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Good afternoon. I have a 1977 Vette with 58,000 original miles. I purchased new Timken bearings and wanted to replace the original bearings. When reading the Haynes manual, it states never use new races with old bearings. Is the opposite also true? If I replace old bearings with new, I should not use old races? (I am assuming the old races will be OK) Thanks for any help for a newbie!
Best practice is if you change one of the bearing components, change both. They are a set that wear in together and you don't want to shorten life by forcing new to conform to old.
I have a 77 that still has the original front wheel bearings. They have been cleaned and repacked several times over the years. There still just fine. A little grease goes a long way.
That said. Always replace bearings as a set. And if your original parts are still in good order, replacement parts are never a good idea.
I have a 77 that still has the original front wheel bearings. They have been cleaned and repacked several times over the years. There still just fine. A little grease goes a long way.
That said. Always replace bearings as a set. And if your original parts are still in good order, replacement parts are never a good idea.
I thought that as well. 58K is not a concern unless they're presenting an issue.
As I was cleaning the spindle with BrakeKleen….the are on the bracket wouldn’t clean up till I used a flat blade screwdriver. It seemed like a paper gasket was used. Not aware of any gaskets. Have I missed anything? Will try to add 2 pictures.
that is referred to as a grease seal. My experience on other vehicles is that the whole thing is removed, not just the material. Put a screwdriver between the seal housing ( what is left on the spindle) and the backing plate. Gently tap until it starts to move, trying not to mark up the spindle. The new one is installed in the hub after you pack and place the inner bearing into the hub. Tap the seal in place with a wooden block so that it is flush with the housing when you are done. Then slide the whole thing onto the spindle. The seal will hold the bearing in place until it is on the spindle. Next install the outer bearing, the washer and the nut. Snug the nut up and keep turning the wheel as you do. Once it is snug, back off one or two flats on the nut and insert the cotter pin. Make sure you put some grease inside the hub before you put it all together. Then go to the other side and repeat!
If the bearings are well packed with grease, there's no need to put grease in the hub. It can act to retain undesired heat and can fling out onto the wheel and brakes.
Last edited by barkingrats; May 18, 2026 at 11:14 PM.
that is referred to as a grease seal. My experience on other vehicles is that the whole thing is removed, not just the material. Put a screwdriver between the seal housing ( what is left on the spindle) and the backing plate. Gently tap until it starts to move, trying not to mark up the spindle. The new one is installed in the hub after you pack and place the inner bearing into the hub. Tap the seal in place with a wooden block so that it is flush with the housing when you are done. Then slide the whole thing onto the spindle. The seal will hold the bearing in place until it is on the spindle. Next install the outer bearing, the washer and the nut. Snug the nut up and keep turning the wheel as you do. Once it is snug, back off one or two flats on the nut and insert the cotter pin. Make sure you put some grease inside the hub before you put it all together. Then go to the other side and repeat!
I don't think that's part of the seal on the spindle, I think it's a dust shield that belongs there. Let's see the back side of the hub, I'll bet the steel remains of the seal is still in the bore.
Good morning. Let me start by thanking the members for taking the time to share their expertise. I removed the inner seal with a seal puller. Took some pictures.
thank you. I see in the package they contain the bearing and the races.
And, that IS SOP.
Also, for future reference, Cylinder Head Gaskets typically contain only One per package --- even when for a chevy 350 which has two cylinder banks, and Both gaskets are Identical. Only One gasket per package, SOP. They're sold as singles; not pairs. Thus that convention has prevailed before advent of chevy sbc.
As a quick aside, was watching "Time with the Durbins" YouTube channel and at the very beginning of "Repacking C3 Chevy Corvette Front Wheel Bearings" ....it shows him inspecting the spindle and saying "seal area looks good" and the dark material around the spindle looks like the material I pried out with the screwdriver. Apologize for my confusion...it seems I need to replace a seal.
Last edited by conrailbob; May 19, 2026 at 02:54 PM.
As a quick aside, was watching "Time with the Durbins" YouTube channel and at the very beginning of "Repacking C3 Chevy Corvette Front Wheel Bearings" ....it shows him inspecting the spindle and saying "seal area looks good" and the dark material around the spindle looks like the material I pried out with the screwdriver. Apologize for my confusion...it seems I need to replace a seal.
Yeah, Lots and lots of people giving bad advices on how to do things on your C3 on YT.
You will need to replace the felt seal you removed or that fell apart.
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Front wheel bearings
