a special thanks.....wheel bearing replacement

[bell]

to christian (a quiet boom) for his skills
and john (north coast cab) for the use of his bearing removal tool.
and my gf michelle was sent on a tool run too when i found out my axle nut was 32mil not 30...so thanks to her too

there is no way in hell that i was going to get my drivers side rear wheel bearing replaced with the tools i have in my garage.
i fought with the hub for a few hours before i took a break and called in reinforcements.
christian showed up and jumped right in, we beat the crap out of the hub using an impact socket that fit in the rear which we ran threaded rod through the front which i held level as he bashed away, it finally gave....there was much rejoicing
next the ebrake plate also wasn't cooperating.....heat....hammer....cuss words.....more heat....some leverage......few more cuss words......then it started to move and finally popped off, some skilled handi work from christian straitened this little ***** of a piece back into it's proper shape......again...there was much rejoicing.
using johns homemade bearing tool the bearingcame right out.....pretty easily, HORRAY the arm isn't damaged from the abuse or the bad bearing.....however the inner bearing race was....you guessed it...it was one with the hub. there was little rejoicing.
christian happens to have a workshop with everything we needed, so we jumped in a car and headed over there.
christian is a wizard with metal, after some creative thinking the race was finally off with a loud pop from the hydralic press.......there was much rejoicing.
hard part is done, after some prep the bearing went right in with "light" tapping through a wood block and the spindle was reinstalled using johns bearing tool again, worked like a charm.
the axle nut will pull the hub in the rest of the way but it's close, so not to have too tight a hub.
putting her back together in the morning along with replacing a torn cv boot.

so this board lives up to what makes it the best when in need.
good cars.
good people.
good fun.

[North Coast Cab]

Bell,
Your post was only at 10:30 so it couldn't have been that tough. I bet you can do the other side in an hour.

John

[enolam]

and the spindle was reinstalled using johns bearing tool again, worked like a charm.
Do you mean the stub axcel? What knid of tool is needed to pull that into the bearing? Then, when tighting the castle nut, how do you know how tight?? I'm getting ready to do this job and am afraid of screwing it up...

[bell]

malone, we were carefull not to pull the spindle (the part with the lug nut studs) too far into the bearing after the bearing was installed, the castle nut will pull it in the last 1/4" so proper torque is achieved....which is 200+ft.lbs.
make sure you know where your nearest machine shop is and their hours, the one bearing race will probably be stuck on the spindle pretty good when you pop out the hub.....it took a serious torch, a welder and a press to get it to separate without destroying the hub. but my carrera bearings have never been apart....that's 20 years

john....i'm doing the other side some time this spring, no need to mess with it today (there's no play in it) as i get to start my new job tomorrow

i'm pretty mechanically inclined and don't have arms like toothpick.......it just required 2 brains and 4 arms for how stubborn it was being.

thanks again guys...this board rocks

[A Quiet Boom]

Glad I could help. Although I'm not sure how we'd ove gotten the inner race off the spindle without a welder and press, that thing was really on there. I tried every trick I knew and none of them worked so finally I to a piece of 1/4" scrap with a hole in it and welded it to the inner race (relax guys I was careful with the heat) then proceeded to put it in the press which bent the plate and required 1/2 metal plate to back it up, several "pops" later and out she came. After that we spun the spindle in my lathe and cleaned it up with fine sandpaper (800 grit I think). Thank goodness bell had the sense to freeze the bearing as it went into the hub with light taps on a 2x4 and the spindle pulled right in with John's tool. I think bell is right, the real trick here is a helper. With me under the car hammering against a socket with a half inch rod through it and bell pulling from the outside and keeping it straight the spindle finally popped right out. The bearing retainer was another story that bell decribes best. I actually got a chuckle when I got the call from bell as I figure he must be totally lost since my spindles on the '66 came out with ease when I did a stud replacement, that was until I got over there and realized this was a bit more than a press fit. Anyway bell called today and it sounds like everything is going back together well. bell (can I call you brian LOL) let's do the otherside at my shop this summer. It'll be all the justification to buy a set of bearing race jaws for my press that I need since I'm putting a Carrera suspension on the '73.

BTW kudos to Michelle for the sausage balls, made a great snack in the garage but where even better tonight as I watched the CNC mill whirl around finishing up my prototype tool for John Walker. The two of you need to come by some weekend for some of my cooking, I'm sure I can come up with something having been an executive chef at one time .

And John (North Coast Cab) much as I love when you visit you need to get some metal working tools like a welder and a small mill, I was impressed with the fab work on your door bars and swaybar reinforcements but that bearing tool takes the cake for making do with what you have. You've definately got a talent for metal/mechanical work.

[bell]

yes everything went together nicely, the e-brake plate which we had to re-straiten was grinding on the brake rotor, it was bent in a little too close to the e-brake shoes which was contacting the rotor.....i pulled the rotor and fixed that with a hammer and screwdriver....wheel back on and she's perfect, although i need to re-adjust my ebrake now.
the car is tracking strait, the bad bearing was causing it to wander a little the faster it went but she's strait now
my should hurts a little from trying to use the prybar method on the hub and i'm heading out to start my new job today....but i'll live

thanks again

[Rick Lee]

I went through this yesterday. I had a catastrophic bearing failure about two miles from my house on Sat. But we gave up trying to get the races out and the hubs are going to a machine shop today. I'll get it buttoned up later this week. What a PITA.

[Superman]

Torque specs for drive-wheel axle nuts are minimums. In other words, if it says 200 lb/ft, then the important thing is to not apply only 160 lb/ft. 250 would be okay.

Congratulations.

[bill3667]

So how do you diagnose a rear wheel bearing (angular contact bearing per PET) that may be starting to fail before it fails completely? I've noticed a bearing noise from my left rear wheel for the last 200 - 300 mi. but I want to make sure that is the cause before I order parts. I don't have a lift but could I put the rear up on (sturdy) jackstands and scope the bearing area with the car running in gear? I don't want to wait until I can't drive it any further to tackle this.

Suggestions?

Car is an '88 w/ 55k mi.

[kepperly]

LIGHT WEIGHT Work ON THOSE 915 BOXES, TRY REPLACING THE
BEARINGs ON A G-50 WHERE THE AXEL IS PART OF THE HALF SHAFT.
ALL WITH HOME MADE TOOLS. Bye Yourself
Keith Epperly 87 slant nose turbo look carrera cabriolet

[kepperly]

bill,
do not run your car in gear with the wheels in the air, good way to tear up half shafts. And any G-50 car requires a differant proceedure to remove the bearings.

Keith Epperly 87 turbo look carrera cabriolet

[bill3667]

Thanks for the info, Keith.

Bill