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I need to replace the wheel bearings in my 74 coup. Where is a good place to get the bearings. I want American made. The part# would help also. SBC automatic.
Have you done this before? It is a very precise process that requires some special tools. On top of that, it is probably going to be a one time in your life project. I sent mine out to Bair's in Pa. I'm not questioning your abilities or experience, just would hate to see you get into something that you can't get done right.
Hi lcm,
I too recommend that you send the trailing arms to Bair for them to rebuild.
The amount of skill and the cost of the tools and gauges you need to do the job correctly generally makes the cost of having them done still a bit expensive but understandable.
Regards,
Alan
Hi lcm,
I too recommend that you send the trailing arms to Bair for them to rebuild.
The amount of skill and the cost of the tools and gauges you need to do the job correctly generally makes the cost of having them done still a bit expensive but understandable.
Regards,
Alan
I was a Corvette tech at several GM dealerships. I had factory training and the necessary special tools available for this job. It was NEVER an easy job. To get the right bearing/shim stack the first time, every time, I had a set of my own bearings with the inner races bored for a slip fit on the spindles. After installing new outer races I built it up using my own bearings to get the correct bearing play (measured with a dial indicator), then replaced my bearings with the new bearings for final assembly. My method always worked.
The factory fit was so tight that even the special spindle press-out tool only worked some of the time, requiring using an acetylene torch, set for a really HOT burn temp to cut through the (inside bearing's) inner bearing race for dissassembly. Some times this damaged the spindle, requiring replacement of an expensive additional part. When the inner race was cut through with the special spindle press installed and tensioned to maximum pressure, there would be a tremendous bang and the car would shake at the release. It always scared the hell out of me.
This repair, if not done correctly COULD result in a CATASTROPHIC bearing failure with certain loss of the wheel assembly and body damage to the car. On my own Vettes, I installed grease fittings into the spindle to allow periodic bearing lube without dissasembly. For customer cars I had an aftermarket lube tool that could relube the spindles by removing the inner seal and injecting grease until the outer seal began to bulge outward. This last only works if the bearings are lubed BEFORE they become noisy.
The existing design seals are inadequate to keep water and mud out of the bearings, so I recommend re-lubing after every wet driving day. This rear wheel bearing design is used in C2 and C3 cars, I never had any experience with C4 cars. I understand that some shops specialize in this service, let them do it for you. It may be expensive, but the risk is to the shop, not you.
If you launch your boat with the trailer wheel hubs under water as most people do, re-lubing is necessary unless you want to spend your time beside the road waiting for a new axel to arrive. C2-C3 axle seals are the identical construction as the cheap crap they put in trailer wheels. Most Vette drivers don't drive in deep water, but the wheels kick up spray that gets in the bearing assemblies. Lubing with Texaco Marfac lower unit grease is an option, but this grease does deteriorate after water exposure, it just takes longer than the automotive type. I used the Texaco product to repack my helicopter engine-to-ransmission drivedraft couplings and it still needed repacking every 50 flight hours. This shaft ran at 6,600 rpms loaded to over 1100 horsepower continuously. The Vette bearings are basically forgotten whatever the use until they fail (mine went out at 30,000 miles) but the consequences of neglect can be extremely expensive and can ruin your car.
I know that Corvette drivers aren't aware of the need to service rear axle bearings (I wasn't) until the noise starts. And most cars do get away with many miles without any problems. When I showed owners the damage that I found in there they all said they had never heard of this. Even Vette club members didn't know of this. I believe that since these cars are not usually driven in heavy rain/street flooding conditions the poor seals are not a factor. If you have ever driven your Vette through a puddle deep enough to have the tires throw water aside, think about it.
Plenty of info on the web on how to do this. I muddled through it the first time with success with shop manuals. You have an advantage that wasn't there 20 years ago. I say look over the information and videos on the web and see if it's something you can handle. I hate it when guys on How To websites like this one tell someone to farm jobs out like this. No reason a reasonably handy person can't do this.
Here is the link to my website where I posted about my trailing arm rebuild.....It's not a "How to..." but it does have lots of photos and some advice.
Trailing arm rebuild....
You will have to click forward some months to see the install....It was up on jackstands for 4 months.
Rebuilding Trailing Arms is not rocket science and is a easy weekend project if you have the correct tools and a good manual. Here's a couple of pictures of a set I rebuilt for my 65 during its frame off restoration.
