Rear Wheel Bearing Frustration

Hello all,

I have been struggling with my right rear wheel bearing. The inner
bearing came out no problem with only a hammer and improvised drift.
The outer bearing is not coming so easily. Speedy Jim's website makes
it sound like it should come out with only a hammer and drift, but
mine is not budging. I have invested in a bigger hammer and a set of
proper drifts, to little avail.

It's been in the driveway for a few days now. Today I rented a slide
hammer from a local auto parts place. It got the bearing race to move
about 1/16" of an inch but it doesn't seem to be going any further.
The slide hammer is a very poor fit and I've had to waste much time
grinding the fingers to fit better, but it still slips out easily.

Anybody have any tricks for me? I don't any heat readily available,
such as a propane torch. I want to get this over with!

Thanks,
Harry

On Oct 29, 3:09 pm, Harry Smith > wrote:
> I have been struggling with my right rear wheel bearing. The inner
> bearing came out no problem with only a hammer and improvised drift.
> The outer bearing is not coming so easily. Speedy Jim's website makes
> it sound like it should come out with only a hammer and drift, but
> mine is not budging. I have invested in a bigger hammer and a set of
> proper drifts, to little avail.

Perhaps not important, but the car in question is a '74 standard
beetle w/ IRS.

Harry

Harry Smith wrote:
> Hello all,
>
> I have been struggling with my right rear wheel bearing. The inner
> bearing came out no problem with only a hammer and improvised drift.
> The outer bearing is not coming so easily. Speedy Jim's website makes
> it sound like it should come out with only a hammer and drift, but
> mine is not budging. I have invested in a bigger hammer and a set of
> proper drifts, to little avail.
>
> It's been in the driveway for a few days now. Today I rented a slide
> hammer from a local auto parts place. It got the bearing race to move
> about 1/16" of an inch but it doesn't seem to be going any further.
> The slide hammer is a very poor fit and I've had to waste much time
> grinding the fingers to fit better, but it still slips out easily.
>
> Anybody have any tricks for me? I don't any heat readily available,
> such as a propane torch. I want to get this over with!
>
> Thanks,
> Harry
>

I can only imagine that the race has become cocked in the bore
as they are usually not a tight fit.
See if you can drift it back in till it seats solidly all the
way around. Then drift (lightly) from the back side to push it
out, working your way around the race. Watch the outer end
to see if there is any movement at all.

Run up to the BigBox and buy a propane or MAPgas torch
as a last resort.

Speedy Jim
http://www.nls.net/mp/volks/

On Oct 29, 3:35 pm, Speedy Jim > wrote:
> I can only imagine that the race has become cocked in the bore
> as they are usually not a tight fit.
> See if you can drift it back in till it seats solidly all the
> way around. Then drift (lightly) from the back side to push it
> out, working your way around the race. Watch the outer end
> to see if there is any movement at all.

Thanks Speedy, you always earn your name.

Once I took a fourth look at things I finally saw what I was doing
wrong. I didn't realize the bearing cap could/needed to be
removed...once that was out of the way the bearing race came out
easily. One of those boy-do-I-feel-stupid moments. To help those who
come after, I might suggest making it explicit in your instructions
that the bearing cap should be removed. The bearing cap is mentioned,
but its removal is only implied rather than being spelled out. Your
page was still a big help and I appreciate the moral support.

Peace,
Harry

> I can only imagine that the race has become cocked in the bore
> as they are usually not a tight fit.

Maybe not real 'tight' but the outer race certainly needs to be snug
in the bore. If it takes a light rap with a hammer to drive it home
then it should be fine.

If the outer race flops around in the bore you can wrap it in feeler
gauge stock of the needed thickness to obtain a proper fit. Enco sells
it...but it comes packaged as a 25 foot roll. I don't where you could
buy a smaller quantity.

Last time I ran into that problem I was able to get some feeler stock
made by LS Starrett that worked just fine.

Chris