Crack in hub carrier

I had both mine replaced 2 years ago as both were found to have hairline cracks when checked by McGraths. This is not a uncommon problem and the hubs on 3200 and 4200 should be checked annually. I wrote to Maserati advising them of the problem and even suggested they considered advising owners but all l got back was a thank you letter.
Rex B
Manual 3200
 
Hammering sure doesn't help but for anyone that is doing work on their suspension it does no harm to profile (grind away high spots) and smooth the casting marks. (Don't go mad and heat it up with over enthusiastic grinding!) The shape of the piece can raise stress locally and eventually induce cracking. Smooth and polished is good.

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RobinL said:
Hammering sure doesn't help but for anyone that is doing work on their suspension it does no harm to profile (grind away high spots) and smooth the casting marks. (Don't go mad and heat it up with over enthusiastic grinding!) The shape of the piece can raise stress locally and eventually induce cracking. Smooth and polished is good.

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As a retired aircraft engineer I absolutely agree with your comments. Something that I and my colleagues were always on the lookout for. Cracks of any kind can be fatal. I would advocate the use of a file though rather than a grinder, finished off with emery paper.
 
65479Need to get this insert out but do not have an extractor. Will they drift out? Open to any ideas.
 
I am not sure what you are trying to achieve here, but that looks well fixed. I would suspect this at least was pressed into place and possibly even using heat/cold to make it fit. I would consider pressing it if you have a small hydraulic press. Heat would be last resort but might be neccessary given its age. No civilised way that is coming out I suspect. Can you not replace this or avoid this process somehow?
 
davy83 said:
I am not sure what you are trying to achieve here, but that looks well fixed. I would suspect this at least was pressed into place and possibly even using heat/cold to make it fit. I would consider pressing it if you have a small hydraulic press. Heat would be last resort but might be neccessary given its age. No civilised way that is coming out I suspect. Can you not replace this or avoid this process somehow?
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I bought a second hand hub which does not have the insert in, therefore I’m trying to remove from the old one.
 
Hexadex said:
I bought a second hand hub which does not have the insert in, therefore I’m trying to remove from the old one.
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As your old hub is scrap I’d carefully cut the through to near the insert to weaken it then it should tap out
 
It should be quite easily ( ie- not too much resistance ) removed as the seat is fundamentally damaged ( why you are changing the hub, right!?!)
I wouldnt hit it...how did we get here...?
I used a few sockets of the appropriate sizes and a vice, and was able to use the extraction process as a dummy run at the reverse method of fitting it into the replacement hub.
It was all fairly straightforward as I recall...Just keep an an eye on it as you dont want it getting bound and coming out ( or indeed, pressing in ) on the pi55, as this will lead to potentially bad results...
 
TimR said:
It should be quite easily ( ie- not too much resistance ) removed as the seat is fundamentally damaged ( why you are changing the hub, right!?!)
I wouldnt hit it...how did we get here...?
I used a few sockets of the appropriate sizes and a vice, and was able to use the extraction process as a dummy run at the reverse method of fitting it into the replacement hub.
It was all fairly straightforward as I recall...Just keep an an eye on it as you dont want it getting bound and coming out ( or indeed, pressing in ) on the pi55, as this will lead to potentially bad results...
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Good idea, I’ll try that.
 
I’m at a bit of an impasse at the moment struggling to release the upper and lower ball joints. What did you guys use to release?my normal track rod end removal tool is not big enough. Thanks in advance.65522
 
Hexadex said:
I’m at a bit of an impasse at the moment struggling to release the upper and lower ball joints. What did you guys use to release?my normal track rod end removal tool is not big enough. Thanks in advance.View attachment 65522
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Could you put a post a picture of the ball joint splitter you are using? When I did mine I had to grind out the U shaped slot in the jaws until it would fit. I'm fairly sure that splitters with wider jaws are available. Try searching for commercial or light commercial vehicle splitters. There's not much room around the ball joints I can tell you that. Also it might be easier if you remove the "fabric" covers from the ball joint boots. New ones are available I think from Eurospares quite cheaply.
 
Similar when I did mine where I modified my scissor type one by making the jaws wider. Could have used a wider fork type but I find they sometimes damage the boots.
 
I gound mine out ,and then broke it...! lol
The splitter needs to be quite wide...You should work on the basis of replacing the ball joint covers. Meaning, its worth peering past them, which risks damaging them perhaps, to get a good idea of the width you need your splitter jaws to clear (ie width of ball joint insert)
Look at your replacement hub carrier for a better idea of the anatomy of what you are trying to do if you cant see at the hub proper....
 
Unbolt the top ball joint at the wishbone and give yourself a bit more space for the lower one. I ground out my scissor type splitter like others have done but if I did it again I would be minded too try an extractor like this one.
 

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atreyu1 said:
Could you put a post a picture of the ball joint splitter you are using? When I did mine I had to grind out the U shaped slot in the jaws until it would fit. I'm fairly sure that splitters with wider jaws are available. Try searching for commercial or light commercial vehicle splitters. There's not much room around the ball joints I can tell you that. Also it might be easier if you remove the "fabric" covers from the ball joint boots. New ones are available I think from Eurospares quite cheaply.
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Sorry for the delay in answering, I have a scissor type one. The width of the cutout is 20mm. Going to have a go today
65584
 
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Do more than remove the shock foot bolt as it can be very tight in there- enough to make splitting the joint harder than it needs be...!
 
TimR said:
Do more than remove the shock foot bolt as it can be very tight in there- enough to make splitting the joint harder than it needs be...!
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I’m finding that now Tim it’s as tight as h3ll. What else did you take out.?
 
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