don't listen to the repair manuals. I used to do that. Until the one time the hose ripped was at 1:30 in the morning with a trail run scheduled for 8:00, and the parts stores don't open until 9:00. Anyway, tie the caliper. Now remove the large bearing nut inside the wheel hub, then the washer behind it, then the second nut. Pull the wheel hub and rotor off. You should now remove the outer bearing races using a hammer and punch.

    If you are reusing your rotors, you have to remove the rotor from the wheel hub. Using standard acorn lug nuts or regular nuts of the right thread (hole all the way through, not the covered chrome nuts many CJs come with) thread the nuts onto the wheel studs until the end of the stud is just below the top of the nut. Using a good sized hammer, hit the nut sharply and squarely, pushing it out of the wheel hub. Do this to all of the studs until they are all out. Now the rotor should separate from the hub easily.

Assembly:

    The first step is to attach your rotors to the new hubs. Set the rotor onto the back of the hub. Tap the wheel stud through the hole, but don't seat it all the way yet- leave it slightly loose. Do the rest of the studs, but on the last one, seat it all the way in until the rotor is tight to the hub. Now you can finish seating the rest of the studs. You could also seat the studs by hammering them through the rotor and hub until you can start a nut on them. Make sure the nut threads on until the stud is near the top of the nut to avoid stripping the stud. Now tighten the nut until the stud is seated.

    Now you can put the new bearing races into place. You will need to tap them into place with the proper tool or a suitable substitute. Put one inner race onto the spindle, slide the wheel hub into place, then install the other inner race. Thread the first wheel nut on using the technique and torque specs in your Jeep repair manual. I use the old time way handed down to me from professional mechanics. Tighten the nut until tight, then back it off 1/8 to 1/4 turn. Slide the washer into place, then tighten the outer nut. Now you can bolt the caliper back in place.

    When installing the outer locking hub assembly, you have two choices. The first is to use locking tabs and the stock bolts, bending the tabs over the bolt head to keep the bolts from loosening. I chose to use studs. I used strong set screws as studs because they were easily available to me. If I remember right, I think the studs are about 1 1/2" long. Whatever you use, make sure it has a high strength rating!! I used red loctite when I installed the studs. When I put the outer hub assembly into place using lock washers under the nuts. Put the tire back on, lower the jeep, and enjoy the strength of your hubs!

    During the next year of heavy four wheeling, the hubs never loosened or broke again. This conversion may not be quite as strong as some of the aftermarket hub kits, but it is a hell of a lot cheaper!

By: James Alton