Bearing removal - Non Porsche
02-21-2009, 10:35 PM
#1
Team Owner
Thread Starter
Bearing removal - Non Porsche
Hey All
Just thought I would share with you a little project i have been working on since last November. Obviously not an urgent one and not even on my Porsche, but it may be knowledge for those of you who fancy such things on your Porsche.
My Audi was having some starnge noises on the front right wheel. The culprit was determined to be the front right wheel bearing. It is not your typical type bearing but one of those kind fully enclosed with the bearing pressed in ( it is a front wheel drive audi ) . it was 150.00 for the nuckle assembly from the local supplier. I got the number off the bearing and searched everywhere and could not find one. Sourced one from Autohausaz and had it shipped to a friends house we were visiting over christmas in Ohio ( 40.00 ) . Picked it up christmas eve , opened it up , and sure enough , made in Toronto Ontario Canada .... go figure ... oh well......
So then I got the bearing home and decided to pull the bearing out of the nuckle with a hub shark type thing on a loan a tool program. basiclly it is a series of cylinders and plates to drive the bearing out ... no chance in hell, Even with my impact and air compressor that thing was not going anywhere. Struggled with it for 3 days even drove it with a sledge and no go . Started to think 146.00 for the assembly looked good. Plus now I have spent for the bearing too ..... this project is getting cheaper all the time. Now I have the nuckle out of the car to hit it in my vice so you can add the cost of an alignment to that too . Well I guess there is no going back now ..... so i don't know what to do next , think maybe I will take it to a machine shop and pay some guy to drive it out and replace the bearing. let it sit for a month or 2 while I pondered my situation.
Was reading the paper last week and saw something interesting .. a 12.5 ton shop press ..... and it is on sale too .... 129.00 and includes the steel plates... now I think THAT might work ... an excuse to buy tools .... so off i go and buy this 129.00 shop press to replace my 40.00 bearing .. you can tell now money is NOT the issue ,, I am not gonna let this thing kick my ***...
so I get this 150lb thing home and build it . let it sit there all shiney for a week ..today I got to work . i went back and borrowed the hub shark kit again because I have no adapters for my press , just a press.
The left pic is the brand new 150lb 119.00 press. The right pic is the hub shark kit I borrowed , you will see this will be invaluable, and pictured below is the challenge, the nuckle assembly with the race still pressed in , i have removed the hub and the internals, only the race left, you can see it is coroded in , and there is a burr where i whcked it with a sledge and missed a little . I think THAT will come back to haunt me ...
..to be continued ...
Just thought I would share with you a little project i have been working on since last November. Obviously not an urgent one and not even on my Porsche, but it may be knowledge for those of you who fancy such things on your Porsche.
My Audi was having some starnge noises on the front right wheel. The culprit was determined to be the front right wheel bearing. It is not your typical type bearing but one of those kind fully enclosed with the bearing pressed in ( it is a front wheel drive audi ) . it was 150.00 for the nuckle assembly from the local supplier. I got the number off the bearing and searched everywhere and could not find one. Sourced one from Autohausaz and had it shipped to a friends house we were visiting over christmas in Ohio ( 40.00 ) . Picked it up christmas eve , opened it up , and sure enough , made in Toronto Ontario Canada .... go figure ... oh well......
So then I got the bearing home and decided to pull the bearing out of the nuckle with a hub shark type thing on a loan a tool program. basiclly it is a series of cylinders and plates to drive the bearing out ... no chance in hell, Even with my impact and air compressor that thing was not going anywhere. Struggled with it for 3 days even drove it with a sledge and no go . Started to think 146.00 for the assembly looked good. Plus now I have spent for the bearing too ..... this project is getting cheaper all the time. Now I have the nuckle out of the car to hit it in my vice so you can add the cost of an alignment to that too . Well I guess there is no going back now ..... so i don't know what to do next , think maybe I will take it to a machine shop and pay some guy to drive it out and replace the bearing. let it sit for a month or 2 while I pondered my situation.
Was reading the paper last week and saw something interesting .. a 12.5 ton shop press ..... and it is on sale too .... 129.00 and includes the steel plates... now I think THAT might work ... an excuse to buy tools .... so off i go and buy this 129.00 shop press to replace my 40.00 bearing .. you can tell now money is NOT the issue ,, I am not gonna let this thing kick my ***...
so I get this 150lb thing home and build it . let it sit there all shiney for a week ..today I got to work . i went back and borrowed the hub shark kit again because I have no adapters for my press , just a press.
The left pic is the brand new 150lb 119.00 press. The right pic is the hub shark kit I borrowed , you will see this will be invaluable, and pictured below is the challenge, the nuckle assembly with the race still pressed in , i have removed the hub and the internals, only the race left, you can see it is coroded in , and there is a burr where i whcked it with a sledge and missed a little . I think THAT will come back to haunt me ...
..to be continued ...
Last edited by theiceman; 01-09-2013 at 10:14 AM.
02-21-2009, 11:31 PM
#2
Team Owner
Thread Starter
Bearing part two ...
The only real trick really is figuring out the forces you need , keeping the thing square , and having the clearances for the press to work ....
the first pic ( sorry about the crap quality ... ) i put one of the disks in slightly bigger than the bearing curvature but would sit in the race. Buggered my press up on the first use as the hole in the middle wrecked the end of my press. Got smart and put the big threaded shaft with the nut welded on the end through the whole and repeated it. The plates have cut outs that the rod coud go through. The second atempt worked better . I was a little nervous as the pumping got tougher but all of a sudden it sounded like a gun went off as it released. The bearing went as far as the plate but no further obviously. Then I put one of the bigger cylinders under the nuckle. The press could then push the race into the cylinder , worked like a charm.
picture two ... victory ,, the race is out .......
