Drivers side wheel bearing install

[Zedyone_kenobi]

Well I managed to remove and install my drivers side rear wheel bearings in the course of one week. Which is a blistering pace. Everything went smoothly except for two things.

First, I have heard some advice on how to get the big freaking nut off the stub axle. All of it good I am sure, but I can tell you one way NOT to do it. DO not take the easy way out and use an impact wrench to get the peened nut off. Yes it will come off in a a matter of seconds with little to no effort on your part, BUT, and here is the but, it will gall the holy hell out of the last two threads of your axle. Ask me how I know this . Well the machine shop I took to get my bearing pressed on was kind enough to fix those threads for me.

Second, with the car on jack stands, and the wheel off, it is next to impossible to get 200 ft lbs of torque on that damn nut when putting it back on. The problem is that when tightening the nut you are pushing up on drivers side. that means the suspension will compress what ever bar you have wedged in between the lugnuts against the floor will want to turn. I had a two and a half foot pipe that came with my floor jack I used to wedge it in, and I actually bent the darn pipe before my click'y torque wrench indicated 200 ft lbs. I had to use a hydraulic jack to push my torque wrench up and STILL did not hear it click. IF this had been the passenger rear side, I would have pushed down and this would have not been an issue.

So I decided that this was tight enough, and I took out my hammer and peened the nut on both sides as well as I could. It looks like it is in the same position as the one I took off. And Lord knows it is tight.

Also the atlantic Z sight is great, those pieces of advice are spot on. Freezing the inner bearing to install works fine, but still takes quite a lot of persuasion to get on. Freezing the outer bearing on the stub axle works flawlessly and I was able to get it fully installed with only two light hammer taps.

The slop in my wheel that I could feel is now gone and I can move over to the next project.

Edited March 14, 2011 by Zedyone_kenobi

[Jeff G 78]

I need to tackle this on both of my cars. Thanks for the recap.

[ajmcforester]

Pack the bearings in dry ice and heat up a little the hub, and you will drop them into place. On the stubs wrap dry ice in newspaper and wrap with tape heat the bearing, not enough to soften or change the properties, and you will only need some light taps with the drift