A little wheel bearing query..!

Pssst

A rear wheel bearing has started howling big time on my car. The rear wheel is the traditional hub brake with inner and outer caged roller bearings fitted within the brake drum. The break drum is retained on the stub axle with a split pin. I had new brake shoes fitted about 4 months back and i suspect they overtightened the hub nut. In this setup the hub nut is purely there to prevent lateral movement and not to secure the drum to the stub so overtightening causes probs.

Anyway i took the wheel off and sure enough,rotating the drum it felt a little tight and lumpy. I stripped it and cleaned it. Having felt the inner and outer bearing surfaces(nice n smooth),i took a risk and just replaced the roller cages rather than mess around trying to drive out the bearing tracks and fit new ones. Re-assembled/regreased and it runs nice and smooth. Am i likely to get away with this

ta

goldspanners

Pssst wrote: »

Re-assembled/regreased and it runs nice and smooth. Am i likely to get away with this

ta

you mean you left the bearing outer shells in the drum and just replaced the bearings? :eek::eek::eek:.

it should be fine, ive been in a rush a few times and done this and its been fine. but if i have the time i always change the shells.

hewhoisnotintheknow

is it a vw by chance?

Pssst

goldspanners wrote: »

you mean you left the bearing outer shells in the drum and just replaced the bearings? :eek::eek::eek:.

it should be fine, ive been in a rush a few times and done this and its been fine. but if i have the time i always change the shells.

Well i did give it a good clean,got rid of all the old grease,gave the shells a good feel and visual inspection. I didnt fancy trying to wallop them out. I have memories of doing a wheel bearing on a Maestro and it was hard work.

To the other poster,yes its a Golf Mk3 with near 95k on the clock so it has served me very well.

goldspanners

Pssst wrote: »

Well i did give it a good clean,got rid of all the old grease,gave the shells a good feel and visual inspection. I didnt fancy trying to wallop them out. I have memories of doing a wheel bearing on a Maestro and it was hard work.

To the other poster,yes its a Golf Mk3 with near 95k on the clock so it has served me very well.

some dont have a nice leading edge or a cut out in the hub to get a good hit at.
ive got a mushroom ended drift that sits perfectly on the edge of most of them.

cyclonebri1

Pssst wrote: »

A rear wheel bearing has started howling big time on my car. The rear wheel is the traditional hub brake with inner and outer caged roller bearings fitted within the brake drum. The break drum is retained on the stub axle with a split pin. I had new brake shoes fitted about 4 months back and i suspect they overtightened the hub nut. In this setup the hub nut is purely there to prevent lateral movement and not to secure the drum to the stub so overtightening causes probs.

Anyway i took the wheel off and sure enough,rotating the drum it felt a little tight and lumpy. I stripped it and cleaned it. Having felt the inner and outer bearing surfaces(nice n smooth),i took a risk and just replaced the roller cages rather than mess around trying to drive out the bearing tracks and fit new ones. Re-assembled/regreased and it runs nice and smooth. Am i likely to get away with this

ta

Lazy !!!!!!, :rotfl::rotfl:

As goldy says, it's amazing that they cannot provide a couple of purchase grooves to aid bearing removal.

On several occaisions I've resorted to welding a piece of steel across the bearing outer then belting it out

hewhoisnotintheknow

Pssst wrote: »

To the other poster,yes its a Golf

Im getting good at spotting VW problems!

Pssst

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

Lazy !!!!!!, :rotfl::rotfl:

As goldy says, it's amazing that they cannot provide a couple of purchase grooves to aid bearing removal.

On several occaisions I've resorted to welding a piece of steel across the bearing outer then belting it out

Hmm..well on the inner castings of the hub adjacent to the baring shells there are three cast in notches,not very big,which might accommodate some kind of three legged puller. I just didnt fancy getting into brutalising the hub as i didnt have much time. anyway,been on a longish run in it today and silence reigns once again.....apart from an occassional micro sqeek from the water pump !

steveo3002

just did 2x wheel bearings on my polo

you can drive the bearings out easy with a hammer and small punch

put the puter race in the freezer to help assemble it ...you can start the new race off by using the old race to hammer onto it , then finish with the punch

cyclonebri1

steveo3002 wrote: »

just did 2x wheel bearings on my polo

you can drive the bearings out easy with a hammer and small punch

put the puter race in the freezer to help assemble it ...you can start the new race off by using the old race to hammer onto it , then finish with the punch

Yep, thats what the grooves are for, good on VW, sadly not all, infact not many maufacturers do this

Pssst

Thanks for the tips. If my quick fix fails, I'll do it properly !