rear wheel bearings are bad - changing procedure?
 

Tonight I finally had time to get under the back of the car to see if I could find the culprit of the squirrely feeling I've had in the 84. Everything is in pretty good shape under there (including the bushings), but I did find that the rear wheel bearings are apparently toast. The right rear has more than an 1/8" of play top-to-bottom and the left rear is close to an 1/8" of play.

I looked through the procedure in the FSM, but I'm not quite clear. Do the retainer bolts for the hub/bearing assemblies go through the spindle and into the bearing retainer? Is that why they tell you to remove the axle and pull the spindle from the car, so that you can then reach the bolts from the inside?

Thanks in advance!

Pages 77-81:

http://editions.amospublishing.com/K...1&pagenum=1&f=

It is easiest to pull the halfshaft to remove the hub, as you have 3 bolts back there holding the hub on. As you'll probably need to get an impact wrench to break those bolts loose like shown in the above link. And that would be a good time to replace the ujoints while the half shaft is out.

Thanks Josh, that was what I needed to know!

Here is another write-up complete with part numbers and photos. :thumbs:

Instead of buying the socket to retorque the nut on the hub to 164 lbs, you can rent the
socket from a parts house-i got mine from Advance, think it was a 30 day rental. Also do not get cheap ujoints. Had issues with some of the $10.00 ones-get non greasable for $10 bux more.

If you have a good set of extensions you don't need to remove the halfshafts and u-joints(unless you just want to replace them.) A very high quality TORX T55 bit is important.

^Exactly....and a huge time saver...

Three T55s on the inside of the hub....take the brake caliper loose "LAST"

Use the parking break to hold it all still while you break everything loose.

So you position the T55 where you can get to it, have your wife pull the E-brake and then you can break that one lose.......have her release the E-brake, rotate the hub, break the next one.

Make sure you break the hub bolt loose on the outside

Now take the brake caliper off and remove the bearing

Interesting. Must be a typo in my service manual saying the bolts are T45 instead of the T55 everyone says they are - or could that be an 84-87 thing?

Later years have a teflon coated washer in there that should be replaced at the sametime, but I am not sure about the early C4s.

You do if you can't break those bolts loose by hand. I had to use an impact wrench.

The easy way to break that large spindle nut loose is you take the wheel off. Remove center cap. Install wheel and lower on ground. Now you can break that large nut loose since the tire is on the ground.

I had the caliper and rotor off when I did mine.

^^maybe you are right....it's one of those things that I look at when I am there.......and it's been a year since I was messing with bearings.

[QUOTE=Sidney004;1575016819]If you have a good set of extensions you don't need to remove the halfshafts and u-joints(unless you just want to replace them.) QUOTE]
:iagree:
I did mine in the spring and used extensions and a breaker bar -it wasn't as tough a job as I thought it would be. The info that I found here searching made it pretty easy to follow!

I did mine just like Jhammons01, no bad info here; you rotate the hub to position the extensions and rachet in the proper orientation, you set the parking brake to prevent any movement to the hub while you apply torque to break them loose. The T55 is a 3/8" but you have to use a 3/8" to 1/2" conversion tool to use the 1/2" rachet to get enough torque. They are tight(mine had never been replaced) but mine were not too bad(I am 5'4" and 155# and did it lying on my back with jackstands), each job is different though. If your bearing is totally shot(like both of mine were, the bearing body was no longer in one integral piece) the 36mm nut will be finger tight. You may ultimately have to take the halfshafts off to use an impact wrench if you can't break them loose. I try to do the least amount possible.

I see what you are saying. Though, I had the caliper and rotor off and didn't apply any E-brake when I did mine.

I think they are intending to mean that you rotate the hub so that the half shaft is rotated, such that you make it easier to get to each of the T55 bolts. I don't think they are trying to say that the T55 bolts are moving.

Steven

Yes, you have to rotate the halfshaft to get access to the 3 bolts if you remove them by hand.

I see what you are saying. I had the caliper and rotor off, and didn't apply any E-brake when I did mine.

This was a job I remember well because I had to do it twice on the same wheel, long story. Anyway, there are many ways to skin this cat and you do not have to remove the half shaft. The proper tools are the most important. I got a set of 1/2 drive impact torx bits, but they are longer than the normal ones, Harbor Freight has them. It makes getting into the back of the spindle to get at the bolts easy. A good universal joint and some extensions attached to a cordless impact gun is all you need to break those 3 bolts loose. I bought the socket for the hub nut, its a standard size available at any parts store for less than $15. I used the impact gun to remove the nut and a 1/2 drive torque wrench to install and properly torque it (my wrench goes to 200lbs). It helps to have someone rotate the wheel to gain access to the bolts as the u-joints do get in the way, and if you are doing this on your back like most us did, help does come in handy.

I would consider replacing your u-joints on your half shafts as well as the bearings. Get the good ones though and they are not that expensive. Corvette Central had them for me. Its easier to do the job when removing the half shaft. I used 1/4 inch drive extensions to remove the inner retainers at the pumpkin and then removed the hub nut, shock bolt, tie rod end, spring bolt and trailing arm bolts to remove the spindle and everything followed. You can leave the spindle attached (don't remove the trailing arm bolts) and work the shaft out once the hub nut is off. There are pictures of it that someone on the forum posted.

Its not a bad job if you have the tools and the time. It took me 4 hour, 2 beers and a pizza. Good luck.

This is extremely important. Don't buy one from harbor freight. If you strip one of the torx bolts out, you will be majorly screwed.

I bought a T55 3/8 drive from Snap-On. Money well spent!!

Be sure and replace the teflon washers behind the bearings or you will be doing this again real soon.

Chang them, you'll be sorry if you don't