The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline front wheel bearings, need to remove inner bearing?

1951 1/2-ton. I've searched this forum and learned a lot, but not seen my question addressed.

I removed my right front drum / hub assembly while looking for a brake fluid leak. Now I have all the bearings off and, obviously, this is a good time to repack them. The inner bearing is pressed into the hub, and in trying to punch it out for cleaning, it's not coming easily (using a metal rod, placing it in each of the 4 notches and hammering on the back of the bearing cup). I'm wary of whacking at it and possibly really screwing things up. My question is, can I get away with leaving the inner bearings in the hub, cleaning them with solvent while in place (and of course saturating the felt seal), and repack them in-place, or should I continue whacking away and trying to get the inner-bearing cup out? I think I know the answer but am hoping to draw some good tips here.

Anybody have any tips on how to get that inner-bearing cup out?
And, I presume once that cup is out, the bearing race will follow?
And, if I get the cup out, must I replace it, or can I re-use it?

Thanks. I'm hoping to literally pull some stumps this weekend. Oklahoma winters, while not that severe, are hell on red-tip photinias.

Hey Ol' Red. This is a common question. I suggest you leave that inner bearing in place, soak her, clean her, pack her with grease, and bolt that hub back on. It's gotta be in better shape than when you took it off, using grease made in this century and all. Unless you mangled it with your hammer and steel bar trying to get it out. Good luck!

Personally I never remove bearings with the hopes of reusing them. They are a high precision component that is easily damaged especially if you beat on it with a hammer and punch. Personally I would replace them with roller bearings conversion. By todays engineering standards ball bearings are not correct for wheel hubs. Wheels see not only rotational loads but also side loads when you go around a corner. Tapered roller bearings are made to deal with both these loads. Ball bearing were never made to handle side loads. Short of replacing the bearings I would clean them where they are and call it good.

I inspect all bearing on "new" (to me) trucks. I'd have no problem reusing good bearings, but I have rarely found any (the trucks were poorly maintained - cleaning/greasing wheel bearings is cheap, but a relatively dirty and time-consuming task for a shop or owner).

Regarding roller bearings, they are "cool"/strong, but not really a matter of safety on modern roads. If you do not swerve around a lot on country roads, or you do not drive 20,000 or more miles a year, AND, you clean and regrease the bearings regularly, I bet you will never wear out a new set of roller bearings. New seals are not that expensive ($8-$10).

I put about 2 miles on this truck every 3 years, so I'll leave the old ball bearings in there. I did leave the inner bearing in place, cleaned them and repacked. Seems to roll just fine. However, now I have this nagging feeling that the grease shield (the metallic disc that is the very first thing you put back on the axle when reassembling), may be off-center, because it is not self centering and due to gravity.just hangs on the axle. So i'm going to take the wheel and hub off again to make sure that disc / shield is centered. Probably a waste of time, but unless pushing the hub up against it causes it to center, then it's probably hanging off-center. Thanks for the confirmation that it's OK to not punch out the inner bearing.

Good grief- - - - -just pull the grease seal, and the inner bearing simply lifts out. There's no need to remove the outer race unless it's damaged. Clean, inspect and reassemble the bearings (both of them) with a new seal, and drive on! The type of ball bearing used in older Chevy front hubs is perfectly capable of handling side loads- - - -it's designed that way. It's amazing how much misinformation gets passed off as gospel truth, with nobody challenging it!
Jerry

Good choice, Ol' Red