Rear wheel bearing pressing?

[waqas]

Hi folks,

Nearing the end of installing new wheel bearing and seals on the rear axle (right side). So how much hammering is required to get the axle (with bearing) to fit into the axle tube? How do I know when to stop? Or am I going about this the wrong way...?

I punched in a few indents in the axle tube side of the bearing seat (as described in Joe's "Wheel bearing tour"), as well as used loctite red for the bearing mounting surfaces.

[jeffc280sl]

I think everyone has trouble with this bearing.  It has been a while but more important than anything else is to get the bearing started evenly in the axle tube.  If it gets cocked one way or the other it just won't go in.  Keep working on it and eventually it will start correctly and slip into place.  The brake plate holds the bearing in place so your in far enough when it can be mounted flush with the axle tube.

[bpossel]

Waqas,

Like Jeff stated, it must be perfectly even.  I pulled mine out several times before I hit the "sweet" spot and it went in evenly.
You will know when it is in all the way.
bob

[Benz Dr.]

Why did you put lock tight in there? Most bearings will turn very slowly it they're not press fitted into place. This is a slip fit with the flange on the outside holding everything in place. Something tells me it's supposed to move very slowly so that the weight bearing surface changes over time.
Wouldn't lock tight make it a bear to come apart somewhrere down the road? It's not like you can heat that area very easily ( if at all ) to remove anything and I'm not sure I'd want to. Just wondering.


 NOTE: I don't even have any of that stuff around my place.

[awolff280sl]

When I re-furbed my 3.27, I must admit that I used some fine emory cloth around the bearing seat to carefully remove what semed to be some sort of coating or locking adhesive left behind when I removed the original bearing. This may have helped to let me seat the bearing.

[ja17]

Hello Waqas,

Sometimes the problem is the axel snap ring dislodging from its groove.

Joe

[waqas]

Thanks for all the replies!

Finally finished the job. The bearing eventually went in (flush with the housing). Sealed everything up, installed the brakes.

My axle has the snap ring, so I had removed the springs (but not the compensating spring) and the bump stops for raising the axles high up so that the axle would seat properly within the sliding sleeve. Well, I re-discovered (for the umpteenth time) that I really really hate re-attaching the trailing arms back! They never go in straight and keep bumping out the rubber donut. I finally opted for some "radiator grease" to help the bushing fit over the metal sphere under the chassis and 3 jacks and a couple of galvanized pipes for applying lateral stress. Ack!

Anyway, I went for a drive and it looks like the high pitched metallic squeal I've been trying to eliminate is still there! 
It appears only over 40-50 mph. I think I've mentioned it in other threads. Otherwise, the car drives very well now.

Tomorrow morning, I plan to take the car to a shop with a dyno-tester to see if we can locate the source of the whistling sound. If we can't track it down and eliminate it by tomorrow, it looks like I'll have to fly to PUB  instead. 

[ja17]

Hello WAqas,

I'll show you the special tool I made for mounting the trailing arms when you get to Blacklick. It makes the job a snap. 

[waqas]

Thanks Joe, looking forward to seeing you and Mary again this weekend!

[Cees Klumper]

Hi Waqas - like with your car, you may recall me replacing the rear bearings did not cure my car's whistling sound. It turned out to be one of the anti-squeel plates fitted to my front right-disc brake. I could see where it was rubbing against (I think) the brake caliper.

[waqas]

Hi Cees, thanks for the info. I remember when you went to all the trouble of replacing the bearing and ended up not eliminating the squealing sound.

Last Tuesday morning, I went to a local shop (Colvin Automotive) and they kindly placed the car on their dyno-tester. We got the car up to 100mph and no sound! They even applied the dyno brakes a little bit to simulate a slightly loaded condition. This test eliminated the driveshaft, differential and rear axles from being the source. Obviously, the front wheels are still a potential culprit (the dyno-tester only moves the driven wheels, the rear), so you might be right after all. Once I return on Saturday, I'll open up the front wheels and inspect the area around the front brakes, etc.