They're either easy, or _not_

	So here's an (unrestored!) 404 hub. First thing to do is take the lock washer off - you'll see one face is bent over the bolt to retain it. Murder it, and get new ones from your favourite supplier. Then you need a 55mm socket or striking wrench, we used a socket on a 3/4" T bar. We had already done 2 hubs at this point (which had been easy, this is the tail of the hard one). Note - all hub bolts are normal right hand thread We bent the bar.
	So I welded the bent T bar into a 2m long bit of metal, put an extension in that and jumped on it The 3/4" drive broke :(
	Give me a fulcrum and I could move the earth! So I welded the socket straight onto the bar (and also through to the T bar which was still in there) and extended it to nearly 4 metres - the end with the can. Then I jumped on the bar again, it bent alarmingly and then went.
	There are three ways of getting a hub off. #1 - get the MB tool, which uses a screw thread into the shaft to force it off - expensive and rare, possibly the best option. #2 - use a chock between the back of the hub and the cover for the top portal cog (round bit that sticks up) and hit it. There are a number of problems with this, you're hitting through the bearings, which is bad, and also hitting against the soft cast portal cover. The hub is case hardened and fine, but the portal case is weak. I don't like it. #3 - the classic. Use a 12.5 tonne bottle jack, strong bar and tensile (8.8 grade) M10 threaded bar (1 metre will do). We have removed 4 hubs with this rig, all have been easy.
	However, this one was a f**ker!!!!!! None of this steel is exactly small, and it all bent/broke like a toy.
	So, onto Plan B - bigger steel. This is a piece of 12mm thick steel from a recovery crane, additionally braced with some 6mm angle iron.
	Arse! This Is Now War!
	So here we have my battle tank. It's (obviously!) an upside down brake drum, welded to 4 6mm angle iron legs, welded to that 12mm chunk of steel. It is waiting for some bracing on the top, and will be topped off with a 25 ton bottle jack. I have assumed that the drum is cast iron, and have bought some very expensive nickel steel rods, which weld very strangely with a reddish arc. At 160amps I'm getting 1 minute out of 10 with my welder, although it seems to have the power when cool. We'll see how it gets on.
	OK, it broke! Turns out my (allegedly) 160 amp welder didn't really touch the casting at all. We got a fairly solid 12 ton on it (all my strength on a 1.5m bar in the bottle jack) and it went with a dull thud. Actually much more relaxed than the 10mm tensile bar which stretches before it breaks and then really goes off. So, off to buy a bigger welder. This time we're in the world of 400 volts from 3 phase.....bigger is better! We also thought a new bottle jack would be a good idea, so here's a 32 ton model, which is all a big gulliver, I can only just lift it.
	The bigger welder did the business, only using 15 more amps, but you can tell by the noise that they're proper amps. You can see the casting melting into the weld, and it's just right. Previously it had taken me 2 1/2 arc rods for each leg, this time I only used one. The rig was built for the 12 ton jack, so I was pleased this one fitted.
	AR5E! All was going well, the jack was getting loaded up nicely, the welds showed no sign of breaking, carried on pulling. There was a bit of an unidentified noise, which I couldn't locate, so I carried on pulling. The rig started pulling to one side....The noise was the first crack, and the brake drum had just torn. I think that puts us on "Plan E". I've never had to go beyond "C" before :)
	So, Plan E. Cheers, to B101UK(Mark) for getting the top and bottom plates made, this is the 50 ton coffee table in the beginning of construction. It's bigger and badder than the previous one and contains almost two gates (!).
	Now the re-inforcements have gone on, and even though there's a bigger welder on the scene I'm still suffering from duty-cycle woes. It's _nearly_ finished now, another 20 minutes and we'll be test driving it......
	So, finally, it went on. We first used it to pull a hib off spares mog (with the brake drum still on). Didn't even feel the jack bite at all, and eventually used the smaller 12 ton jack 'cos it was faster. When we had gone to put the wheel nuts on we discovered that the holes in the plates were exactly the same size as the nuts! They just sunk it. We had a mad run round the workshop, and found various big bits of steel with holes in them, and with a bit of cutting and filing, made them into washers. You can just see them in this picture.
	Finally, jack in position (this is 8pm the night before were going somewhere, with both dodgy hubs left to do). I pump it up, and nothing! The jack loads up to the point where I used a two metre bar, and nothing moves, eventually there is a bit of a thud. I let the jack off, and the whole thing had bowed out about an inch and a half! It just shrank back. The thud had been the seam going in a bit of old square tube. Time for even more metal.
	I had to weld another brace on the back and weld the huge steel washers to the plates to stiffen them more, and fix the seam. I loaded it up again and it still didn't move, so I gave the plate a good sideways thwack and it moved, with a big bang, the steel unbent and the hub moved a half inch or so. I had to keep loading it up till it bent and then it would go with a crack. Finally, after several months it's off. Swapped the hub for the one from spares mog and went to work on the front. 11pm, all hubs finally done, ready for the road!