If you looked carefully at the pic on the previous post you can see the burr I made ..
pic 3 . I used the dremmel and a stone to take off the burr. That 4 minutes of work saved me some serious headache I am sure ...
notw there is no restriction.
I put the new bearing on , started pumping and got it in totally crooked and jammed . wasted half an hour and a fair bit of sweat undooing it I was worried about my bearing , but i did get it out eventually.
Second atempt i used a tamping hammer and one of the big plates to get it started square. This was a lot easier . Once it started it was just about figuring the clearances.
pic 4 .. i placed one of the big cylinders underneath the nuckle to keep it squareas the nuckle did not lie flat , and used one of the plates with the rod and nut again to drive the bearing in. This went fairly smooth. Of course eventually the bearing goes flush with the nuckle and i still have to go further in but my plate is to big .. time to stop ......
Well the only thing i can use to press it in further is the old race, but if i force that in I am back where i started .. I have to plan ahead on this one....
pic 5 .. i decide to get a little imaginative . I placed one of the plates on top of my new bearing.
pic 6 . I placed the old bearing race on top of that sandwiching the plate.
pic 7 .. then I put a bigger plate on that ... put my bolt through, and prepare to push my whole "ice cream sandwich " in . I can't help but think back to the "K-tel patti stacker " but i think i just dated myself...
the whole thing goes in fairly smoothly and I feel the bearing hit the end of travel ... now I have the bearing in place , a plate trapped inside and a race half pushed in that is wedged solid.
pic 8 and 9 .. now it is easy . i just flip it over , drop my rod and nut back through the plate that is floating between the two races , and mount it on top of a large cylinder again for clearance.
i pushed out the plate and the old race with it and I am done..... a perfectly installed bearing....
The mounting of the hub in the inner race was easy, I just put the hub down on the plate, placed the bearing over it pushed the inner race on to it using a smaller plate.
oh .. by the way .. the noise was being caused by a bad tire ...
i must say i thoroughly enjoyed defeating this bearing. i think I might just get a bearing for the other side and do it since i have the tools and the know how now, and I need an allignment anyway. If I do the other side the press will have payed for itself.
so on to the next project .....
the first pic ( sorry about the crap quality ... ) i put one of the disks in slightly bigger than the bearing curvature but would sit in the race. Buggered my press up on the first use as the hole in the middle wrecked the end of my press. Got smart and put the big threaded shaft with the nut welded on the end through the whole and repeated it. The plates have cut outs that the rod coud go through. The second atempt worked better . I was a little nervous as the pumping got tougher but all of a sudden it sounded like a gun went off as it released. The bearing went as far as the plate but no further obviously. Then I put one of the bigger cylinders under the nuckle. The press could then push the race into the cylinder , worked like a charm.
picture two ... victory ,, the race is out .......
If you looked carefully at the pic on the previous post you can see the burr I made ..
pic 3 . I used the dremmel and a stone to take off the burr. That 4 minutes of work saved me some serious headache I am sure ...
notw there is no restriction.
I put the new bearing on , started pumping and got it in totally crooked and jammed . wasted half an hour and a fair bit of sweat undooing it I was worried about my bearing , but i did get it out eventually.
Second atempt i used a tamping hammer and one of the big plates to get it started square. This was a lot easier . Once it started it was just about figuring the clearances.
pic 4 .. i placed one of the big cylinders underneath the nuckle to keep it squareas the nuckle did not lie flat , and used one of the plates with the rod and nut again to drive the bearing in. This went fairly smooth. Of course eventually the bearing goes flush with the nuckle and i still have to go further in but my plate is to big .. time to stop ......
Well the only thing i can use to press it in further is the old race, but if i force that in I am back where i started .. I have to plan ahead on this one....
pic 5 .. i decide to get a little imaginative . I placed one of the plates on top of my new bearing.
pic 6 . I placed the old bearing race on top of that sandwiching the plate.
pic 7 .. then I put a bigger plate on that ... put my bolt through, and prepare to push my whole "ice cream sandwich " in . I can't help but think back to the "K-tel patti stacker " but i think i just dated myself...
the whole thing goes in fairly smoothly and I feel the bearing hit the end of travel ... now I have the bearing in place , a plate trapped inside and a race half pushed in that is wedged solid.
pic 8 and 9 .. now it is easy . i just flip it over , drop my rod and nut back through the plate that is floating between the two races , and mount it on top of a large cylinder again for clearance.
i pushed out the plate and the old race with it and I am done..... a perfectly installed bearing....
The mounting of the hub in the inner race was easy, I just put the hub down on the plate, placed the bearing over it pushed the inner race on to it using a smaller plate.
oh .. by the way .. the noise was being caused by a bad tire ...
i must say i thoroughly enjoyed defeating this bearing. i think I might just get a bearing for the other side and do it since i have the tools and the know how now, and I need an allignment anyway. If I do the other side the press will have payed for itself.
so on to the next project .....
Last edited by theiceman; 01-09-2013 at 10:14 AM.
02-21-2009, 11:40 PM
#3
Addict
Awesome job. When I did the fronts on the 911 I used a torch on the aluminum hubs and Ice on the race. All I needed was a 4 pound hammer, a couple of BIG sockets, and a block of wood. slipped right in. There is a small lip that fooled me for a while, but they were in all along.
02-21-2009, 11:48 PM
#4
Team Owner
Thread Starter
Doug that bearing race was 2 inches deep , there was no way in hell it was coming out .. the ones on my rotors were WAY easier ..
