Mid-Birf Help needed

[ST 96 FZJ80]

I'm in the middle of re-packing birf's. Everything was going fine until Murphy and his law paid a visit. While putting hub back on found my outer bearing race is toast, but I can't seem to get it loose. I feel as if I'm pounding the crap out of it and rotating to all points (the little crescents available to get a bar on). Any tricks anyone has found?

p.s. - I was reluctant to do this, but did at the encouragement of this board. Have to say, it's going quite well, in case anyone else is contemplating doing the same. Of course, I went thru a couple print cartridges to print all the write-ups from the FAQ's...

 

[PHAEDRUS]

st,
on the inside of the hub itself ther is two 1cm wide slits. htey are probably not visible bit look for them. this is where you want to use the brass drift in the faqs and hit the race form side to side on these two slits.
dave

 

[IdahoDoug]

got a name?

My question is, which bearing are you talking about?? Wheel? Knuckle/trunion?

DougM

 

[Beowulf]

ST,

Just a minor change to Dave's advice. There are 4 crescent shaped slots inside the hub. You'll need a brass bar (aka drift) ~1' long and .5" diameter. Position one end of the bar on the bearing race surface that is under one of the slots. Use a BFH and hit the other end of the brass bar. Move to the next slot and repeat. Make sure you're getting good purchase on the rim of the race. You may need to use a grinder or something to flatten the end of the drift.

The bearing race will come out unless "toast" means other damage or rust or ? ? ? that you've not described.

-B-

 

[dd113]

Dont make the brass drift an issue. Get a cold chisle and beat the hell out of it once you finde the notches. Makes no difference if you kill it on the way out.

You should still buy a brass drift

 

[ST 96 FZJ80]

Thanks for the replies....
Yeah, I've hit the @##@# out of all four crescent shaped holes/slots from the back side of the outer bearing race (talking about the wheel bearing). Didn't have a brass drift, but did use chisel and a smallish hammer. I'll take your advice Beowulf and move up to the BFH - I agree, no need for drift, as it's already toast and I'm gonna replace it anyway.

BTW, "toast" means the surface of the race is severely scored on the lower/bottom portion of race (i.e. 6 o'clock position). When I cleaned the bearing, had gold glitter all over me. Funny thing is I can't find a single dimple, dent, pit, scoring, etc on the bearing itself. This leads me to think someone replaced the bearing, but left the race (probably b/c of same problem I'm having - can't get the freaking thing out!)

IdahoDoug - the name's Steven...somehow my handle got changed with the software switchover, and now I'm left with my goofy user/log-in name.

p.s. - I have to rant and self-hijack my thread. I trashed an oil seal trying to put it in, and got the dealer in town to get it replaced. I figured it was a small item and would be more convenient - NOT! CDan listed for $6.57 and discounted to $4.XX. This dealer charged me $11!!!! PRICE GOUGING Never mind what they wanted to charge me to replace the wheel bearings - CDan was less than half their cost.

 

[Rookie2]

I wonder if some PB Blaster or the like would help some. Couldn't hurt. I too had a hard time gettting the races out. It made nuggets out of my brass drift. I moved up to a harden still driving spike and a BFH and out it came. The races are made of steel from another planet..., wasn't the first scratch on them.

I've also had the same price gouging experiences with the local stealer. Typically 25% or so above list. C-Dan is the man!


Rookie2

 

[Scamper]

When I cleaned the bearing, had gold glitter all over me.

"Gold glitter", as in bits and pices of your spindle?

 

[landtank]

Only thing I might add is to be sure to work your way around the race as you drive it out. Hitting one side only or very hard can cock the race and really bind it up. Sounds to me that bearing got very hot and probably welded it self in there. My sister drove her car 10 miles with a bad bearing and the race was so welded onto the spindle I gave up getting it off and got here a new spindle. Not exactly your situation but similar.

Good luck

 

[Rich]

If still no success then here is an obvious option and a not so obvious option.

1) Take hub to garage / auto parts store / machine shop that has a hydraulic press and give them a few bucks to press out the bearing race. Give them a few more bucks and they will press in the new races.

2) Take hub to your best buddy who has a welder and have him lay in a continuous bead around the inner face of the bearing race without pausing. When the weld cools, the bearing will shrink, and be very easily removed. This technique is often used on old, rusty, heavy equipement where the bearings races are well frozen in their bores and there is no option to use a hydraulic press.

 

[ST 96 FZJ80]

I'll try again, but this time beating on it more with bigger hammer, making sure to take turns at each slot to avoid torquing/wedging race in hub - thanks for the input.

Scamper:
The gold glitter looked to be from the worn/toasted surface of bearing race. MUCH to my pleasure, not a thing wrong/worn/scored on spindle.
Rich:
Your option to take it to shop is being considered, depending on how lazy I am once I get the bearings.
Option #2 with welder is intriguing....might have to give it a try.


In hindsight, it's always the things you don't expect. With 100+k on this beast now, plus after seeing grease in diff fluid, was eager to service birfs in hopes they didn't show any signs of wear and tear. Birfs were in perfect shape, but bearings obviously were suffering from neglect. Next is the rears...