I know i thought the same thing when the guy I work with pulled the welder over to my car. Both of my bearings were really bad and really stuck in there, and the guy I owkr with said that he does this all the time for all kinds of wheel bearings. So I said why not and just let him have at it with the welder, but before that I told him that if her messes anything up, he has to pay for it and he agreed. So really I guess this just made the process a lot easier for me. Obviously everyone has their own ways and this was mine.
E30Fiend
-
wierd...
Okay,... I just went to home depot and bought some bolts and washers. And cranked it out. Took me like 2 hours. from start to finish. No heat or nothing, it just cranks out. Welder!?Leave a comment:
-
true but in this case we are super heating the metal and in order to create a weld that will penetrate enough into the metal to create an optimal bond, the metal is pulled toward the weld.
If you dont believe me then next time you do your wheel bearings, if you do them yourself, try this trick and you will see how it speeds things up.
E30FiendLeave a comment:
-
wheel bearings...
Everybody could use the help of a mexican or two.
the POS just sittin so tighly and so agrivatingly still in its little POS housing
the beautiful brand new bearing
yes that is a mig welder sitting next to the car. hmmm what's it for??
once again, the welder.
Now for all the guys on the forums that say that the rear wheel bearings take forever to remove and replace, I dont know what you are talking about. I did mine in a cool relaxed three and a half hours.
Now to explain the welder. If anyone is attempting to do the wheel bearings yourself, this may be a helpful little trick you can use if you have access to a mig welder.
1. First take all the brake components off and pull the hub out of the bearing housing.
2. You should be left with the bearing staring you in the face.
3. Get a small chizel or screwdriver and hammer off the outer seal of the bearing. you should see the ball bearings underneath.
4. Pry out the outside half of the inner race. You should now be left with the back half of the inner race and the rear seal.
5. You should notice that you have a flat part on the inside of the outer race. This is where the welder comes in handy.
6. Take the welder and weld about half way around the inside of the outer race. If you didnt already know, high heat on metal causes the metal to shrink.
7. After you weld your bead, find a slide hammer(rent one or barrow one if you dont have one) with the correct sized attatchment and proceed to hammer the bearing out. It took me about 8 or 9 forcefull hits to pop that baby out.
8. Then just put in the new bearing and remember to only tap on the outer race of the bearing. Tapping on the inner race will destroy the bearing.
9. Reinstall hub and brake components and ofcourse the wheel.
I really hope people on here decide to use this little trick. It cuts personal labor time in half and just makes things a whole lot easier.
Oh yeah and sorry about the crappy camera phone pics.
E30Fiend
Leave a comment: