Wheel Bearings Service w/Pics

[TheForger]

The No. 2 Bushings in mine ended up being the easiest of all of them I did. Mine did not have too much rust between the shell of the bushing and the bushing bore in the frame. Others have not been so lucky. A generous amount of heat helps in removing them. Good luck with yours.

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Well that’s promising! I don’t really have any issues with rust either, just very dirty. Probably should’ve cleaned before starting this hah! Did you use a ball joint press or all-thread?

 

[Bisho]

Well that’s promising! I don’t really have any issues with rust either, just very dirty. Probably should’ve cleaned before starting this hah! Did you use a ball joint press or all-thread?

I used the all thread method with heat and it was out in a couple of minutes. Much easier than pressing out the #1 bushing.

 

[OwnerCS]

Well that’s promising! I don’t really have any issues with rust either, just very dirty. Probably should’ve cleaned before starting this hah! Did you use a ball joint press or all-thread?

I sprayed penetrating oil around #2 bushing and used an electric heat gun to heat the collar so it would expand during removal. I thought the penetrating oil helped a bit. The biggest problem I had was with the low grade hardware store 1/2" rods that I used with some press cups for removal. The rods would twist up from the torque.

Better and thicker rods would have made it go faster.

 

[2001LC]

Hitting the LBJ while supporting the LCA worked like a charm! 2 hard strikes with a 3lb sledge and it came out no problem. CV is out, LCA is off, removed diff oil seal and spindle oil seal, cleaned up the brass bushing and needle bearing to find a small chip in the inner race. Glad I went ahead and got new! Drilled out the No.1 bushing in the LCA and then chiseled out the metal sleeve. Tomorrow I’m hitting the LCA and spindle with a pressure wash and scrub and then might get to work on the No.2 frame bushing. If that gives me more trouble than I care for I’ll switch to reinstalling bearing and bushing in the spindle. Forgot to mention the diff fluid looked great when I drained it. Very little metal sludge on the magnet and the oil was in great shape (last replaced about 50k ago).

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Interesting how black the inner needle bearing cage looked. Was axle discolored where bearing road?

 

[TheForger]

Interesting how black the inner needle bearing cage looked. Was axle discolored where bearing road?

I will certainly look and see later this evening and get some comparison photos between this one and the new one I bought! I planned on going back and cleaning up all the old parts to get a closer look at them.

 

[flintknapper]

Well that’s promising! I don’t really have any issues with rust either, just very dirty. Probably should’ve cleaned before starting this hah! Did you use a ball joint press or all-thread?

5/8" Allthread.

Do a search on it. It has been discussed pretty thoroughly. I don't want to side track this thread more than we have.

Good luck with yours.

 

[TheForger]

5/8" Allthread.

Do a search on it. It has been discussed pretty thoroughly. I don't want to side track this thread more than we have.

Good luck with yours.

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Yeah I've read up on that method quite a bit and already have a piece of 5/8"-11 x 16" all thread that I set aside for this purpose.

On a similar note - does anyone have a preference when it comes to Advanced Auto vs. AutoZone vs. Oreilly ball joint presses? They look like they differ just enough to matter but maybe not idk... Will obviously need it for the LBJ and I need the cups for the No.2 frame bushing

 

[flintknapper]

Yeah I've read up on that method quite a bit and already have a piece of 5/8"-11 x 16" all thread that I set aside for this purpose.

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On a similar note - does anyone have a preference when it comes to Advanced Auto vs. AutoZone vs. Oreilly ball joint presses? They look like they differ just enough to matter but maybe not idk... Will obviously need it for the LBJ and I need the cups for the No.2 frame bushing

Any of them will work. And yes, the cups are handy to have for the No. 2 bushing removal as well.

 

[OwnerCS]

Yeah I've read up on that method quite a bit and already have a piece of 5/8"-11 x 16" all thread that I set aside for this purpose.

View attachment 2679340

On a similar note - does anyone have a preference when it comes to Advanced Auto vs. AutoZone vs. Oreilly ball joint presses? They look like they differ just enough to matter but maybe not idk... Will obviously need it for the LBJ and I need the cups for the No.2 frame bushing

Advance had two kits. I had to go with the "top of the line" 4x4 press kit to get the larger cups.

 

[Bisho]

Yeah I've read up on that method quite a bit and already have a piece of 5/8"-11 x 16" all thread that I set aside for this purpose.

View attachment 2679340

On a similar note - does anyone have a preference when it comes to Advanced Auto vs. AutoZone vs. Oreilly ball joint presses? They look like they differ just enough to matter but maybe not idk... Will obviously need it for the LBJ and I need the cups for the No.2 frame bushing

I used the Oriellys press plus an Oriellys 3/4” drive 1-5/16” socket for pressing out and 1-3/8” socket for pressing in.

