Lightweight front axle / steering problem

Afternoon, this could be a long post, so thanks for reading. I have a SIII Lightweight fitted with AVM free wheeling hubs. I recently changed the front brake shoes and drums for an MoT, which she passed. A couple of days later though, the front nearside wheel had seized and when freed developed a knocking noise, which I could feel through the steering wheel. I free-wheeled downhill, with the engine off and in neutral and the knocking continued. I'm assuming either a problem with the brake shoes / drum or the wheel bearing is on the way out. Before I start investigating I have a couple of questions. Has anyone encountered a similar problem? Does anyone have a link to an AVM manual? Can someone tell me whether the Lightweight will take standard SIII wheel bearings, when fitted with free-wheeling hubs. Cheers, Richard.

the AVMs are unlikely to have anything to do with the wheel seizing or making knocking noises, i've a pair on my 109 and another pair on my 88" and they're nice simple robust items that give very little to no trouble as long as they get a bit of oil, i think the early ones with the shallow caps are the best, i have seen a couple of the later ones (tall caps) seize up and stopping you engaging/disengaging them

to remove them set both to 4x4, then you undo the 6 screws in the cap and pull it off (just one), pull the split pin or proper clip out of the castle nut that is attached to the end of the halfshaft and undo the nut, BUT IF they are lightweight halfshafts the castle nut won't be there, it will be a bolt screwed into the end (this was to keep the axle width down for transporting) with a thick washer

(now slip the cap back into place in the hub and then go to the other side and repeat the above process if you wish to remove both hubs)

you then undo the 6 bolts at the base of the hub and it will relatively easily pull off

the above allows you to strip the rest of the hub off to check the bearings properly (i guess you know how to strip the hub off ??), if the bearings look ok i'd consider pulling the stub axle off and checking the halfshaft uj

BUT FIRST .... i'd check both props are ok as those are the simplest things to check

wheel bearings will depend on what year your vehicle was produced and if the axle is the same one as when it was produced (or at least the stub axle) as bearing sizes were changed late in the production run along with the oil seals (i've made that mistake and it cost me another 20 miles worth of fuel to get the job sorted that day) so you need to strip it apart BEFORE you order anything

i hope the above helps

Check your wheel nuts are tight.

Sounds to me like you've got the brake springs on wrong or they've jumped off...

NiteMare, thanks for the information, I've striped the rear hubs off, but I don't know what to expect with the front hubs, so I'll take it a step at a time.

Blackburn & dominicbeesley, it wouldn't surprise me if it wasn't something that simple and I have spare springs just in case.

Cheers, Richard

this will be your prob
"I recently changed the front brake shoes and drums for an MoT, which she passed"
I bet your drums are not perfect and general they require a coupe of thousand miles before they bed in. cheep drums take more bedding in.

I thought we agreed no tools