How much play should be in the rear bearings after you shim them? Where can i find where to measure this?

 

The "book says ".001-.008" I set mine at .0015-.002" If you have over .004 I 'd re-adjust them if you're setting them up now or rebuild them. Check the archives for a lot of info on this topic.
Gary

 

where are we measuring from. I havent done this before.

 

You are measuring how much your spindle moves in and out of the bearing housing. You need a gage that you can mount securely to the trailing arm and then you move the spindle in and out to see how much it moves. You have to make sure that the gage is absolutely secure though. http://www.montygwilliams.com/rearbearings.html I'm sure he won't mind posting his link-It helped me and I'm sure several others.

 

The rear bearings are not as mysterious as many make them sound. What you have is a Timken cone & cup bearing setup as you have on the fronts. The big difference is the bearings are pressed on the spindle not slip fit like the fronts. To adjust the endplay and load the bearings a hub and smaller spacer are used against the inner races of the cones. The endplay is the in-out movement in the bearings. You also have to be concerned with runout, which is the "wobble movement" in the rotor/spindle flange through 360* rotation.
Back to the bearigns and endplay. There are several specialized tools out that you would need to properly setup the bearings. Removing the old bearings can be a task without the right tool. I have them but a friend just did this last week and didn't use any vettee specific tool. I was surprised he was able to remove them without damaging the spindles but he did. He used a bearing splitter he had in a puller set. So maybe you might have or know someone who has the tools you'll need. I use a fixture to hold the bearing housing and spindle setup tool vertical. I use the thickest shim that comes in the kit and then fit it to the new bearings by using a surface grinder.
I use a 20 ton press to remove and install the bearings and set them to .0015-.002 endplay. I set them up using only spindle oil on them then grease them using Mobil 1 when the endplay is correct. Check the web site Monty has and you'll get a better understanding of what I'm referring to.

Good luck if you do these. PS I also check the runout on the spindle flange and face them off if out by more then .002". I just did one yesterday that was out by .011" got it down to .001 - .002"

Gary