LH Front Suspension

Can you cut it of with a die grinder or cutoff wheel? Usually, you don't have to cut all the way through the offending piece: It just gives up and lets go when you get almost all the way through it.

 

If you don't have a cut off wheel availible, go old school, you can use a hardened steel chisel and hammer. The object is the same just split the race. That will relive the pressure and the race should slide off easily. Being careful not to hit the spindle with the chisel.

We don't use our press to remove bearing races, because if the race is siezed on due to over heating while the bearing failed, it has nearly welded itself to the spindle. The force required to press the race off usually will squash the threaded end of the spindle. That requires rethreading or addtional machine work. It's easier to split the race.

Howard Musolf
1981 308gtsi
1982 400i Cabriolet
1988 Lotus Esprit Turbo.

 

I found a Dremel to work wonders for getting seized nuts or bearings off, where an angle grinder would not work; best thing is that so many different grinding bits and discs are available.

If you go the chisel route, make sure to wear eye protection!

 

It's amazing what a little dremel tool can do. I had a similar problem a while back and used the dremel with one of those thin cut off disks. It did take awhile but it got the parts apart.

 

for the record, a '78 400 uses a LM12749 (small) and a LM48548 (large) tapered bearing on each side. These sizes are readily available from a number of sources. It seems that bearing suppliers no longer sell the races with the bearing so hopefully yours are in good shape. Of the 4 bearings I just purchased at NAPA 3 were made in japan and one in mexico. they all look identical and had steel cages vs plastic. $42 total.