Club 80-90 Forums

Hi everyone,

First post.

Does anyone know where a new steering knuckle/stub axle (N/S) might be sourced for my recently acquired 1988 1.9 DG? The threads for the hub nut appear to have had a hard life, probably from someone applying brute force without first tapping up the peening on the nut. I think there is enough serviceable thread left to make it secure but I am worried that replacements don't seem to be available. That may be because I don't know where to look being fairly new to this.

Thanks,

Andy.

How much good thread is still there ?

I should have taken a photo. Without taking it apart again to look I would say that about 5mm or about half a dozen threads are still ok. Roughly the portion from the thrust washer to where the peening slots start. However I'm also not sure what a new one would look like , were they threaded right to the end or did they taper off?

That's all there is and needed ( the nut isn't very thick if you look at it - about 6 thread widths):

Thanks very much for that reassurance. I would still like to know where to start looking for a replacement if I ever needed one in the future. If there are no reproduction items I suppose we are reduced to second-hand ones. So far I haven't been able to find any.

When i needed one i just put an ad in the wanted section here. Got one within a few days

I make it 4 threads wide on that one! Even less than the 6 on my nut.

Maybe mine isn't so bad after all! I'm surprised VW didn't engineer this a little more robustly considering how much depends on it. If you lose the remaining few threads then your van is off the road.It's also good to know that a wanted advert might bear fruit. However, second hand items may also have had a lot of wear. Thanks for all the replies, a good experience for my first time on this forum.

hang on are we just taking about loss of thread where the slot is or loss of thread all around?

loss of thread only where the slot is won't make it fail

I'll have another look and possibly send a photo of the threads when I change the bearings in a few days time. At present I'm in the middle of fuel line replacements.

Don't forget it's the actual taper that's holding it all together.

Imagine a pillar drill, there's no nut holding the chuck in place, just the taper.

Same as when one screws a shelf support to a wall, people think that it is the screw that bears the weight whereas it is the friction between the wall and support that keeps it up.

shepster wrote:Don't forget it's the actual taper that's holding it all together.

Is that correct?

Hi sorry for picky first post but just noticed that there is some dangerous confusion in this thread...

Taper fits are often used where a fixed hub attaches to a driveshaft or similar, the two parts being required to rotate together (usually a puller is used to remove this type of hub & the nut seats the taper when tightened).

In this instance however (T25 front wheels) the hub is free to rotate about the stub axle on taper roller bearings - nothing to do with interference fits ...the tapered section of the stub axle is only there as a smooth blend between the two different sized parallel diameters on which the bearings seat. It is not in any contact with the hub.

The assembly is located axially by the nut and washer! If you were to try driving with the nuts removed the only thing stopping the wheel moving sideways/off would be the brake pads, things would get messy pretty quickly!