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Posted by: PRS914-6 May 5 2010, 10:03 AM

Justin has a wheel shake and decided to replace the front wheel bearings. As I have recommended here many times, we MIG welded a bead on the races and they fell out of the hubs. Never beat them out!!!! Why? It damages the seats where the races bottom out and the races when pressed in won't seat squarely. We did find one seat that was previously damaged. To try to fix it I machined a piece of round stock so that it fit with .001 clearance in the bore and machined the end square in the lathe. I coated the end with valve grind compound and rotated it back and forth on the seat until it felt smooth. It knocked all those burrs down smooth and should have remained square with the bore. (we hope)

Here is a copy of a previous post I made about the subject and some pictures of the tool we made. Justin will have to comment on the success of it after it's assembled.

What happens VERY frequently is people drive the old races out with a punch and in the process whack the seating area. Even though it looks fine the seating lip has a slight swell in it and when the new races are installed they don't seat quite parallel. To get rid of the play, you have to over-torque the nut. I can almost guarantee this is what is going on. If you did a search, you will find a thread where I MIG weld the races to shrink them and they fall out. I never ever beat them out.

Most likely someone in the past did the damage and it's hard to see.

If the races are perfectly parallel the wheel bearing play will come out the second the nut touches the washer. If you have to force the nut tight to get rid of the play, the races are not parallel.

Posted by: McMark May 5 2010, 10:10 AM

We've missed your killer threads Paul. It's always a treat. Now to search out the MIG-race thread.

Posted by: McMark May 5 2010, 10:11 AM

Got it http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=90121.
Great stuff.

Posted by: PRS914-6 May 5 2010, 10:49 AM

I appreciate the kind words Mark and apologize for the lack of input here in the last few months. Unfortunately I had a near death ski accident to the head this year and it's been difficult to process technical stuff. The good news is that I'm 95% back to normal (if anyone would actually call me normal). This was the main reason I just now signed up for WCR as I didn't know if I could actually go. But hey, life is back good despite the battle scars and I'm appreciating life even more....

Posted by: Justinp71 May 5 2010, 11:05 AM

Thanks for all your help Paul!

Well I had time last night to test fit the drivers side (with just a little oil on the bearings), the bearings felt nice and tight, no wobble at all on the tire and very smooth.

Something else I realized when I got home is I believe atleast a couple of the races we pressed out were Timken, while all my old bearings at home were SKF. That right there might be part of my problem...

Let you guys know how it turns out.

Posted by: McMark May 5 2010, 11:13 AM

Keep us posted Justin.

No apologies necessary, Paul. We all have other stuff going on, and yours was SERIOUS. Glad you're feeling better though.

Posted by: SirAndy May 5 2010, 11:31 AM

Wow, i had no idea.


I was wondering why you had dropped off. I'm glad you're OK and feeling better ...
Andy

Posted by: PRS914-6 May 5 2010, 12:49 PM

Thanks Andy, only a few people here knew about the accident and I specifically asked for confidentiality. Now I'm fine with only a few side issues that are minor in the big scheme of things. Here is the repair to my skull. Note the titanium screws and plates underneath and the bone breaks surrounding it. The other picture shows the bone missing at the left side of my nasel area. God bless good surgeons and strong screws! I told the facial surgeon I wanted to look like George Clooney but he said he didn't have enough to work with.....

For those that may read this.....Enjoy life NOW as you never know what might happen minutes from now.

Posted by: ericread May 5 2010, 01:19 PM

WOW!!!

My congratulations on a speedy recovery

The only thing missing in the pictures is the jack stands...