 

[TheForger]

Well the No.2 frame bushing is certainly giving me more issues than I care for. Anybody got any advice? I cored it out but no matter what I try I can’t collapse that outer sleeve to remove it. None of the cups I have with the ball joint kit fit it, I have an air hammer but that’s not doing a whole lot of good, and the cold chisel is very slow moving. Just keep hammering or what?? Obviously I will have to go back and clean up all those sharp edges once I get this out

 

[2001LC]

Hack saw. Slice it. Start with one, but may need two slices. Then curl it inward!

 

[Eyedaho]

Yup. Cut it. At this point 20 minutes with a hacksaw or a few minutes with a powered saw will get you there. Don't forget that you can put the hacksaw blade through the hole, then reattach it to the saw frame.

 

[2001LC]

Next one get a drift the fits perfect. Either use @flintknapper heating technique.
Or
A very strong bolt along with strong and perfect sized drift. Like this:
BTW: This was a prototype, with very strong bolt as puller.
As @flintknapper so kindle pointed out. Turning bolt rather than nut, can result in loss of torque if bolts shaft flexes and could have resulted in the busting bolt/puller. But as you'll see it didn't. Key is, the drift must fit bushing perfectly and squarely.

 

[TheForger]

Next one get a drift the fits perfect. Either use @flintknapper heating technique.
Or
A very strong bolt along with strong and perfect sized drift. Like this:
BTW: This was a prototype, with very strong bolt as puller.
As @flintknapper so kindle pointed out. Turning bolt rather than nut, can result in loss of torque if bolts shaft flexes and could have resulted in the busting bolt/puller. But as you'll see it didn't. Key is, the drift must fit bushing perfectly and squarely.

Yeah I watched that video a few times and planned on mimicking it, I just assumed that at least one of the cups in this ball joint press would fit it perfectly. Might take @Bisho advice and go get a 3/4” socket that fits since all of mine are either 3/8” or 1/2” which won’t allow my 5/8” all thread to pass through

 

[2001LC]

We'd all wish the kits, had the correct size drift.

Sockets work great. But if a difficult bushing frozen in. The round edge of even a prefect fitting socket. It may slip getting cockeyed, which can works against you.

With both @flintknapper and my drifts (ground down sockets press tool). The driving end was squared. That is KEY to catch lip of bushing and squarely press!

 

[flintknapper]

Well the No.2 frame bushing is certainly giving me more issues than I care for. Anybody got any advice? I cored it out but no matter what I try I can’t collapse that outer sleeve to remove it. None of the cups I have with the ball joint kit fit it, I have an air hammer but that’s not doing a whole lot of good, and the cold chisel is very slow moving. Just keep hammering or what?? Obviously I will have to go back and clean up all those sharp edges once I get this out

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Oh MY...........!

Mutilation.

You'll need to cut the shell at this point. If you have a hacksaw then that will work. I'd recommend doubling the blades (two side by side, most hacksaws will allow this) that will make a nice wide kerf. Go slowly and check your progress often. Once you've scored all the way through the shell, you should be able to lift an edge and peel it back.

Gotta give you an 'E' for effort there.

 

[flintknapper]

We'd all wish the kits, had the correct size drift.

Sockets work great. But if a difficult bushing frozen in. The round edge of even a prefect fitting socket. It may slip getting cockeyed, which can works against you.

With both @flintknapper and my drifts (ground down sockets press tool). The driving end was squared. That is KEY to catch lip of bushing and squarely press!

^^^^

Very important points.

 

[TheForger]

Saving the rest for tomorrow so I can pick up some hacksaw blades. Pretty sure the one on mine is the original when I bought it 5+yrs ago hah!

I quickly scrubbed and power washed the spindle and LCA then reinstalled the needle bearing, brass bushing, and oil seal.

New and old

The drivers side has always had issues for me because of what I believe to be improper servicing by past mechanics. Earlier in this thread I pointed out heavy tooling marks in and around the wheel bearings, and the back of the spindle appears to be no exception.

It also had more corrosion than the passenger side and that is very evident. Heavy pitting on both the inside and the outside of the spindle tube from what I think is contaminated grease and high temps. I definitely don’t love it but I’m going to run with it for now. I cleaned it up and polished it the best I could with a wire wheel, wet 200, 400, and 600 to at least level everything out.

Here’s what the old CV looked like

More tomorrow!

 

[2001LC]

I've seen a lot of spindles. That is by far the worst working one I've seen. The rear hub seal will not likely seal well on it. It's very likely poor seals (oil & grease cap), is what allowed water entry, causing so much rust pitting on spindle.

I'd replace steering knuckle. Used can be found for few hundred or less. At minimum avoid water crossings.