Here is something interesting to consider. The last car I did this on is the one I have now. It didn't need it done but I wanted new suspension bushings all around so I decided to go through the rear wheel bearings since I had the control arms off. We know what makes this job difficult is that inner press on wheel bearing. I think the typical press on fit is about .004 interference. Anyway, I screwed on one of those spindle knock out tools onto the spindles and they came right out. Apparently someone took a strip of emery and worked the surface on the spindles down for a light press fit of the bearings, that's my guess. I've done this on something else myself and it's quick work to reduce the needed pressure to press bearings on. The guy I bought the car from didn't do any of the work on the car but he claimed to put several thousand miles on it. I decided to only put new bearings and seals on, shim it to perfection and call it a day. I thought about half shaft loads and all that but figured since it went this long without trouble, why buy new spindles. The job was a piece of cake like this and if I wanted to "properly" re grease the bearings, not that big of a deal. This was about 10 years ago. With all you alarmists up there I can only imagine what you're thinking. But I think it might not be a bad idea to just do this for ease of assembly and disassembly. It's now pretty much the same as front wheel bearings and I don't see front wheels flying off cars and they have to put up with unbelievably high cornering loads. The rear spindles have axle flanges, washers and nuts holding them in place, not just the nut and washer like front wheels. Sounds good to me! Would I do this If the spindles weren't already turned down, probably not but that's only because I never heard of this before and until something becomes wide spread in use you can never feel 100% about anything. If I was worried about it I would not have done it.
I sent mine to Vansteel about 10 years ago but it looks like their prices have gone up. Bair rebuilds them for $175 each. I am sure it's not a hard job as long as you have the right tools. I did not have the tools nor the faith in myself to do it right, so I sent them in.
I do rear wheel bearings and I know everybody can have an opinion.
First off it is wise to have the correct set-up tool so getting the bearings/spacer and shim correct is much easier.
Secondly...there is NO reason to use any re-greasing tool for your inner bearing and any extra grease fittings. What can happen is that you fill the cavity over time with so much grease that you force the grease out of the seals...which I have seen. It does not work that way...but what the heck do I know....other than I have done them for 30 years plus and I have yet to EVER have a problem with any of the ones I did ..and that also includes those that have exceeded the 50,000-5 year guarantee I put on what I do.
Keep in mind the reservoir that some people want to fill up does not spin like the front hubs ( and you would have to ask yourself that even if you partially filled up your front hubs and they spin..does the grease that should be good, actually liquefy enough to feed the bearings???)...because...I have taken apart so many rear wheel bearings that were filled up so much that NO GREASE is able to 'feed' the bearing like they think it is doing...so it is a waste of grease.
Here is something interesting to consider. The last car I did this on is the one I have now. It didn't need it done but I wanted new suspension bushings all around so I decided to go through the rear wheel bearings since I had the control arms off. We know what makes this job difficult is that inner press on wheel bearing. I think the typical press on fit is about .004 interference. Anyway, I screwed on one of those spindle knock out tools onto the spindles and they came right out. Apparently someone took a strip of emery and worked the surface on the spindles down for a light press fit of the bearings, that's my guess. I've done this on something else myself and it's quick work to reduce the needed pressure to press bearings on. The guy I bought the car from didn't do any of the work on the car but he claimed to put several thousand miles on it. I decided to only put new bearings and seals on, shim it to perfection and call it a day. I thought about half shaft loads and all that but figured since it went this long without trouble, why buy new spindles. The job was a piece of cake like this and if I wanted to "properly" re grease the bearings, not that big of a deal. This was about 10 years ago. With all you alarmists up there I can only imagine what you're thinking. But I think it might not be a bad idea to just do this for ease of assembly and disassembly. It's now pretty much the same as front wheel bearings and I don't see front wheels flying off cars and they have to put up with unbelievably high cornering loads. The rear spindles have axle flanges, washers and nuts holding them in place, not just the nut and washer like front wheels. Sounds good to me! Would I do this If the spindles weren't already turned down, probably not but that's only because I never heard of this before and until something becomes wide spread in use you can never feel 100% about anything. If I was worried about it I would not have done it.
I've got a 79 with 25,500 miles. The rear suspension had never been touched until I bought it a couple months ago. It's apparent the car was very well stored. All the rubber and even the tires are original and believe it or not, everything is in very good shape. I had to change out the brake calipers and put on new pads, of course. Now I have 'the squeak' which I suspect are the wheel bearings. I've put less then a couple hundred miles on it since bought. I imagine the bearings are squeaking due to the 38 years on the car. Can't they just be greased some how? Is that just foolish talk. smh
Last edited by SpeedRacerMach; Jun 22, 2017 at 07:48 PM.
I've got a 79 with 25,500 miles. The rear suspension had never been touched until I bought it a couple months ago. It's apparent the car was very well stored. All the rubber and even the tires are original and believe it or not, everything is in very good shape. I had to change out the brake calipers and put on new pads, of course. Now I have 'the squeak' which I suspect are the wheel bearings. I've put less then a couple hundred miles on it since bought. I imagine the bearings are squeaking due to the 38 years on the car. Can't they just be greased some how? Is that just foolish talk. smh
I would say it's overdue for some fresh grease even if the squeak is from something else. GM didn't use synthetic grease as far as I know in 79 so it's probably a bit chunky in there. I would want to replace any grease approaching 40 years old for peace of mind.
I agree with the dude above, I read years ago that those greasers and added zerks do not get the grease where it needs to go. I haven't done a lot of these but an educated guess would be that fresh bearings and grease should last at least 60K with normal driving.
Rear wheel bearings
