Rear wheel bearing replacement

[Breeang]

I need to change a rear wheel bearing on my '77 911 S. The procedure appears fairly straight forward for some one with a modicom of wrench savvy,but are there any problems I should be aware of ? Time is not an issue as this is my "weekends if it's not raining" ride. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

• 1977 911 S Targa, (weekends only/project car)

• 1957 Messerschmitt Bubble Car, (My first rear engine/air cooled baby---alas long gone !)

[IROC]

Do a search. Lots of info on this. I just replaced one of mine on my '76 and it was pretty straightforward. You'll have to fabricate some sort of puller to get the old bearing out and to press the hub back in.

One trick I used that didn't seem to be common was to use a slide hammer to break the bearing free from the hub. Once the bearing moves .125 inches or so, I installed my home made PVC pipe/big a$$ bolt puller and it came right out.

Speaking of a slide hammer, you'll need one for getting the hub out for sure. I also had to buy a bearing separator to get the inner race off of the hub.

All things said and done, the whole job (one side only) took me about 4-5 hours and I'd never done it before.

Mike

[Breeang]

Thanks for the answer Mike,it sounds eminently "do-able",I have various pullers but I'll get a slide hammer and maybe a set of brass drifts to go with my favorite 7lb hammer.

[IROC]

IMHO, the hardest part is getting the new bearing installed into the banana arm. I froze my bearing and made sure the banana arm was extremely clean and was able to get it in alright, but the bearing is fragile - the inner races will come out (and you don't want that) - so you need to really be careful installing the bearing to make sure the bearing and banana arm aren't damaged.

That's the key to the whole thing, really. The rest of it is just taking stuff off and putting it back on.

Mike

[dfw911]

It is very do-able. Read some of the old posts. Using heat on the arm and freezing the new bearings helps as well

[Neilk]

You know, if you are going to replace the bearings on a 27 year old car, I would go ahead and redo the entire rear suspension "while you are there." I bet banana arm and spring plate bushings are shot.

[Breeang]

I have just got back to my computer and read the posts, thankyou guys I shall take all your advice to heart

[Craig Roche]

I did mine on my 84 Carrera. I had a shop do the removal - 90.00 later and I wished I'd done it myself. Reassembly went fairly easy for a rookie (me). Toughest part was getting the bearing started. With a propane torch, I heated up the banana and I froze the bearing as recommened on the board. I used the old bearing and tapped around the edge to get the new one started, measuring alot!

I got to thinking about the heating and freezing thing. Seems like you heat up the banana then you take a frozen bearing and you put them together. Pretty dang soon the bearing isn't cold and the banana isn't warm??????

I also, while it was apart, replaced the bushings on the torsion tube mount and the spring plate bushings. You might as well while it's all apart!! I suppose you can remove the bearing on the car if you have the right tools!!

[Randy Webb]

How do you test to see if you need to replace the rear bearing?

And, should you replace them every 20 years or so, just to be safe?