Front wheel hubs - bearings & cleaning

[911obgyn]

I have frozen the races and it works, heating the hubs will make them drop in. Just freezing the races makes it just tap in.
I use a long drift to tap the races out carefully one side at a time.
Beautiful work digitalgdp

[83_Silberpfeil]

Thanks 911ob. Good to know both ways work. I will be renting/borrowing bearing/race drivers from FLAPS tomorrow to get the races out. I'll ask them what tool they have to install new ones. May be same tool - drivers.

I will first try with only freezing the races. The race driver tool should be able to apply/transfer the hammer blows (taps) evenly around the race. If that proves difficult or, then I'll try heating the hubs. What temp and how long to heat?

Originally Posted by 911obgyn

I have frozen the races and it works, heating the hubs will make them drop in. Just freezing the races makes it just tap in.
I use a long drift to tap the races out carefully one side at a time.
Beautiful work digitalgdp

[83_Silberpfeil]

The hubs are ready to get the races removed. Inner grease seals removed, and hubs cleaned.

Great tips from everyone who chimed in on this thread.

This afternoon, I pulled the inner grease seals. The HarborFreight seal puller tool worked very well. I used clamps (also from Harbor) to secure the hub to workbench. Then the seals came right off. Just a solid tap on the handle and off it went.

Then, it was a few hours of spray, scrub, repeat, rinse, scrub, repeat. For spray, I used PB Blaster, as Seafeye suggested. I thought it worked really well. For rinse/scrub I used Zepp HD Citrus cleaner/degreaser.

I am pretty satisfied w how they turned out, considering the effort I put in. Never set expectation or goal they would turn out like Digitaldgp's turned out. Just wanted them to be rid of all the dust/grease/grime. I can handle them w/o getting my fingers/hands dirty.

You can see on foto #7 below (second to last), there are a few claw marks on the hub (inner side) where the grease seal would sit. I wonder if I was too eager/aggressive with the seal puller tool? Or, maybe it was from previous owner, or servicer --- I was serviced @ the old "Strasse" shop in Newport Beach, CA.













I wonder if I did this with the seal puller tool? Or was it previous owner/shop? It doesn't look like it is a fresh/recent cut.

[83_Silberpfeil]

The old bearing races are out. I was not able to use the rental tool set -- The sizes of the punches didn't work for driving the old races out. But they will work to drive new races in.

The new races are in the freezer. Tomorrow, I will attempt to punch/drive them in --- w/o heating the hubs.

Here's a foto comparing new and old races. New and old, both are SKF bearings. New ones, from our host, are Made in China. The old ones --- inners are made in Germany; outers are made in Italy.

QUESTION: are bearing/race uniquely paired with each other? So for example, for inner bearings, I received two boxes from our host. One is box marked "1 of 2" ; the other box is marked "2 of 2". Would it matter if I used the race from box 1 with the bearing from box 2? I ziplock'd all the races and placed them in the freezer --- but didn't keep track of which race is from which box.

[83_Silberpfeil]

I've tried many ways, but only able to get one race (outer) into the hub.

I followed DRACO A5OG method of heating up the hub to 285F, and freezing the race. I even bought 5 lbs of dry ice and burried the races in them.

For the larger inner race, it only go partial way. Then, I use the race driving tool I loaned from OReilley and tap, then pound it in. But, then it goes in just a little more, and goes out of alignment. I've pulled it out again, and looks Like the race seat on the hub is getting mangled.

Should it be this difficult --- I mean I am heating the hub, and dry-ice-cooling the race! Is the hub just out of whack, or could it be the new race is out of spec?

Seeking advice.

Thanks!







DRACO A5OG video...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GShKk2OEwRc

[911obgyn]

That is pretty mangled up, i would try and clean up the ridges with 400 sandpaper, not aggressively though. I use a brass drift and just tap the outside edges and keep it as straight and level as possible till it seats. With the scratches on the seal seat and that, it looks like a gorilla worked on it before!

[superninety]

I put in the BBQ gas grill and heated. Bearing races in the freezer. They just drop in at that point.

And yes, a brass drift to do any tapping in if needed. Nothing else.

[83_Silberpfeil]

Thanks for your suggestion. I can try that. But, based on how members here describe the process, and watching some videos, it just seems like it should not be that difficult, or take that much effort to drive it in.

