Wheel berring help please

[espey_16]

Ok I just replaced both cv axels, hubs, rotors, and brake calipers on my 81 gl 2wd, but now I have to replace wheel berrings, and seals on both sides and I'm not quite sure how to do it. Could some one please help me?

[scrapdaddytatum]

well its a lot of work but this is what you need to do

jack up and remove wheels

1 remove axles, 32mm and a punch, use the ebrake to hold in place will pulling

2 pull brakes off hubs(17mm, maybe 14mm),this will free up the rotor/stud plate-remove

3 remove tierods(17mm with cotter pins), ball joints (14mm, hub side)

4 loosen bottom strut bolts(14mm) and pull hub from car

once the hub is off and on the ground

you need to pull the seals

then you can hammer out the bearings

the bearing assem is a 3 piece deal

inner and outer bearings and a center spacer

if you use a punch you can tap out one side by going thru the one bearing and pushing aside the center spacer

then flip over and tap out the other side

use a large (32mm-36mm) socket and tap in the new bearings, big hammer

dont forget the spacer, DONT FORGET TO PACK THE NEW BEARINGS WITH GREASE, they do not come packed, after you get the bearings in, you can install the seals,

then its reverse order to put back together

the manual says use a press for the bearings but i never have

[Petersubaru]

I just want to add that concerning, packing the bearings... there is no need to do this if you get the bearings that have been completely packed from the factory and with permanent seals on the sides of the bearing..greatly increases the odds that dirt will never get into the bearing again.....but I can't remember which company it was/germ/jap/swed ??

[NorthWet]

Why do you feel that you need to replace the bearings and seals? Noise in this area can be caused by loose axle nut, especially after just doing axle service.

[Petersubaru]

That's a good point...it's happened to me not knowing any better to tighten those nuts to spec, so I borrowed a friends high rated torque wrench and the noise went away............

Why do you feel that you need to replace the bearings and seals? Noise in this area can be caused by loose axle nut, especially after just doing axle service.

[Ross]

I just want to add that concerning, packing the bearings... there is no need to do this if you get the bearings that have been completely packed from the factory and with permanent seals on the sides of the bearing..greatly increases the odds that dirt will never get into the bearing again.....but I can't remember which company it was/germ/jap/swed ??

 

SKF do them, but they wont last quite as long like that. I reckon take one seal out of each bearing and re pack and fit so that the bearings are open to the space in the middle, which can have some extra grease in it.

[FirstSubaruGLwagon]

I just want to add that concerning, packing the bearings... there is no need to do this if you get the bearings that have been completely packed from the factory and with permanent seals on the sides of the bearing..greatly increases the odds that dirt will never get into the bearing again.....but I can't remember which company it was/germ/jap/swed ??

 

I tried to get sealed bearings for my 85/86 wagon, from my local parts stores but all that they were able to find were open bearing and seal sets. Is there a brand name or a website that offers sealed bearing units?

[Petersubaru]

try looking up in the yellow pages for a "bearing" store or try asking at some industrial place near by, if you can?...in my town we have two of them, but then again we a lot of Heavy industry that requires bearings of every sort...the guy at the store laid out 3 different bearings for me /open/sealed/sealed with a slight difference in the tightness of the beaings....

I tried to get sealed bearings for my 85/86 wagon, from my local parts stores but all that they were able to find were open bearing and seal sets. Is there a brand name or a website that offers sealed bearing units?

[espey_16]

Is the axel nut the castle nut? If so what torque?

I went to Les Schwab and they told me it was wheel berrings going bad.

Also yesterday when I went to the auto parts store they said that they have everything for both sides (this is my first time replacing wheel berrings so I didn't know there were 2 berrings and seals per side), and they just gave me 2 unsealed berrings and 2 seals. I got everything pulled apart and saw that I had to use both berrings on the one side, and when I put it back together I compared the seals and they were the wrong ones . I don't know if this is good or not but I'm using the old seals until I get the proper ones.

Another thing, I probably wasted money in getting berrings but can I just pack the old ones with new grease? They didn't look too bad.

[NorthWet]

The axle nut is the castle nut. IIRC, some/most manuals mis-state the torque value as around 102 ft-lbs, and should be around 140 ft-lbs. The washer just underneath the nut is slightly dished, and needs to be placed concave side towards the cone-washer/axle.

 

I wouldn't blindly trust Les Schwab or other such places to diagnose problems that are quirks with Subarus.

 

If you want to reuse your bearings, thoroughly clean the bearings to remove all old grease, then lightly lube the bearing before checking them for problems. Greases use different bases (chemistries), and the bases are often incompatible; mixing these different greases can cause lubrication failure. Very important to remove all old grease unless you are sure of what was in it before.

[Ross]

I tried to get sealed bearings for my 85/86 wagon, from my local parts stores but all that they were able to find were open bearing and seal sets. Is there a brand name or a website that offers sealed bearing units?

 

Try SKF, part # 6207 2RS