Pulling hubs and not packing bearings

Dionikes · 06-09-2005, 08:12 AM

Ok, so Ifinally defeated "Satan's Wheel Locks" and Managed to destroy only one hub bolt. It is a front end hub bolt and in order to put in a new one I have pull the hub off. Is there a way I can pull off the hub without having to pull the bearing and repack everything?

If there is not any other way of diong it, do I need a Porsche specific tool for the bearings or will a run of the mill bearing press be able to accomplish the job? Thanks.

Vipergrün · 06-09-2005, 08:16 AM

It would be a good idea to pull things off and inspect anyway, so just go for it. Use high quality grease and you can get by with one of the cheapy bearing packers from pep boys, kragen, etc, which also allows you to store the grease in it. Or, just put a big wad of grease in your hand and pack away

IROC · IROC's Garage

You can simply remove it and put it right back together again. Many people simply re-pack at that time because it's convenient. Obviously, if you see anything amiss, I would clean and inspect and proceed from there, but there's no reason why you can't just put it back together.

Mike

Rick Lee · Rick Lee's Garage

Take it from someone who had a catastrophic wheel bearing failure as soon as I got on the hwy - don't skip on this. I think my problem was when I removed the hub, the outer bearing fell onto the garage floor and I didn't clean it before reinstalling. Will never make that mistake again. SInce my car is so loud, I didn't hear all the warning noises before I felt them.

trak ratt · 06-09-2005, 08:27 AM

IMO, unless it has been done real recently, replacing a hub after work without cleaning and repacking the bearings is like taking a shower and putting your dirty underwear back on! It only takes 10 minutes or so to clean the old grease off, inspect and repack. And like RL says you should inspect them things often.

dfink · 06-09-2005, 10:17 AM

If you do not regrease the bearings then you tighten the bearings a different way. After packing bearing you have preload the bearing by tightening it past the point of just being snug. Hard to explain preloading a bearing kind of a feel thing. If you don't repack you just tighten the bearing like you would if you didn't remove from the car. I hope someone jumps in with a better explanation of this procedure. I think that if you are going to all the trouble to remove the hub you should clean and repack as stated earlier that is the easy part Getting the hubs and calipers off is the hard part.

Dionikes · 06-09-2005, 04:07 PM

Thanks, guys!! I will probably take a crack at it tomorrow. I already have the calipers off and they are stewing in teh parts washer. I am going to rebuild them tomorrow and paint them red for kicks and giggles. I will probably pack the bqearings as well romorrow.

I have been working on the car non stop for the last two days...I love vacation (aka leave)

sammyg2 · 06-09-2005, 04:18 PM

If the bearings are already properly packed with good quality clean grease, there there is no logical rerason to do it again. If the grease is dirty or contaminated of there isn't enough in the bearings, completely clean everything and repack them.

If the bearings are freshly packed or not has nothing to do with how they are tightened AFAIC.

randywebb · 06-09-2005, 04:29 PM

I'll make that "good quality [fresh,] clean grease..." Grease has a shelf life, and if its 10 or 15 years old I'd replace it no matter how pretty it looked. AND... we usually don't know how old or what condition concealed grease is in....