Replace, re-pack, or leave ‘em alone? Your thoughts?
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Jul 2017
Posts: 25
Likes: 1
From: Elkhart Indiana
Replace, re-pack, or leave ‘em alone? Your thoughts?
Hey guys, I’m planning a major front brake job in the coming weeks. (Calipers, rotors, pads, rubber lines...etc) The car stops ok but I’ve noticed it’s pulling hard left when the brakes are firmly applied and the rotors are showing signs of excessive wear. I believe these are original calipers and rotors are still rivited to the hubs.
My question is: should I go ahead and replace inner and outer wheel bearings? Clean, inspect and re-pack existing bearings, or leave them alone?
I have no reason to believe the bearings are bad. I don’t really want to open up a can of worms and I’ve got a bad habit of “well while I’ve got it apart...”
Whats your thoughts?
My question is: should I go ahead and replace inner and outer wheel bearings? Clean, inspect and re-pack existing bearings, or leave them alone?
I have no reason to believe the bearings are bad. I don’t really want to open up a can of worms and I’ve got a bad habit of “well while I’ve got it apart...”
Whats your thoughts?
Race Director
Joined: Mar 2017
Posts: 11,934
Likes: 4,497
From: Virginia
Hey guys, I’m planning a major front brake job in the coming weeks. (Calipers, rotors, pads, rubber lines...etc) The car stops ok but I’ve noticed it’s pulling hard left when the brakes are firmly applied and the rotors are showing signs of excessive wear. I believe these are original calipers and rotors are still rivited to the hubs.
My question is: should I go ahead and replace inner and outer wheel bearings? Clean, inspect and re-pack existing bearings, or leave them alone?
I have no reason to believe the bearings are bad. I don’t really want to open up a can of worms and I’ve got a bad habit of “well while I’ve got it apart...”
Whats your thoughts?
My question is: should I go ahead and replace inner and outer wheel bearings? Clean, inspect and re-pack existing bearings, or leave them alone?
I have no reason to believe the bearings are bad. I don’t really want to open up a can of worms and I’ve got a bad habit of “well while I’ve got it apart...”
Whats your thoughts?
As for the wheel bearings, this is one of the easiest things to do on a C3. 90 percent of the job is taking the calipers off and hanging them out of the way, so don't be afraid of "while I'm in there - itis" on this particular job. I used a Lisle 34550 Bearing Packer to do the messy part, but you still need to get grease on your (gloved) hands. Make sure you follow the shop manual instructions to get the correct pre-load, and have a good torque wrench.
You'll need a new bearing seal either way, but if you replace them, be sure to get genuine Timken bearings.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 2,288
Likes: 489
From: Salmon Arm, BC
Clean up the bearings as if you are going to reuse them, and then inspect them using the attached link as a reference guide. You'll soon know if they're good to reuse.
https://www.timken.com/pdf/5892_Bear...20Brochure.pdf
https://www.timken.com/pdf/5892_Bear...20Brochure.pdf
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 19,294
Likes: 2,753
From: Charlotte NC
Replacing bearings just because you want to....well...you can do that. OR....you can clean and inspect BOTH the bearing adn races and see if they actually need to be replaced. They only may need to be repacked.
IF you are going to mess around with your rotors...this area DOES take some effort from you to make sure that.... A.) IF oyu install NEW ROTORS...You get them installed and indexed correctly for proper run-out. B.) If you keep the originals and have them turned down they a re NOT being turned BELOW 1.230" .
DUB
IF you are going to mess around with your rotors...this area DOES take some effort from you to make sure that.... A.) IF oyu install NEW ROTORS...You get them installed and indexed correctly for proper run-out. B.) If you keep the originals and have them turned down they a re NOT being turned BELOW 1.230" .
DUB
Pro
Joined: Jun 2014
Posts: 706
Likes: 294
From: New Jersey
Hey guys, I’m planning a major front brake job in the coming weeks. (Calipers, rotors, pads, rubber lines...etc) The car stops ok but I’ve noticed it’s pulling hard left when the brakes are firmly applied and the rotors are showing signs of excessive wear. I believe these are original calipers and rotors are still rivited to the hubs.
My question is: should I go ahead and replace inner and outer wheel bearings? Clean, inspect and re-pack existing bearings, or leave them alone?
I have no reason to believe the bearings are bad. I don’t really want to open up a can of worms and I’ve got a bad habit of “well while I’ve got it apart...”
Whats your thoughts?
My question is: should I go ahead and replace inner and outer wheel bearings? Clean, inspect and re-pack existing bearings, or leave them alone?
I have no reason to believe the bearings are bad. I don’t really want to open up a can of worms and I’ve got a bad habit of “well while I’ve got it apart...”
Whats your thoughts?
Pull and clean the bearings, if they are good, grease them.
If they are bad, put new ones in.
Either way, put a new seal in there.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Nov 2016
Posts: 9,244
Likes: 943
From: Lake Tahoe, CA
Burning Brakes
Joined: Sep 2016
Posts: 944
Likes: 436
From: Dutchess county New York
Hey guys, I’m planning a major front brake job in the coming weeks. (Calipers, rotors, pads, rubber lines...etc) The car stops ok but I’ve noticed it’s pulling hard left when the brakes are firmly applied and the rotors are showing signs of excessive wear. I believe these are original calipers and rotors are still rivited to the hubs.
My question is: should I go ahead and replace inner and outer wheel bearings? Clean, inspect and re-pack existing bearings, or leave them alone?
I have no reason to believe the bearings are bad. I don’t really want to open up a can of worms and I’ve got a bad habit of “well while I’ve got it apart...”
Whats your thoughts?
My question is: should I go ahead and replace inner and outer wheel bearings? Clean, inspect and re-pack existing bearings, or leave them alone?
I have no reason to believe the bearings are bad. I don’t really want to open up a can of worms and I’ve got a bad habit of “well while I’ve got it apart...”
Whats your thoughts?
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Race Director
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 11,150
Likes: 890
From: South Western Ontario
You can index the rotors to the best position you can find and then bolt them to the hubs with 3 wheel nuts or get fancy and re-use the rivet holes to bolt the rotors to the hub. Then when you've pulled the bearings apart, you can get a shop to put the rotor and hub on the resurfacing machine indexed by the bearing races and give the rotors a cut to take away any remaining runout.