Here's a little trick I learned from a mechanic at the paper mill my dad used to manage:

Outer bearing races can be really tough to remove if they were press fit. They have often corroded to the axle tube over time. If you can gut the rest of the bearing (and i suspect you have if you are using a slide hammer), you can get it out easily with a wirefeed welder. Just weld a good heavy bead all the way around the inside of the outer race where the bearings were riding and let it cool for a few minutes. Then it should come out with gentle tapping. The weld kills the temper of the metal and shrinks the outer race as it cools, making it smaller. Of course, you need a new bearing now, but you did anyway, right?

I have actually done this. My BMW rear wheel bearings are double row balls with a stub axle going through them, pressed into the control arm. They normally require a special tool from BMW which costs about $400. Using this trick I was able to replace the bearing and fit a new one for about $50 and 1 hour labor. A shop would charge about $350 for this repair. No damage was done to the control arm by the welding, I clamped the ground clamp to it and used the 130 amp setting on my welder, too.

When you go to install the new bearing put it in the freezer for a few hours first and it will slide right in.


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