Mine are due for adjustment.... Gonna do that tomorrow. I read Clarks Garage, and it's a fairly complete writeup, except that it doesn't tell how to PACK them... or if I need to pack them...

So, how often do they need to be packed? and, to pack them, pull em out of the housing, roll em around in grease, put em back in, and adjust, correct?

thanks guys!

 

I don't think there's a specific time frame in which to re-pack wheel bearings but I'd at least inspect them every year or so and re-pack when I have them apart.

I don't think rolling them around in some grease really constitutes packing. You can buy a messy but easy bearing packer at any auto parts store for a couple of bucks or you can use the extremely messy hand packing method. You need to get the new grease pressed into the bearings not just on the outside of them.

 

Ok. The bearings haven't been touched in the 3 years I've owned the car... I"m geussing I should pack em.

I'm assuming a packer can be purchased at Autozone or something like that, for cheap...

 

To do it right you should clean all the old grease out with varsol, inspect them and then repack however you want, I just use my hands.

 

You can also get a bearing packer for a cheap price at your local auto parts store. You buy nice synthetic moly grease, put it in the bottom, put the lower cover on, throw the bearing in, put the cap on and just press down and twist. Not a biggie, but definitely a good thing to check out.

 

packing by hand works fine, you just can't be afraid of covering yourself in grease.

also, the bearings really aren't expensive, at least compared to many other parts for these cars (i think 20-25 bucks per side?), so if it's been a while you might want to replace anyway, or at least have them on hand in case yours don't look so hot.

 

so pretty much, if they're badly scored then replace em?

 

"so pretty much, if they're badly scored then replace em?"


WOW! over 4,000 posts, and its obvious you've never held a wheel bearing in your hand!


Well............you need to do some more reasearch and get some experience with any wheel bearings, my friend. If a wheel bearing shows ANY kind of wear AT ALL.........blueing, pitting, wear marks on the races........ they need/should be replaced. As said above, remove them from car, CLEAN THEM WELL (all contaminants out). Same with the inside of hubs.
If your wimpy, and not liking to get your hands greasy.......go buy one of those cheapy bearing packer tools at nearly any auto parts store, use a good moly wheel bearing grease (DON'T GET CHEAP HERE), and go for it. You can repack the good, and CLEAN bearings in your hand by putting a gob of the grease in the palm of one hand, and taking the bearing with the other, and FORCE grease into the bearing cage area all the way around it, till it won't hold anymore grease in it. Put a gob of grease in between the bearings in the hubs, a little on the spindle and races, and fine film of it to lightly lube the "brand new" bearing seal surface. (it'd be a shame to go thru all this, only to have water wash out your wheel bearing because the seal was sub-par). The next biggest worry you have then, is to get them adjusted properly.
Call up any bearing supply house, tell them you want wheel bearings/races/seals for your car, and they can help you out. Timken bearings are the best name brand IMHO, but there are others as well (german made too).

 

i did my 944 bearings in the 914 tonite. ....yeah, but anyway, i bought new ones, smeared tons of grease on them, them put a ton around them, put them in the palm of my hand, and pressed them like im making hamburgers. You can feel the grease squeeze into them. The key is...rubber gloves.

 

I did my front wheel bearings last June.

Wear rubber gloves. Make sure wou work the grease into the bearings, using your thumb to work the grease into the bearing.

Note how much grease came out of the hub when you clean it. I put in close to 1/2 of one of those cardboard cans in on each side.

I _strongly_ recommend making the wheel bearing adjustment procedure easier by counting the number of turns of the nut when taking off the hub on each side. This way, you will be at least close when you re-install everything.

You may need the assistance of a machine shop to press out the old races, and press in the new races.

 

Granite, you're right. 4000 posts, an engine rebuild, suspension upgrades, all sorts of stuff...never touched a wheel bearing... I'll keep all that in mind tomorrow.

 

All I can say to that is, sounds like you started out with all the real tough stuff first........saved the no brainer stuff for last! You'll do just fine!

 

Anecdote: I was doing the rear bearings on a 924 and the manual said "have a professional press the races into the arm so that they are aligned straight" I thought to myself "Nah" and used a 2x4 and a hammer to pound them back in. Installed the rear arm and never had a problem with it. Probably more luck than anything else.

 

Final question before I tackle this...

can I use brake cleaner to remove all the grit, grime, and contaminates from the bearing?

 

Yes. Wear gloves. Brake clean is nasty carcinogenic stuff.

Dal.