For the life of me I cant knock out the bearing races on the passenger side for my axle rebuild. They are in there good! Im worried that when I lost the wheel bearing and everything heated up the may have welding in place. Any ideas?
Removing stuck axle bearing races?
- Thread starter Fiveo
- Start date
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Apply heat judiciously. I use a MAPP torch, but propane would work fine and probably be better if you've never done this before. The idea is to heat the race enough to cause it to swell slightly, thereby becoming larger in diameter and easier to remove.
-Spike
-Spike
Bigger hammer and a punch.
You might try putting a wet towel in the spindle to keep it cool(er). I don't know for sure, but I always assume I need to heat the race fast and get it off before the underlying metal gets hot and expands too.
-Spike
-Spike
Works every time,weld a bead on it ,all the way around.It will fall out! Mike
Um, which bearing races? Knuckle bearings? Wheel bearings? People are talking about spindles? Are you talking about getting the races out of the front hub after you took it off the spindle? Or are you unable to remove the hub due to exploded bearing? Where are we here - exactly?
DougM
DougM
- Thread starter
- #8
Sorry guys Newb here. I'm talking the races for the housing unit that the birf and axle slides into. One on the top and one on the bottom. You knock the top one out by hitting it upward and the bottom by hitting down. There are two notches on each one to knock at with a punch. In the FAQ it shows using a socket extension. When I use the extension it just flatens the socket extension
Sounds like the trunion bearing races to me. Mine took some patience and lot of solid whacks using a brass drift and big hammer. The trick is to work the race out evenly. 2 hits in one notch, 2 hits in the other, repeat. This keeps the race from getting wedged on an angle.
I've put stuck pieces in the freezer over night and then hit the race with a bead of weld.
What, you only got a small freezer? 
Take a bright light and examine it closely to be sure you don't have it crooked coming out. That will surely jam it badly. If you can see it's crooked, just bang on the correct side until you get it moving again then back to each side in turn. I've taken a bunch of them out and never had an issue with the punch/hammer approach. The upper ones are a bit tougher because you can't get a proper swing from underneath and it's harder to be consistent. Try getting a lower one out first to get a feel for it.
DougM
DougM
These are goners anyway, use a punch (a long one and not a brass one--use a hard metal one) and smash the crap outta them after you level them out. Go from side to side evenly.
Weld idea is a good one too.
-o-
Weld idea is a good one too.
-o-
I assumed you were doing wheel bearings on the spindle. If it's the trunnion bearings, heating the race wouldn't help, you'd want to heat the knuckle.
Pounding the living crap out of them (evenly) is probably your best option. Trunnion bearings shouldn't be able to get hot enough to 'weld' themselves in. I guess that's where I got the idea these were wheel bearings.
-Spike
Pounding the living crap out of them (evenly) is probably your best option. Trunnion bearings shouldn't be able to get hot enough to 'weld' themselves in. I guess that's where I got the idea these were wheel bearings.
-Spike
scottm
SILVER Star
So, is it this race? Maybe I got lucky, but tapping alternate sides kept the race from cocking and jambing as it came out. There are open spots on each side of the housing for access to the back, probably you already found them. Heat is of course your friend, and patience.
If you don't have a torch, try using a dremmel tool and a cut off wheel. It will heat the race up fairly well. On one of those 1 am wrenching sessions I started a race in upside down. I used the dremmel to cut into the race to create a groove to put a flat head on to pound it out. You could even cut throught most of the race with one if it gets down to it.
Buck
Buck
