Not knowing the maintenance history of my '66 C2, My next project
is repacking the front wheel bearings. The disc are ok (not great) but I
don't want to go through the aggravation of drilling out the rivets.
Can anyone think of anything in particular I should be concerned about except
keeping the brake pads apart to reinstall the calipers?
Bud

 

No. This was intended to be routine maintenance. Not knowing the age/condition of the seals, you should probably have a pair on-hand before you begin. The only 'trick' is adjusting the bearing load and that is well described in the manuals. Obviously, you should also inspect the bearings for wear.

 

Make sure the new bearings are clean and get a really good packing of good grease.
Look for any damage from prior owners before assembly.

Adjust the wheel bearing properly on install, too tight and the bearings burn up, too loose and they beat themselves to death.
Use a brake cleaner on the rotors before putting the caliper back on just so no grease is introduced to your brake pads.

Pretty straight forward job other than that. One you will never have to do again on your car.

 

Snug up the bearing with a wrench, loosen it and tighten it up as tight as you can with your bare hand.. Then back it off for the cotter key....

 

Use whatever tightening method it takes (wrench usually) to end up with "just perceptible" play in the bearings (wheels) when you try to rock the the wheels - that is what you are shooting for. Amen (unless some higher authority comes up with a better methodology

 

Check your Chevrolet Chassis Service Manual for reinstallation. I believe you tighten the nut to a drag and then back it off and tighten it again to 12 in. lbs. while rotating the rotor and then back it off 1 flat of the nut. Don't take my word as it has been a while and the General has all of the info you need. After adjustment, you will have a bit of play.

 

The way I always do them is to get the bearings greased and installed. Snug the nut while turning the rotor until it binds, back off, do it again 3 more times. Then snug up by hand, no wrench, pin it and check for play. Coming up I was surprised how I saw mechanics adjusting front bearings, as they all seem to go by their own feel. Sometimes the wheel was rocking clearly on the bearings and they sent it.

The rear bearings everyone gets nervous about, because of all the hype with corvette rear bearings. The fronts are also tapered roller bearings only slip fit but they should set the same way, why would it be acceptable to have more play in the front?

Once you pin it, there should be no rocking or binding. If too loose go over it again, there is no limit to setup. If the holes in the nut don't line up before they are too tight, you can run the nut on a piece of emery cloth to sand it down and change the index. I use a surface grinder to remove a few thousands, but you can do it by hand- if needed.

 

Nice write up Gary and a good method to follow.

One tip shared years ago by a good old mechanic that stuck with me and always helps verify proper wheel nut settings. The threads are not always perfect on used spindles so the tightening can be touchy, knowing when the nut is actually tightening or if you are fighting less than perfect threads can be an issue.

There is the large washer between the Nut and the bearing. As the nut is tightened the washer starts to get tight. If you can take a standard maybe 7" flat blade screw driver and move that washer with a little mild drag on it the nut is adjusted perfectly. these washers are always a little larger than the spindle threads. The washer will move a visible amount side to side as you push lightly with the screwdriver. If the washer slips easy with almost no pressure, the nut is loose. If the washer does not move or you have to use some pressure to move it you are tight. The advantage of this system is it takes good threads or bad threads out of the equation. A light drag on the washer movement is perfect and so easy to verify. The feel is similar to the drag you feel when pulling a feeler gauge through a perfectly adjusted rocker arm on solid lifters. You feel when it is tight , loose or perfect.

Federal Mogul had lots of information on proper setting of the wheel bearings since they made and sold both BCA Bearings and National Seals and were expected to provide this type information to customers. In automotive National and BCA were the largest provider of these parts for 40 years. Timken was bigger in Heavy Duty and Axle builders but BCA/National was the largest Automotive supplier.
With access and training to several recommended ways OEM and Aftermarket to properly set axle torque the old mechanics words have proven as accurate and repeatable as any I have seen. All of Gary's note is spot on also.
If you choose any other method use the washer tip to double check your work, it gets the play out and you know if you are correct. Before pounding the cover cap back on spin that wheel a few times and verify again with the Washer movement. Takes just a second or two and is great peace of mind that you are good.

Gary's note to torque it 3 times also is important because it moves any grease build ups out of the adjustment. With each of the 3 repeat torques your adjustment will be more accurate. Spinning the rotor between these initial tightenings helps settle it also. Do not over torque you can damage your new bearings. 25-30 pounds is more than enough to settle the bearings for final adjustment using the three step process Gary mentioned.

Each OEM has printed instructions for exactly how to do this job and if you read all of them they will be similar but a little different. Each will work but some are easy to follow and at the shop level we always tried to teach a repeatable method that each tech could not just remember and trust but also share with new techs and hopefully pass on solid information.

That is pretty wordy, sorry, but for a guy/gal doing this only a few times in their life it might avoid any problems and get them set up perfectly on the first try.