Wheel bearing change.

[cpdenton]

I have greased wheel bearings many times, but my drivers front needs to be changed. There is some corrosion on them from what looks like water penetration through the bearing seal. Spindle looks good. Just a little evidence of a prior bearing failure or possible overheating.

Question is this. I have never changed wheel bearing races before. Any tips? I thnk you just knock them out with a brass drift, right? Do you need a press?

Thanks

Chris

 

[w4dsb]

i have never pressed them myself. just tap them out easily and back in with the new ones

 

[icanfixall]

A soft punch made from most anything but hardened steel will install them fine. You can buy a bearing press too. They can be found on ebay easily too. They come in sets for many seals and bearing sizes.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/10pc-Bearin...131003132420&rk=3&rkt=6&sd=281324915315&rt=nc

 

[chris142]

i bought a bearing race driver set. its made from aluminum and is a god send when doing races

 

[lotzagoodstuff]

When you press the new races in, put them in the freezer for a while. It will shrink them a couple of thousanths and make them easier to press in.

Just take you time and as recommended above: don't use anything very hard to tap the new races in.

 

[cpdenton]

Got it all done today. New bearings and races were no problem. Did the loan a tool for a driver set and it worked great.

Didn't realize how loud the old bearings were until I drove it with the new ones. So quiet and smooth now!


Thanks for the tips guys!!

 

[icanfixall]

Glad it was a simple job for you. Also nice to know an auto parts store was able to do the tool loan. This is not a job you will be doing again soon.
Years ago my wifeys Jaguar XJ12L sedan had something interesting on the front hubs. They had a grease fitting to grease the bearings. I thought that was a great idea and wondered why no american car maker didn't do that. I guess its the cost of another couple od machine processes. They also had the same taper on both sides of the lug nuts. When I did a front brake job on that car I at first thought some dummy put the lug nuts on wrong. I was surprised at finding the taper on both sides..

 

[chris142]

what kind of grease did you use?ford wants that black moly grease but im not impressed with it.

 

[cpdenton]

I used some sort of Red semi synthetic stuff that says it is for Fords. Never really paid a whole lot of attention to grease myself. I just don't buy the cheapest stuff they make.

 

[79jasper]

I used Mobil 1 one synthetic. It's red.
I don't like the black moly either.
Synthetic for me from now on.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[chris142]

ya next time i do mine im going to try something other than black moly

 

[cpdenton]

I bought a couple tubes of that semisynthetic stuff a few years back. I use an easy packer that hooks to my grease gun and also just squirt out whatever extra I need from the gun. That bearing packer was the best 7 bucks I ever spent.

I am about to do the bearings in my trailer too. It will be handy to pack the 8 bearing in that as well. Whole lot better than using the palm of your hand!

 

[jaluhn83]

Biggest thing is to drive them in & out square - tap on one side then the other, back & forth, back & forth... if you try to wail on just one side you'll get it cocked and not only will it be harder to get out, but you might also deform the bore causing problems with the new one.

Also, make sure the housing bore is clean, especially the shoulder the race sits against - a small piece of dirt or a burr here will make the new race not sit square no matter how hard to drive it in which will cause bearing wear.

 

[KyleQ]

The trick with any race installation islistening to the sounds that are made when you are hammering it in. When it bottoms out the pitch will dramatically change - rotate the punch around and listen to make sure the same noise is heard all the way around the race. If it sounds good, it is good. Obviously things need to be clean when re-installing. I use full synthetic grease and only Spicer parts when it matters - NorthernDrivetrain.com is great, you won't meet a nicer man and he has most everything in stock.

 

[fx4wannabe]

I think I'm gonna have to do mine as well. Just repacked them but I still have a rotational noise coming from the front and it sounds like a bearing. At least they are easy to do.