It does look pretty bad at the outside edges, though. I'll clean/smooth it up and try again.

QUESTION: would a hydraulic press or a threaded shaft/nut tightening method be a better way to go? Or will I encounter similar issues if the race seat is not smooth/even?

Originally Posted by 911obgyn

That is pretty mangled up, i would try and clean up the ridges with 400 sandpaper, not aggressively though. I use a brass drift and just tap the outside edges and keep it as straight and level as possible till it seats. With the scratches on the seal seat and that, it looks like a gorilla worked on it before!

[83_Silberpfeil]

I have a gas grill and thought about going this way, but figure controlling/adjusting the temp easier w electric oven.

Originally Posted by superninety

I put in the BBQ gas grill and heated. Bearing races in the freezer. They just drop in at that point.

And yes, a brass drift to do any tapping in if needed. Nothing else.

[911obgyn]

Thats probably how it got mangled, by pressing it in with a press a bit cocked. Make sure you clean aluminum off the race before you begin again. You could use a press… i have seen races spun in hubs and hubs need replaced, or welded and machined on a lathe.

[83_Silberpfeil]

911obgyn - I just made another attempt. Heated the other hub to 285; pulled the inner race from the dry ice, and attempted to carefully insert the race into hub. Then, I meet resistance fairly soon.

That initial resistance/seat is not uniform around the race. There's one or two resistance points, and then you can feel the wobble of the race --- which explains why it won't go in straight.

I'll try again to clean it up and smooth out the hub seating. Would hate to have to replace the hubs @ $900 each, new.

Originally Posted by 911obgyn

Thats probably how it got mangled, by pressing it in with a press a bit cocked. Make sure you clean aluminum off the race before you begin again. You could use a press… i have seen races spun in hubs and hubs need replaced, or welded and machined on a lathe.

[winders]

How about having someone that knows what they are doing do it for you? There are a bunch of shops in SoCal that could handle it quickly and easily...without damaging the hubs.

[walt]

You can buy a bearing race punch. Instead of a round head it has an oval shape so it doesn't dig into the hub.

[83_Silberpfeil]

At this point, that sounds like an awesome idea. In fact, if I had know shops will do this for a fee, I would have explored that option ahead of time.

QUESTION: what types of service shops would I search for? What prompts to enter in search bar? General automotive serve garages, hydraulic shops, wheel alignment shops?

Thanks!

Originally Posted by winders

How about having someone that knows what they are doing do it for you? There are a bunch of shops in SoCal that could handle it quickly and easily...without damaging the hubs.

[winders]

Find a shop that works on air-cooled Porsches....where do you live in SoCal?

[83_Silberpfeil]

Thanks Winders. I started searching for wheel alignment, brake, suspension specialists. Then, switched to AirCooled Porsche shops. I'm in the Pasadena area, and there are a few shops along Walnut Street. Then, there is Rusnak Pasadena (Porsche dealership), where they have an in-house air-cooled specialist. I will visit a few of these shops soon.

I feel quite defeated

Originally Posted by winders

Find a shop that works on air-cooled Porsches....where do you live in SoCal?

[winders]

I was born and raised in Pasadena....

[83_Silberpfeil]

Great city!

Originally Posted by winders

I was born and raised in Pasadena....

[83_Silberpfeil]

Took the hubs, bearing, and races to StuttCar in Pasadena. Peter got it done properly for me. Pressed the 3 remaining races, greased the innards of the hub, the races, greased/installed the inner bearings, and installed the grease seal. All left is for me to grease/install the outer bearings, when I'm ready to put everything back.

[PopsRacer]

A couple of other tweaks in case they help anyone.

A nice improvement on an old approach is cutting a notch in the old races so that when you use them to drive in the new ones they can’t get stuck. (h/t aircooled weekly maintenance for that one)

Next thing is a brake line plug. Elevate the line when you disconnect it and pop one of these in and you’ll only need to bleed that one corner, and have no mess to deal with.
This one is an EMPI part number but it’s M10 x 1.0 bubble flare. (#18-1103-0)

Second is using a steering column bearing tool to pull out the outer race. Works great, nice and gentle. Lots of different ones online, not expensive at all.

Finally, if you are going to do seals more than once, it’s worth getting the tool for pulling them out. Makes it a 10 second thing. A Lisle 56750 is around $14.

JM2C, YMMV