78 280Z rear strut removal

[One Way]

No worship services today at our church so I tackled some yard work and tested out my homemade control arm shaft removal tool before having to go to work this afternoon.  Tool worked perfectly.  It is important to get the B-7 threaded rod to take the torque needed to pull out the bushing shaft.  I used the 1/2-13 x 2ft threaded rod B7 grade-GRAINGER #19NM76, 1 inch x 12 black unthreaded pipe-GRAINGER #1CPY3, 2 heavy 1/2 flat washers-GRAINGER #22UE17, welded a M12-1.25 nut to a 1/2-13 threaded rod coupler, put that through the pipe and threaded the nut onto the shaft.  I also put a 1/2-13 nut to jam the rod to the coupler as an extra measure of strength.  A good sized 3/4 box wrench got the process started and then switched to a ratchet flat wrench to continue the pulling.  A liberal spray of lubricant on the threaded rod before beginning the process is also a good idea.  Certainly saved some money on the tool and no damage to the shaft.  A good cleaning and lube on the shaft should be fine.  Now just have to get the old bushings out of the control arm.  Project for another day.  Thanks again for all the input, John-Lugoff, SC.

[One Way]

Perfect advice on the rear stub axle retaining nut!  Used the Dremel tool to cut off the flat areas of the nut, mounted the whole assembly back onto the rim, stood the tire up and wedged it with a jack stand, and had no luck with the 4 ft cheater pipe on the breaker bar.  A couple minutes of heat from the torch and it broke free quite easily with the cheater pipe and unthreaded smoothly off with just the breaker bar.  Next step is to remove the splined flange and see about removing the stub axle.  Not sure if my slide hammer will do the job or may have to invest  or borrow a larger press.  I just have a small 1 ton hand arbor press which is usually adequate for most of my projects.  Thanks again for the great tips.  Slowly making progress on this resurrection project.  Thanks, John.

[One Way]

Great success this afternoon without spending any money.  I was able to pull the splined flange with my 2 jaw puller.  A few blows with the hammer and steady force with the wrench pulled the flange right off.  A couple of blows with the hammer with the nut threaded on the axle got the axle stub out of the inner bearing and a bearing puller along with my 2 jaw puller got the outer bearing off the shaft.  Slow and steady with the puller achieved the desired goal.  I will media blast, prime and paint the strut housing.  Will be doing some research on locating the correct bearings and axle lock nut.  I already have the seals and all new lug studs.  Also have to decide on the rear brakes.  Retain the stock drum set up or convert to a disc set up without a big cost or major engineering.  Not sure if we can adapt a stock rear disc set up from a later model Z or other models.  Advice will always be appreciated.  I will not be able to assemble the stub axle until we decide if we are installing the drum backing plate which has to be installed prior to pressing in the new bearings and axle.  Thanks again, John.

[Dave WM]

curious how did the old grease look? I ask since this is an item I have not addressed, and as I drive the car on cross country trips, its been on my mind. I did the front bearings of course since they are easy. Over all my car seems to have lead a pretty easy life (all the hard things to do never seem that bad, like removing the spindle pins), no rust etc... So I was trying to convince myself the old grease as long as it has not leaked out (no sign of seal failure or leakage) is ok.

[Yarb]

Hey Dave,  Recently I replaced my rear wheel bearings while refurbishing the rear suspension. Mine had no sign of leaking or bearing issues. When I did open it up the grease had hardened somewhat and turned dark in color and looked as if it had gotten hot at some point. Grease had begun to separate from the bearing. Quite surprised when I saw that.

[Dave WM]

6 hours ago, Yarb said:

Hey Dave,  Recently I replaced my rear wheel bearings while refurbishing the rear suspension. Mine had no sign of leaking or bearing issues. When I did open it up the grease had hardened somewhat and turned dark in color and looked as if it had gotten hot at some point. Grease had begun to separate from the bearing. Quite surprised when I saw that.

well looks like I may dig into it then. Don't want a failure on the ALCAN highway

[Zed Head]

I've wondered if there's a way to get grease in there without disassembly.  Hot grease or one of those needle things.  Probably not.

Edited April 10, 2020 by Zed Head
needle thong

[One Way]

The grease did not look terrible by any means after disassembly.  I was a bit surprised on how little grease there was in side the housing.  The bearings themselves were packed with grease but very minimal amount of grease inside the hub cavity.  The axles spun smoothly  but a 40 plus year old car with no known history or maintenance I think should be replaced.  The hub cavity would hold quite a bit of grease and the installation of a grease fitting might lead to putting too much grease in and damaging the seals?  The outer bearing has a seal on one side and open on the other.  The inner bearing is open on both sides.  It is a very nicely designed piece but will certainly try to find out how much grease to install inside the hub cavity when it is time to assemble.  Hopefully the factory service manual will give a heads up on that info. Thanks again, John-Lugoff, SC

[Yarb]

The amount of grease from the factory surprised me as well. I’ve owned my 280 going on 38 years now so I know it hasn’t been repaired or serviced in the past . Mine has 135k but has been in storage for 12 years. Big difference compared to the front axle.

[grannyknot]

Now I'm just going by memory here but I remember 240z rear wheel bearings being open and unsealed with grease packed in the spacer and of course a seal on either side whereas the 280z rear wheel bearings were completely sealed on both sides of the bearing and only a smear of grease on the inside of the spacer.  When I did the bearings on the 280z I didn't pack any grease in between.

[Yarb]

You are correct that spacer takes up the void. 

[Jeff G 78]

I still haven't gotten back onto my bearing/disc brake swap project.  I had pulled the RH stub axle out a month or so ago, but my car is at a friend's house and Michigan has been on lockdown, so I am not supposed to even go work on my car.  I can confirm though that when I pulled the stub axle, there was almost no grease on it.  Both bearings stayed in the hub, so I couldn't see how much grease was in the cavity, but with none on the axle, I'd say only the bearings had any grease in them with none between the bearings in the spacer.