I suppose at this point in my life one might call me experienced, but what experience I do have came out of necessity and a Factory Service Manual. I started out in the same place as everyone else.So a press is not a specialty tool, wood you not need a puller to get the old bearing off and what do you use to hone the old pinion bearing ?
OP is just starting out and has none of these tool and little or no experience so to him and me ( I have a lot of experience) it is voodoo magic as you call it, Hell a lot of regular auto shops won't do them or send them out out
It sound like you are very experienced and have a shop full of tools !!
When you don't have much money and your vehicle is broke, you fix it, most times, without all those specialty tools. I learned the hard way early on that if you're paying someone else, then you're spending too much for a job that may or may not be done right. I don't want to open up a big can of worms here, but let me just say that a LOT of service techs do NOT follow the FSM for a given repair to the T. When you're paid by the job, you get done as fast as you can.
A press is not a necessary tool. I've seen bearings "pressed on" with a vice, or by something flat and a hammer. Any way you can deliver the needed force to the proper race without damage will work. A press is nice and I have one now, but I didn't always have such luxuries. A lot of tools can be rented free of charge from Autozone or the like. I have relied heavily on loaner tools over the years, buying my own when I could. Even now I don't have a very big or capable toolbox. Hell, for what a guy saves in $$$ by not paying someone can often times buy the tools you may need to do the job, and the next time around you're set. Ever hear of Harbor Freight?
Pullers are not needed to remove bearings from a pinion or a 3rd member of this type. A cheap aluminum oxide cut off wheel, cut through the roller cage and get down to the inner race, carefully make two diagonal relief cuts into the race. Place a chisel, or similar into the cut and smack it with a hammer, all you need is one crack to propagate and the race will slide off with little effort. Having an old bearing to use as a setup aide is a nice to have, making one requires only a bearing and a cheap cylinder hone. Not a necessity. I don't think I have ever seen this tip in an FSM.
Nobody is stopping anyone from outsourcing this work. if you don't have the tools, don't wanna F with it, I get it. I'm just here to tell you it can be done, and it need not be hard. I take satisfaction out of knowing I did the job on my own and that the repair is as good as it possibly can be, maybe y'all don't feel the same, and that's totally cool. Get a case of beer, read the FSM, and plan out the repair. Have a friend come over to hang out with you when you do it. Just don't call my friend Scott to be your garage buddy, he drops whole pizzas on the floor cheese side down and his version of rolling up a hose or cord ends up in a rats nest. Make wrenching on your rig fun again!!!
Of course you could always take the affluent approach and just go buy one of those new broncos.
This is MUD, get greasy and back on the trail.
. Thank you for all the advice.
