Rear wheel bearings and seals 2.4 LN130

[Mike Graham]

Hi
can anyone tell me how to get the old centres of the bearings off the shaft?
There seems to be a circlip which Ive removed then possibly a seperate piece on the shaft then the center of the old bearing.
I tried all sorts toget the sod off including heating and beating nothing seems to want to shift it.
I would appreciate any tips cheers ....Mike

[laser_jock@work]

The bearing and bearing retainer are notoriously hard to remove. Last two times I changed rear wheel bearings I ended up grinding the bearing retainers and bearing centres off (do a forum search on "rear wheel bearing").

You'll need a Dremel or similar with thin disk cutter to make a cut. After 1/3 to 1/2 way through you can just crack/smash them off with a big screwdriver or thin chisel in the cut (be sure to have another bearing retainer ready to put on! (Milners/Roughtrax)). Same do with the bearing centre. Now you can get the halfshaft off the rest of the hub and press in a new bearing. You'll need a 2" dia 4' length off scaffold pole or similar pipe to press the bearing retainer back onto the halfshaft.

Nevillef

[Mike Graham]

Rear wheel bearings

Hi
thanks for the info I was toying with the idea of cutting the buggers off but was reluctant to do it in case I had missed somthing obvious, like the retainer being threaded or somthing else daft.
I am now wondering how to do the seal on the shaft from diff Im guessing it just beats out and new one pressed on with somthing soft to protect it however if anyone knows a better way im open to advice
thanks .....Mike

[laser_jock99]

Hi
thanks for the info I was toying with the idea of cutting the buggers off but was reluctant to do it in case I had missed somthing obvious, like the retainer being threaded or somthing else daft.
I am now wondering how to do the seal on the shaft from diff Im guessing it just beats out and new one pressed on with somthing soft to protect it however if anyone knows a better way im open to advice
thanks .....Mike

The old diff/halshaft seal prises out fairly easily (they're just plastic with an inner metal ring). Clean the area, grease, then tap the new seal gently working round and round with till it goes in. Be carefull as they're easy to damage but you should encounter no real problems (not compared to the bearing anyway!!).

Nevillef

[Linda]

The retainers are a **£()$** to get off. Tony drilled holes in them to weaken them then bashed them a lot!! They came off in the end!

[NiftyNev]

You'll need a 2" dia 4' length off scaffold pole or similar pipe to press the bearing retainer back onto the halfshaft.

Nevillef

Can the retainers be fitted with the heat shrink method or are they specifically a press fit retainer???

Neville

[Guest]

Retainer is supposedly just a press fit, just done mine and had to angle grind the old one off, then when it came to getting the bearing off, had to use a grinder then a dremmel with a small conical grinder to make a depression in both cages of the bearing, then got the ball bearings out, pushed out the shaft and then used a grinder to split the inner cage off the shaft. Outer cage comes out easily out of the backplate. Installation took about 1/10th the time removal did.

Cheers

[TonyN]

Can the retainers be fitted with the heat shrink method or are they specifically a press fit retainer???

Neville

Just needs tapping on with a lenght of water pipe like Nev said, they don't need that much pounding.

Its a easy job, just distructive looking and there's no going back once you start

Just becarefull not to notch the drive shaft as you grind off the inner race. The retainer is soft enough to drill, down towards the shaft near the edge, then !!!! it with a chisel longways to the axle and it will split or loosen enough to pull off.

Then you move the back plate off the bearing, and you pull the bearing oil seal off, use a small punch to remove the ball race cage, then get all the ball at one end and you can remove the outer race. Then you need a grinder, or die grinder if you have one, cut as far in as you dare and then split it with a chesel again, its hard but brittle so once you've remove enough metal it'll spit easy.

Get hammering.

[NiftyNev]

I've done rear bearings on other vehicles but not the Surf yet.Slicing and splitting is often used to remove old retainers and inner part of bearings.Shrink fitting of retainers used to be quite common but I suppose nobody does that anymore.

Neville

[Guest]

Just needs tapping on with a lenght of water pipe like Nev said, they don't need that much pounding.

Its a easy job, just distructive looking and there's no going back once you start

Just becarefull not to notch the drive shaft as you grind off the inner race. The retainer is soft enough to drill, down towards the shaft near the edge, then !!!! it with a chisel longways to the axle and it will split or loosen enough to pull off.

Then you move the back plate off the bearing, and you pull the bearing oil seal off, use a small punch to remove the ball race cage, then get all the ball at one end and you can remove the outer race. Then you need a grinder, or die grinder if you have one, cut as far in as you dare and then split it with a chesel again, its hard but brittle so once you've remove enough metal it'll spit easy.

Get hammering.

Tony.

I'd be interested to know how you move the backplate off the bearing, not enough clearane before it hits the wheel flange on the end of the half shaft. Tried the moving all the balls to one side but the cages still won't separate, had to notch the inner and outer cage and remove all the ball bearings one by one, then the shaft could be removed and the inner cage removed from the shaft with the angle grinder chisel splitting method. Outer cage came out of the backplate easy.

Cheers

[laser_jock@work]

Last time I was 'lucky' since half the ballbearings had broken up enough for me to dismantle the cage and shake the remaining balls out!!

Nevillef

[Guest]

Do you want to swap User names - Or maybe I'll just change mine to "wack it with a big hammer".

Cheers

[TonyN]

Tony.

I'd be interested to know how you move the backplate off the bearing, not enough clearane before it hits the wheel flange on the end of the half shaft. Tried the moving all the balls to one side but the cages still won't separate, had to notch the inner and outer cage and remove all the ball bearings one by one, then the shaft could be removed and the inner cage removed from the shaft with the angle grinder chisel splitting method. Outer cage came out of the backplate easy.

Cheers

Andy, did you remove all the bits of cage to let the balls all sit together snug? Once all the balls are over one side of the bearing, I just tilted the back plate a little, and lifted it off the shaft. Done it a few times now, and not had any trouble. Did the last with all the brake parts still on the back plate and it still came off OK.

[Guest]

Yep I removed all the bits of cage, but still couldn't get it apart, maybe it's dependant on the bearing manufacturer.

Cheers

[laser_jock@work]

Yep I removed all the bits of cage, but still couldn't get it apart, maybe it's dependant on the bearing manufacturer.

Cheers

Or maybe how bad your balls are worn out!

Nevillef