I have now put loctite on the bolts just to be safe! I have also checked the torque values for the bearing flange in 2 different manuals I have downloaded, they both say 15 lb ft. Can anyone throw some light on this or is it another one of those grey areas!!!!!! Regards Roy
Sorry for the delay... work sent me out of town So, I pulled the front suspension and am now cleaning up the parts for reassembly and re-installation. This update: Front bearing removal, clean up, repack and reassembly: First picture, with the front axle hub and disc brake still installed, use a small punch to unlock the axle hub nut and break the nut loose with a breaker bar and a 30mm socket while holding the disc using a bar in one of the cooling vent slots against the caliper. Remove the brake caliper and disc by removing the two bolts holding the caliper to the hub carrier. Don't loose the shim washers that are between the caliper and hub that center the caliper over the disc If you are taking it all apart as I did, take the ball joints and the steering tie rod loose and remove the axle hub carrier as an assembly. All the following can be done on the car without removing the hub carrier. Second pic... the hub carrier assembly. You can see that the axle nut is already loose. Dont remove it yet. Third picture. Remove the (6) 8mm bolts from the back of the hub that hold the bearing to the hub carrier. The bearing, axle and disc carrier will come off as an assembly from the disc carrier side... fourth photo. As you can see the grease is 25 years old. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Taking apart the bearing, axle and hub.. first photo is the gooey hub assembly out of the main carrier. Remove some of the excess grease. Photo two and three, remove the axle nut and pull the axle out of the hub from the back, it is a snug but not press fit. it should come right out after you remove the nut. Photo four, the hub with the axle removed Photo five, the face of the hub showing the two holes for use of the bearing removal pins. You will need two 4 or 5mm pins that loose fit into the holes in the hub carrier. The two pins need to be about 1.5 to 2 inches long. Do not use a bearing puller, its not meant to be taken apart that way. I used two 4mm threaded bolts. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Removing the bearing from the hub. Photo one. Support the hub in a vise or other support so that the flanges of the brake disc carrier/hub are supported and the bearing is hanging free below. Do not clamp the bearing race. Photo two: The inner bearing race is split and it will come apart in the next steps. Photo three: With the hub supported, the pins (2 4mm bolts in this case) sit loosely in the holes. Even though you cant see it, the ends of the bolts are resting on the inner race of the bearing and not on the grease seal. Photo 4: use a rag wrapped loosely around the bottom of the hub so that when you push out the inner race and it splits apart, you don't loose all the bearings all over your garage (there are 14 in case you need to count how many you are looking for) You are now ready to knock out the bearing. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Knocking out the bearing: Photo one: alternately rap the bolts/pins to knock the bearing off the hub. It is a tight fight so rap firmly but you wont have to slam the heck out of it. Photos two, three and four: when the inner half of the inner race drops free and releases the inner set of ball bearings... use the the rag to collect up the bearings, inner race and the plastic ball bearing spacer before proceeding. Photo five: place the hub back on your vise and knock the bearing the rest of the way out. You wont need a rag as the outer bearings won't fall free as they are trapped by the grease seal. The grease seal lip rides on the outer half of the inner race still trapped by the outer bearings. Photos 6 and 7: All the parts ready for cleaning and inspection. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Looks like you too have made a good save on your wheel bearings. That's 3 or 4 of us that have opened these up & all found the same kind of thing......
Putting it back together... Photos 1, 2, 3: races and bearings show no signs of wear. That's a $450 sigh of relief Photos 4, injecting outer race and bearings with grease Photo 5, inserting plastic bearing spacer Photo 6, inner race and bearings packed and assembled Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Assembling the bearing to the hub. Photos 1, 2, 3: Postion the bearing over the hub with the bearing grease seal down, using a block and mallet, seat the bearing on the hub, it is a press fit and you could use a bearing press... but this method is simple and works fine. Use a rubber or brass hammer. Photos 4, 5: install the axle stub into the hub, there is a pin on the axle that needs to go in the matching notch in the hub. Photo 6, 7: axle stub installed with the washer and a new axle nut hand tightened. It will be torqued up when the everything is back on the car and there is something to apply the significant torque against. I added some more bearing grease to be ready for installation into the bearing carrier housing. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Assembling the axle hub and bearing to the bearing housing/carrier Photo 1: Clean bearing housing, Photo 2: all lubed up and ready to go, Photos 3: bearing in and waiting for bolt plate and bolts. Photos 4, clean bolts with loctite and the bolt plate ready to install Photo 5, Plate on and bolts run down into the bearing assembly Photo 6, torquing the bolts and backing plate Photo 7, Ready to go back on the car Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I'm in the process of replacing the bushings on my 328 rear suspension and need some welding advice. Do I need to spot weld both the inners AND the outers or just the inners? Has anybody MIG welded them or is TIG strongly recommended? I've been searing for this answer most of the day but it looks like only the inners get welded. I'm glad I took the board advice and had them powder coated. Craig Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
When I did mine on the GT4,I mig welded them.All you need is a tack weld.I used a wet rag to keep the rubber as cool as possible.I fitted them and then had the arms powder coated.
Resurrecting this from the dead. I am going to do this to my front wheel bearings but had a couple questions before. How did you clean the bearings? Did you use torque specs from the 328 Technical Specifications Manual?
