Preamble

With the hubs reassembled, it’s time to fit them.

First the AVG freewheeling hubs need to be removed. Despite the copious amounts copper slip applied to the threads on the tiny torq bolts, 3 had seized. It’s a testament to the strength of these bolts; once seized in place they refused to budge, or even shear. I wrecked 3 torq keys getting them out, and only after having had to revert to heat and the impact driver! I knew the insides were in pretty poor condition so didn’t bother trying to save them. Water had gotten inside (that shouldn’t) after the numerous river crossings in Iceland in summer 2023. By the time we got back home, they didn’t work at all.

Installing the FWH

To remove the old AVG hubs, or even the original “fixed” hubs, the procedure is the same, in that the split pin, castleated nut and felt washer need the removed leaving just the bare drive shaft.

Hub assembly removed
Hub body assembly with new gasket and sealant applied

With the body in place, fit and tighten the castleate nut and split pin.

The next step is quite important to ensure that the markings on the selector boss align with the words on the face plate. The selector boss is clocked in a certain way and will only align correctly when the face plate is in a specific location.

Below you can see, firstly the outer gasket and hub nut in place and secondly, 2 of the long hub bolts loosely fitted as strap bolt. This will hold the hub in place, leaving hands free.

Taking note of the orientation of the large and small pins on the selector ring, push the selector boss on. There is only one way to fit this.

At this point in time, the hub is in the “Fixed” position. With this in mind, the face place can be aligned with the arrow of the selector boss pointing to “Fixed”.

It’s also well worth adding some rubber grease to the rubber seals on the selector boss and face plate.

Refit the hub bolts. Job done 🙂

You’ll notice there’s an oil filler plug. I added 50mm of EP 90 to the hub.

To engage the hubs, you’ll need a 7/8″ spanner. Anyone who’s owned a Land Rover for more than a week, will know the importance of lugging a full set of spanners about at all times… so no problems there 😉

Fixed position: hub is engaged with the drive member.
Free position: wheel hub is disengaged from the drive member and free spinning on the bearing.

I normally drive with the hubs in the “free” position and once a month, engaged them to splash the oil around the front differential and hubs.

At the start of December last year (2024) we had a decent amount of snow to warrant engaging the hubs and 4WD.