half shaft help?

[kepperly]

I,m pondering the replacement of the half shafts and our host has the whole half shaft and axle stub at a very attractive price for an 87 carrera w/ g-50. My question is, can the axles be removed with the half shaft/ cv joint and not destroy the outer wheel bearings? I have a grinding nose and I,m hopeing its the cv joints not the rear wheel bearings so I don,t have to remove the trailing arms and then have it realigned ( I just had it corner balanced).

thanks Keith-87 carerra cabriolet slant nose.

[ChrisBennet]

Yes, you remove the axle with the CV joint without hurting the bearing. The rear wheel bearing can be removed without removing the trailing arm. There is a $pecial tool for it.
If you know what side the noise is coming from and you have more time than money, you could swap the L&R axles temporarily and see if the noise moves to the other side.
-Chris

[kepperly]

CHRIS,
THATS A WORRY GONE. AFTER I POSTED I WENT TO OUR
HOST CATALOGE AND FOUND THE TOOL, BUT ITS ABOUT
AS EXPENSIVE AS TWO HALF SHAFTS! WAYNE, DO YOU RENT TOOLS? AS FOR SWICHING SIDES TO LOCATE THE NOISE,
I'M AN EX-MARINE WITH SERVICE AS AN ARTILLARY OFFICER
IN VIET NAM SO I FEEL BETTER THAN I HEAR!

THANKS KEITH

[pjv911]

Put the new bearing in your freezer and then pull the stub axle and heat the trailing arm lightly and evenly with a propane torch. Them simply just wack out the old bearing. Replace the bearing before the trailing arm cools(it will go in very easy). Once installed just cool the trailing arm from the outside with cool water. Ive done 3 like this with no problems. Also the bearing are commonly stocked at local parts stores for around $50.00 (if you cant wait) .

BTW I am assuming you have aluminum trailing arms(74` and up)

Kurt Williams

[Vipergrün]

Vertex Auto has a decent tool rental program.

Have fun!

[Don Plumley]

To r/r the half-shafts only, you don't need to touch the bearings. Toughest part was getting a 3/4" drive drive wrench to break the axle bolts. After it was off, the half shaft just slid out. The wheel hub and bearing stay in the trailing arm.

Looks like replacing the bearings is a much more difficult project w/o the special tools - though the freezing/heating method sounds interesting. Seems like if you can either get the tools or use the hot/cool method (this is the same way they get the pivot pin in the swing wing of a B-1 bomber, except they use liquid nitrogen on the pin and heating blankets in the pivot) you don't need to remove the trailing arm, hence no change to your alignment.

Don

[kepperly]

Don,
my brother works at Boeing but he said I coudn,t use their shop
just for the nitrogen tank, maybe I,ll try some cheap dry Ice.
And my brother also said they might find it odd pulling a foreign car in where they work on the air force one . Are these guys parinoid or what.

Keith- Wichita PCA membership chair

[pjv911]

Keith, Maybe I wasnt clear on the cooling process. All you need is a standard freezer/refrigerator. If you must make it harder for yourself then just get some 134a refigerant. Only problem with liquid/gas cooling is that when you get it 100deg below 0 or more is not so freindly to touch anymore. Like I said in my previous post , ive done 3 separate 911 rear wheel bearings with absolutly no problems at all. If you dont trust this simple method just say the word and I will get you clearance at NASA for an afternoon of your choice for you and your car , and possibly a seasoned rocket scientist if I can pull the right strings.


Kurt Williams

[kepperly]

Kurt,
thats really funny or maybe its just the "Fosters" I think I've about talked myself into giving it a try at our Porsche shack.

thanks for all the boards advise!
go to the zone 10, wichita pca, porsche club house for more amusment..

keith- wichita pca membership chair