Rear Wheel Bearing replacement Info.

[jackd2001]

Hello Again

I am going to be replacing the rear wheel bearing on my 1983 944 Manual Tx.
Are there any tips I should be aware of prior to starting? Do the bearing come out easy or will Ineed a puller or big hammer? Any special tools or techniques? Do I have to completely remove the CV shaft or Can I disconnect the end at the hub?

Again I would like to thank everyone here for the tremendous help

[pauloregon]

Have you read the Clark's Garage procedure document? After reading that, do you still have questions?

[AKCJ]

Jack - I'm interested in hearing your report after you get it done. I've read the Clarks info but it's not that clear to me.

Tip - I read somewhere you can just disconnect the outer end of the drive shaft but don't let it hang unsupported as it can overextend and damage the inner cv.

[John_AZ]

Jack,

I have been fortunate never to have had to do this but here is an article from www.arnnworx.com. It may be useful to you. He has the alternate timing belt guage and other articles.

Http://www.arnnworx.com/RearBearings.htm

Good luck,

John_AZ
1988 924S + 1987 924S

[jbaeng]

I'm looking into this as well on my recently acquired '88 944, so your report post will help me out too. I did this on my 911 a few years ago and bought the bearing replacement tools to do it. When I sold my 911 last year I put the tool in the corner of my garage "just in case". I now see that the same tool works on the 944 rear wheel bearings so I'm quite happy about that.

Overall, this job was a pain but the tooling helped smooth it out a lot. On the first side I had to pull the new bearing after I pressed it in to get it in correctly. The second side went well without any rework. I then drove the car for a couple of year before I sold it. I looked at the article on Arnnworx and it looks complicated using regular shop tools without the special tools to use.

A local shop quoted me about $500 per side to replace the rear bearings and given the tool kit was ~$275, I took the plunge and did it myself and it basically took a weekend.

And a good tip by AKJC; support the axles with the only the outer CVJ disconnected. The connected CVJ might get damaged, but even worse, if the connected CVJ comes a part while hanging unsupported, it’s a major pain!!

Good luck!

[HondaDustR]

The other hurdle I've heard about is trying to break the axel nut loose. It's torqued to something ridiculous like 350 ft.lbs. plus corrosion and you know how tight metal parts kind of "stick together" over time.... Somewhere I saw some guy that couldn't break it loose with 3 people jumping on a 5 ft breaker bar. He had to find a truck shop with a 1 inch drive impact wrench to finally get it off.

[jpk]

I replaced the rear bearings on my 968 last year. Count on about three hours to do both sides (once the axle nuts are broken free) If you have all the tools, it's not too difficult.
I bought the arnworx tool press the bearings in/out (the instructions on the arnworx site document the entire process) I also needed a slide hammer axle puller set which I got on loan from the local parts store. I also needed the dremel to cut off the old bearing races from the stub axles. Other than that, it was just the 12 point tripple square (cheesehead) socket to get the CV joint bolts out. I think I only removed the outside and tied the halfshafts up with wire.
I had the halfshafts out the previous year, so the bolts were relatively clean and came out without hiccups. If they haven't been out before, these can be a pain - make sure you clean all the gunk out of the head so the socket can seat properly - a small siff wire works well for this.
I ended up taking it to a shop to break the axle nuts free - even after heating them with a torch, I broke my biggest breaker bar. In hindsight, it probably would have been easier to just cut them off with the dremel, especially since I had the new nuts anyway.

[John_AZ]

Jack,
Can you offer me any tips now that you have finished. How much trouble was it, any delays?
Thanks,

John_AZ