NHvette

WOW - what a nightmare this is without the "correct" tools.

Pressing the bearing assemblies apart was fairly easy, but then you end up
with the outer bearing cone (inner race) firmly pressed onto the spindle.
The recommended tool here is a "bearing separator". I have never owned
nor used one. The idea is for two bladed pieces of steel that wedge between the cone and the spindle.
Here is a 'large' one ... on sale at Harbor Freight for $9.99:


Made in China .... :rolleyes: maybe I'm lucky I didn't buy one.

I searched EVERYWHERE near me for one. No way. Need to mail order ... no time for that.

So, I made my own. I used two pieces of 2x3x1/4" steel, two short lengths
of 1/4x1/4" steel, and four pieces of 1/2" square tube ... about 1 1/2" long
each. After grinding half-rounds into each matching piece, I took it over to the
anvil and started working the curved edges by beating them into a bevel with a hammer.
This helps by forging the steel and does some "work hardening" in the area that is deformed.
Then, grind it back into shape/size and weld it all up. Final touches were done
with the grinder ... then ready to be used. I quickly found out that this homemade
separator wasn't going to get it done by itself. It needed a little help from
Mr Torch ... but not much help. About 1 minute on opposing sides of the cone
was enough heat. After that, the separator pulled right in. Once fully pulled together,
the separator is used on the hydraulic press to go the last 1/4" or so.

I quickly had my two good spindles fully dissasembled. I also took apart an
extra spindle, that I had. It has now been ground down to be my setup tool.

Tonight I will be going in the reverse direction .... assembly !!!

Click to view ....

http://webpages.charter.net/davekimt...bearing_03.jpg
http://webpages.charter.net/davekimt...bearing_04.jpg
http://webpages.charter.net/davekimt...bearing_05.jpg
http://webpages.charter.net/davekimt...bearing_06.jpg



[Modified by NHvette, 1:08 PM 4/19/2004]

Twin_Turbo

dave, your red x's never show pics for me, only on very rare occasions. Can't you get a free pic account somewhere?? I want to see your pics :)

77Dream

:iagree:

vetteboy1976kr

Where did you get that Dead Guy Ale glass? Excellent post by the way.

NHvette

Dead Guy Ale ... Jet Boat excursion on the Rogue River ... Gold Beach Oregon.

That was a cool trip. Oregon is sweet.

I guess you could skip the vacation and jet boat ride - but (3) 454s pushing a boat is pretty cool.
You can get a glass here:
https://store.rogue.com/cart.php

:seeya


[Modified by NHvette, 1:41 PM 4/19/2004]


[Modified by NHvette, 1:42 PM 4/19/2004]

70BBvert

Nice job Dave. I see those bearing splitters on ebay all the time. There's a distributor Boston selling them fairly cheap. Be carefull when you tighten them around the bearing, they can easily crush & distort the bearing. Good thimg I was replacing it anyway :D

Jim

Turbo-Jet

what is the distance between the inside face of spindle flange to the outside face of the bearing cone?

how did you get the rollers off?


:cheers:

Gary79

i had the same problem when i did my rear bearings a few years ago, no one had a bearing "blade"; i had my spindle locked in my bench vise and used 3 different chisels to slowly tap or walk the outer bearing race up and off the shaft. after i got the races off i polished the spindle shafts with some polishing compound and this made things a little easier.

NHvette

Thanks Jim ... my separator is not very hard ... so it gave way to the
hardened spindle and cone. Not much, but enough to know that the spindle
wasn't buggered up. Of course new bearings ... and they are relatively cheap.

Jeeze - $110 for all four wheels - bearings and seals.
My 89 Buick wheel bearing assembly is about $200 a wheel (for the cheap brand).


The rollers come out with a little persuasion by a big screwdriver and pliers.
Basically, use the screwdriver with a hammer to snap the cage, then bend it open and everything falls apart.

The bottom of the cone is about 3/8" wide where the separator slides under.

Gary ... I tried the air chisel ... wiped out the end of the chisel pretty good
without moving the cone a bit. Whatever technique, I say heat is the key to
easy removal here. Gotta add heat to the cone.


[Modified by NHvette, 11:53 AM 4/20/2004]

GTR1999

I have the bearing splitter made for this job.It's pretty much the same except there is a counterbore on one side and a taper on the other. the counterbore goes around the outer seal and catches the inner race. Then there are 2 jack screws to pop off the bearing. works pretty good but they run $75- $125 each. I bought mine from the guy in Michigan who makes them for $75 @ Carlisle. A friend has a nice Snap-On wall set at work and he used it to remove the bearings without any problem too. I have that 9.99 splitter and use it for the rear end pinion bearing,works very well.
Gary