Bearing race removal

[Beachtruck]

Has anyone replaced the bearing races in their hubs? How did you get them out? I've tried using a brass punch from the opposite side and can't budge them.

[randyscycle]

Front, or rear? In the actual drive hubs?

Usually a punch will get them out if you are on the back of the race and not the cast lip of the hub itself. If they are really tight, sometimes warming (not heating until glowing) the hubs can cause them to loosen a bit.

Are you just changing the bearings for maintenance or did you have a bearing failure? If they went bad and seized, they could have spun the race in the hub and welded themselves in place.

[brute4c]

If you clean the hub up really well, you can heat them to 300 to 400 degrees in the oven and then use a punch and drive the race out from the back side.


If you dont get it really clean, the house will smell like burnt grease for the foreseeable future...a womans nightmare...


To install the new one, put the race in the freezer overnight and, after knocking out the bad one, drop in the new and seat it nice and level in there while the hub is still hot. It will take a couple seconds to get tight, so you have a brief window to get it right...not hard to do really though.

Let the hub cool down slowly on its own...dont put it in a cold place...just let it sit and cool.



When I was in the USAF we had to do this with F4 Phantom II wheels every so often...standard procedure.

[kwai]

I used my slide hammer that has the bearing puller fittings on the end. Easy as pie because it pulls on both sides simultaneously where a punch is just pushing on one side at a time.

You can also get a bearing race punch which has an oval end on it.

[Beachtruck]

Thanks for the help, I'll try again this weekend. Putting the new races in the freezer is a neat trick.

I'm doing the rear hubs first. The bearings weren't seized, just doing maintenance. My truck sat for years, and I think the bearings and races are original. There are dark spots on both, which I think means they were rusty at some point?

[randyscycle]

Another old trick if they are really stuck, is to use a welder and apply a bead in about 3 or 4 places around the inside of the race. After the welds cool they will shrink the race slightly and allow it to come out.

[Barrman]

I haven't heard that one before Randy. Thanks for posting it.

[randyscycle]

Sure. It also works for removing cylinder sleeves as well. That is where I used to use it quite often. Run about three beads at 11 o'clock, 2 o'clock and 6 o'clock up the inside wall of the cylinder liner and then let it cool and it will usually come out a lot easier.

[wolf.dose]

Some years ago I replaced the mentioned bearings, however, I had no real problems to get the old ones out of the hub or from the axle with some piercer and hammering all round step by step. If you missaline the bearing in its mounting fit it will resit your attemps. The same happens with refitting the new bearings.
Wolf