Rear axle shaft bearing removal and can I reuse

[mosman58]

Bearing stuck on shaft - assume I rent a puller. Any other suggestions appreciated. Also the splines look OK - thoughts also appreciated.

 

[Daily02]

I used a cutoff wheel on the outer race, carefully ground the inner race thin in several spots without grinding the shaft. At that point some light blows with a hammer and a chisel brought the inner race right off. A proper puller would have been easier.

A real pain is when the outer bearing breaks and the race is stuck in the control arm. A double ball expanding fixture was required for driving the race out of the arm.

 

Regards

 

Dono

[tech71]

If you want to get the bearing off intact you would need a bearing separator and press. 

[71bmr02]

rent or buy a split bearing separator.  after that you'll need a hydraulic press to install a new bearing. if you have an in with a garage they will likely have the tools to do the job

[Son of Marty]

If you pull the axle I would recomend spending the 90 bucks for the bearing set and seal it's the kind of job you only want to do once and be done.

[mosman58]

Thanks this is what I was going to use

[71bmr02]

what son of marty says, once and done.  torque on the nut is 250ish, i had to get a friend that outweighs me by a few stone to get the torque wrench to click.  that split bearing removal tool will work but you'll still need to get the bearing pressed on.

[jimk]

Is that typical that the inner bearing is a tight fit.  I've never struggled to tap the axle out leaving the seal and bearing in the housing.  It shouldn't have a tighter fit to the shaft than a front wheel bearing.

[TobyB]

I think the separator/puller that you linked should work- like Jim, I haven't found them to be on there TOO tight, usually.

 

Quote

 I would recommend spending the 40 bucks for the bearings and seal

 

The bearing's pretty standard, as is the seal.  Any decent quality (SKF, FAG, Koyo) bearings last almost forever.

More Information for NATIONAL RW122

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IF the inner face of the stub and the spacer aren't worn.  If they are, the bearings will fail in short order if you 

don't reset the spacer to prevent pre(over)loading them.

 

As to reusing the STUB, (which is what I think you meant) the wear is usually more evident on the hub with that kind

of formed spline.  The earlier cut splines wear first, but the upgraded version were much tougher.  So check your

hub.  If it fits without any wobble, it's reusable.  It doesn't have to be a press fit.

But as I said above, also check where the hub compresses against the inner race and the spacer- if there's any

wear there, I tended to replace.  Although re- spacing will work, too.

 

hth

t

 

[mosman58]

Thanks - got the bearing off. Will clean everything and fit new seals and bearings and check for play.

[jimk]

The bearing numbers can be cross referenced to sealed bearings these days, tempting thought.  It's a std deep groove ball bearing built for axial thrust.

[mosman58]

Agree - but the good old ball bearings look pretty good after 47 years 😀 - but I’m going to replace them anyway.