Removing Rear Wheel Bearings

Pilotdave

Pilotdave

Well-known member
I ran into an interesting challenge this afternoon when I tried to remove the bearing from one of my rear hubs. After pulling the snap ring, I expected that the bearing would easily slide out of the hub. Not so. It doesn't want to move. Not wanting to damage a perfectly good bearing, I have left it be.

Would appreciate a suggestion (or two) as to how to remove the bearing without damaging it. Thanks in advance. :)
 
Dave, Just below the snap ring is a seal which must be removed before the hub bearing will come out. The bearing will not be tight, it will fall out. I don't know of a way to remove the seal without destroying it. I am not sure you would want to reuse it in any case. Ask your supplier for a quality seal as some are poorly made and will not fit. It is a good idea to polish the outer side of the seal and lubricate it when installing as all I have used fit very tight. It is best to press into place as opposed to driving with a BFH.
Good luck, Rainmaker Ron
 
Bob, thanks for pointing this out. No I didn't. Ron, thanks for your explanation as well. No manuals were handy and I got into this w/o having researched enough. Didn't realize that there is a separate seal that may be a challenge to remove! Is there a handy trick to that?

A relevant question comes to mind. The only reason I wanted to remove that bearing is that I am separating the hub from the brake drum and then swedging on a new cast iron drum. I thought it would be a good idea to remove the bearing and all the grease before tackling this. Not sure if this is covered in Les Andrews book, but my copy and I are in two different places this evening! Thoughts on pulling the bearing vs not for the swedging operation?

Thanks again.
 
Fair point, Ron. Realizing that a complete inspection means removing that seal, I have to say that the seal and bearing areas that I CAN see look pristine. :)
 
You must measure the parts to know for sure.


The axle housing wears on the bottom. Have you looked closely on the bottom? It is nice to know about the wear as that effects centering the shoes.

You really need the seal out to prevent getting dirt in to the bearing. You will find there is wear deep in to the hole on the hub. The question is how far the wear goes up the surface. It should be obvious where the wear ends and the good area begins. The Ford tool for checking the hub bearing was a plug gauge that you used with feeler gauge. It can be checked with a quality telescoping gauge.

To be complete you need to look at the taper of the axle shaft. It should not be scored and the keyway needs to be checked for tightness and inspected for cracks in the square. Look at the taper on the hub, again it should smooth with no real concentric circles.

To take the drum off the hub you will need to back cut the swage. Since you are replacing the drum that is no big deal. Somewheres on the board you can find the hole cutter size that will do the job. Be sure to support the back side of the hub so you do not warp the hub surface.
 
Thanks, Kurt. I really appreciate all the helpful hints. I do have the cutting tool for back cutting the swage - it's available from some of the usual parts sources. And I was thinking more about removing the bearing as turning the drums will generate a fair amount of metal dust that I do NOT want to end up in the bearing! So....I think I am back to pulling that bearing out.
 
After you swage on the new drum you should machine the inside of the new drum to "true" it up, then arch the shoes to fit. On my brake drum lathe the bearing and seal must be removed to mount the drum on the lathe spindle. Keep in mind your seal may look good but it is probably "X" years old and if it does not do its job grease may leak out and get on the brake shoes. As you can guess grease on the shoes is a no-no.
 
Arlyn, I'm with you! One of the challenges these days is finding someone who will arc the shoes - here in central Massachusetts none of the outfits that will do this. Several will turn the drums for me. I think I need to find and learn to use a brake lathe such as you have!
 
You can always arc the shoes to fit the drums by hand. Rub the shoes on the drum, and sand off the high spots. Could be done in 15 minutes per shoe. Use a sanding block to prevent low spots.
 
To remove the old seal,you could bold the hub to a wheel,lay it on a couple 4x4s,then stand on the wheel & pry the seal out with a long pry bar.Check for a raised ridge around the snap-ring groove before you install the new seal.Any time I have a rear hub off for brake work or whatever,I always like to replace the seal.
 
Arcing shoes by hand is something I'd love to be able to do - are there specific fit tolerances at various locations along the brake shoe? Shaping of the end of the brake lining?

Sounds like a good system for pulling the seal - those suckers must be in there TIGHT!!
 
Bolting the drum to a wheel is a great idea!
I think you can get a claw hammer under the seal and just pry it out.
The seals were being made oversize for a certain period and there's still some out there. The one's on my coupe came from a vendor and appeared to have been ground smaller on the circumference so perhaps this is a neccessary step that gets missed on some seals?
It would be a good idea to compare old and new with a dial caliper.
As for arcing your shoes to the drum, that doesn't usually get the job finished.
The shoes don't "float" up and down and self-centre on a Model A so you need to mount them to the backing plate and use one of several methods to make sure they will have full contact.
Most vendors sell a device which fits over the spindle and you rotate this gauge to mark the circle and grind accordingly.
The tracks can be tweaked a little to move the shoes as well.
Wasn't there a nifty plan in a Restorer issue a while back showing us how to make a simple centering gauge from PVC pipe? Hopfully someone remembers & climbs in here because I'm developing CRS ;)
Another method is mounting the entire assembly in a lathe and taking a cut off the shoes till it's a perfectly centered circle.
Maybe you could find someone with a Barret Brake doctor...a grinder which rotates on the spindle hub grinding a perfect circle.
The goal is to have full brake contact with your drums from the startup, as opposed to miles of driving with only the top or bottom end of the shoe in contact as it slowly wears into a centered position.

joke : you know why sea lions go to tupperware parties?
Looking for a tight seal.

....sorry.
 
I have one of the centering tools that you mention. Just arrived and I've not used it yet. I'm hoping that HOW you use it becomes really obvious once it's mounted on the spindle - the directions cover mounting the tool and then tell me to "center the shoes". Now I am wondering what one grinds - hopefully not the shoes once they've been arced!

If I can't find a shop locally I can send the shoes to Snyders for arcing - they offer the service...just have to give them drum measurements for each pair of shoes.
 
Oh I left out.

The tooling that is used to cut the drums requires the bearing to be removed.

The tooling to cut the studs is a hole cutter you can buy at home depot I believe. I was hoping someone had that link handy. You just need the correct diameter metal cutting hole saw. It probably helps to use a drill press.
 
Pilotdave said:
Arcing shoes by hand is something I'd love to be able to do - are there specific fit tolerances at various locations along the brake shoe? Shaping of the end of the brake lining?

By rubbing the shoe on the newly turned drums, you can see where the shoe is touching the drum. Using a sanding block, sand this spot out, rub the drum again, and sand. As you progress, you will see more and more coverage of the shoe to the drum. When doing them by hand, I used a .002" feeler gauge all along the shoe. If I couldn't pull it out, I felt it was close enough. Then I located a arching machine, and bought it. Its a lot of work, but very worthwhile. The whole shoe should be touching the drum. Don't forget to chamfer the leading edges on each shoe.
Click to expand...
 
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