Well - after a detachment of the driveshaft from the hub assembly, this little nut apparently was the only thing holding it all togther. NOW, there were 6 BIG bolts holding the driveshaft to the gearbox and there's 5 good bolts which hold the wheel to the hub, but what good in hell is that if the only thing stopping the wheel from rolling away is this (below) little nut. I think I need techie help here because my mates are now reluctant to travel in my car and my confidence isn't exactly sky high. What is this? And, what kind of forces is it having to take... It looks SOOO puny, for such an apparently important part of the car, and weighs sod all. :eek:

Any help from K / Ade / Skoda bods gladly taken. :cheers:

Thats because its not a hard job to do... iirc, if its the nut in the centre.. all its really doing is holding the bearing together.

think about it. there are no real big forces acting against it, other than the outward pushing force of the bearing races, if you removed the nut, the bearing would pop out and the assembly would collapse. all the major forces of the weight of the car are handled by the suspension strut and the lower wishbone, the nut, axle only needs to turn about its axis. (me trying not to get too complex in physics)

Jason, on the Octy there is a 19mm lock nut that holds it all in place.

I think that is a lock nut... but its upside down :P

Aposite, considering it's off Jason's car

Jon - that is the aforementioned 19mm lock-nut, but it just seems so puny. Is this the normal size of a lock-nut across other ranges of cars, not just Skodas? I need some good ammo, and preferably some "hub nut only does xxxxx" reassurances.

edit: Damn upside down comments... when will they stop?

Where is it going to go then? Its a splined shaft FFS... Hub is attached to strut which is attached to wishbone which is attached to car. Driveshaft is just that... a driven shaft. Splines transmit the drive to the hub flange, the nut just keeps it in place and secures the slines into the hub.

Easy peasy...

ever heard of one falling the VAG range of cars?

LOL

nope - but then I'm a car numpty, so can be expected.

I'll use your little ditty above to encourage my mates that nothing's falling off anytime soon, Badger.

Don't worry Jason, it may be small but it's strong enough. If you were to support the lock nut it would be possible to hang several tonnes from the drive shaft without either breaking. The steel they're made from is pretty strong stuff.

The same arrangement is used on the vast majority of cars, even wacking great 4x4s.

The important thing is that when the nut is fitted that it is tightened up to the correct torque - over tightening can damage the drive shaft and nut.

Me again - if you really want peace of mind I could get my reference books out and start quoting tensile strengths and the like but it's boring stuff unless your into physics.

Where is it going to go then? Its a splined shaft FFS... Hub is attached to strut which is attached to wishbone which is attached to car. Driveshaft is just that... a driven shaft. Splines transmit the drive to the hub flange' date=' the nut just keeps it in place and secures the slines into the hub.

Easy peasy...

ever heard of one falling the VAG range of cars?

LOL[/quote']

couldnt have said it better myself. all its there to do is keep the drive shaft from sliding on the splines. also they have changed that nut to a 34-36mm instead. resaon beeing there were knocking noise when pulling away so for peace of mind you can go back to dealers get them to fit the new nuts or fit them yourself.

ade

ade

Audi also did the same thing for the A2 Ade.

Front wheel bearings are supposed to be fun aint they? We got a special kit of pullers etc to do em when i was at Audi, but never did any.

anit if fun when they send aload of tools from skoda all shapes and sizes and nobody knows what they are and do so they never get used :confused:

had problems with a few octy where you remove shaft. the shaft is really tight on splins in hub when you hammer the shaft it wrecks the wheel bearing.

ade

Never had to strip down the front bearings on my Fabia's yet. Toyota uses a 30mm nut for the hub. Must admit, I am a bit suprised it's only a 19m, but it doesn't really do much anyway, just makes sure the drive shaft doesn't go anywhere!

had problems with a few octy where you remove shaft. the shaft is really tight on splins in hub when you hammer the shaft it wrecks the wheel bearing.

ade

Audi A3 is the same, they use a bonding agent on the splines to stop them chattering, I bought a brass drift just for them so it doesnt wreck the shaft thread.

and also the nuts only done upto 60 nm