Front wheel bearings

[danaspider]

Happy New Year everyone, well here in Seattle it has been really snowy and now more rain than you want to think about. Even Interstate 90 was closed to flooding today.

Anyway, doing a little winter project of replacing most of the front suspension components. Since I had the whole hub out I thought of doing the wheel bearings also. So here is the question:

How do I get the bearing seal out to replace the back bearing? I do have the new seal and bearings. I am just waiting for a good recomendation, before I just bend the crap out of the old one.

By the way what I am doing is replacing upper and lower A arms (with ball joints), wheel bearings (hpoefully) an bushings on the sway bar, new brake lines. This will go well with the lowered springs I did earlier. Also, complete replacement of all tie rods.

Hope someone has an easy suggestion.

[htchevyii]

You should be able to just pry the seals out with a seal remover or large screwdriver. They might get bent, but who cares. I think the sway bar bushings were the biggest p.i.t.a. of my front end rebuild. I would not have expected it , but it was very difficult to get the outer bushings compressed enough to start the nuts. The center bushings have a two piece bracket swedged togeather, you have to drill or grind it to get the bushing apart. Mine were ok so I left them alone.

[pope]

Dana, I went through the hub with a large screwdriver (mines about a foot long ) and rest it on the backside of the seal. Tap it lightly with a hammer and then move it to the opposite side of the seal and tap again. Do this in about three or four spots and it will pop out in almost perfect shape.
Of course the hub should be in your lap and not on the car! Doh!!!!!!!!
You will like the new front end rubber. It will drive like a new car.

To reinstall the new seal, use a piece of white PVC plumbing pipe from Home Depot that is about a foot long. Make sure it is about the circumference as the seal or a little smaller. Also make sure the end is cut straight. A mitre saw works great for this. Buy a PVC cap for the end you will tap with the hammer so that the striking force is centered. The open round part of the pipe is what you put against the seal. This will make putting the four seals back on very easy and straight.

Good Luck

[engineerted]

Dana, Here is a little tip for ya, If you are replacing the bearing (this should include the races also) keep the old bearing races, one small and one large. Using a cut off wheel, (sorry you can not cut these with a hacksaw) cut a slot completely thru on one side, and remove any burrs. Now you can use these to install the new races in the hubs without worry of damaging the new races with a slip of the drift or hammer.


Ted