Hi, I have a 87 "S" I want to inspect my front wheel bearings. Do I need to replace the seals if I remove the bearings..... I would like to pull out the bearings, Repack and Properly tension them. Can this be done without buying any parts? If I find a bad one I will replace of course.
Thanks

 

up i go....

 

It's possible, but I see no way to properly repack the inner bearing without pulling the grease seal. You will probably destroy the grease seal when removing it. Haynes manual shows someone casually prying it out with a screwdriver...yeah..right!! I had to use the proper seal pulling tool. It would also be difficult to remove all of the old grease with the inner bearing still in the hub, unless you had one of those ultrasonic cleaners. Grease seals are cheap. Think I only paid~$8.00 each at the dealership! If you still have the original bearings in your '87, then I'd say it's time to replace them. I've done it several times, and it's not too difficult. The only troublesome part is removing the bearing races. You have to heat up the hub, (some "bake" their's in an oven, I just throw mine on top of a kerosene heater for about 20 min...clean out as much grease as possible before cooking the hub!) To remove the outer bearing race, I drop a socket with a short extension into the hub that fits perfectly ( I think 1-1/16th ??) onto the back side of the outer bearing race, and pound it out. Inner races are a little more difficult, because you can't use the socket method. I use the shorter "prong" on an open end wrench to punch out the race. Just tap on the closed end of the wrench several times, then go to the other side. You want to tap the race out evenly so it doesn't bind. You could probably use a large screwdriver, but I think that would increase your chances of marring the hub. To insert the races, I bought one of those seal/race driver tools by Lisle. I had to modify the size of the punch "plates" in order to clear the inside of the hub. Just spun them in a drill and held emory cloth against them 'till they were the proper size. You have to heat up the hub again to drive in the races. Some find it helpful to freeze the new races which shrinks them a little. I also put a thin film of grease on the outside of the race to make it slip in easier. Probably more than you wanted to know, but it's Sunday, and I actually have nothing to do today!

 

Lizard.. excellent post.

 

Yeah good one. That Lisle tool is a must have, grease packer is handy also. If you don't want to buy a new tool, you can use the old bearing race to drive in the new one.

 

Anyone have an expldoed view, from the IPC?

 

I have the PET illustration, but quite frankly, the graphics look like poop when sized large enough to read, and it doesn't show the bearing races. There is a great pic in the workshop manual, but I don't have a scanner Maybe I can photograph it after my digital recharges. I've been wanting to try some of this fancy schmancy picture posting stuff anyway!