The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Roller Bearing Install, advice needed

OK,

Can someone walk me through a very basic how to on installing roller bearings? There are a few things I just don't know and I don't want to screw this up, not having done it before.

For example. There are big outer races and then there are smaller inner races which have the bearings captured in them. Do I install the big outer races first with the part the bearings contact facing out of the hub, then slid in the bearing / inner race part?

Confused. Thanks.

Lucky Strike

Yes, on the inside of the hub, the outer race goes in first, then the inner, then the seal. Well packed with grease, of course.

Check to be sure the inner race will slip over the spindle before installation. I had to lightly sand the spindle on mine.

Slip the assembly on the spindle then install the outer bearings the same way. Except no seal.

Do a search on this at this forum and someone actually shows in detail with pictures how to pack the bearings with grease. There is a special way to do this and not just by adding grease to inside and out.

Thank you. That is basically what had me confused.

That, and an older fella I know, who has done this before keeps talking about the need to "pre-tension" the bearings. I have read the directons / tech on CCP website and it did not address this, and I'm not sure what he is talking about.

My search skills are not the best. I'll keep trying but have not found this yet.

You said "roller" bearings and then talk about a smaller race that captures the bearings in them. Are you talking about "BALL" bearings?

Here is how I would do "ROLLER BEARINGS".
Taking it apart;
Tap off the little hub cover and remove cotter pin from the nut underneath. Remove the nut and washer.
Jiggle the hub until the outer bearing (small one) comes out enough to pull it out. You should be able to pull the hub off the spindle. The inner bearing (large one) and seal will be in the hub yet. Pry out the seal and take out the bearing.

CLEAN off the brake backing plate and spindle real good. Brake clean would be advisable. Make sure that where the seal rides on the spindle is nice and clean.

Tap out the bearing races with a long punch and hammer. Walk them out by punching all the way around the race until it comes out. Note how they come out so you can install the new races the same direction.

Save the old bearing races!. Take the old bearing races and grind down the outside edge evenly until it will drop back into and back out of the hub with your fingers. You can use this as your installation tool for the new races.

Clean the hub thoroughly. I clean all the grease out of the center too. Use brake clean here too.

Place the new race to the numbers of the race are going into the hub. Match the same face of the old bearing tool you made from the old race and tap and slowly walk the new bearing into place. Be careful not to cock the race in the bore. When the new race is in the bore, the old race will slide into the bore also. The old race will be able to slide out with your fingers when you are done. When the new race is bottomed out, the sound of the hammer ringing will sound much krisper. Tap the race down real good to ensure that it is seated fully. Repeat this for the other races. Clean the center of the hubs again.

When all is clean (hands too) put some grease in the palm of your hand and press the grease into one side of the roller bearing until the grease actually comes out the other side of the bearing. Turn the bearing in your hand and do the next section that same way. Keep doing this until the bearing is full of grease. Do this to all bearings.

Grease the center of the hub. Don't pack the hub with grease, just get a coating of grease to cover the entire inside of the hub. This will keep it from rusting. Put a little grease on the new race too.

Grease the spindle too and make sure the part that the seal rides on is lightly greased too.

Put the inside packed bearing into the hub and new race. Put your new seal in place by walking it in carefully until seated. Apply a little grease to the rubber part of the seal.

Carefully place the hub back on the clean spindle. Push the outer bearing over the spindle until it maches up with the outer bearing race. Put on the washer and nut. Snug the nut up. Not too tight! Just a little more than you can do with your fingers. Spin the hub. All should feel nice and smooth. Check the snugness of the nut again and spin the hub again. If all is good, back off the nut until you can turn it with your fingers again. Snug it up with your fingers and then back off until you can drop the cotter pin in. You shouldn't have to back off the nut more than 1/8th turn. Bend the cotter pin over the nut and "tap" the nut cap back into place with a rubber mallet, or use a screw driver placed on the ridge of the cap and tap it back on.

Go to the next wheel.

If you are using "BALL" bearings, all is the same with the exception of the small inner bearings. Those can be placed into the bearing before you place them on the spindle.

A Chevy service manual will also be a good reference for you.

Good luck.

If you upgraded to roller bearings you dont pre-tension them. This basically means when your done installing them and get the hub back on the spindle you tighten the spindle nut up real tight, back off, tighten, back off and torque to specifications. This is only for the ball bearing type, not actually rollers.

The best way to pack the bearings (other then buying a grease packer) is to hold them in one hand and get a big glob of bearing grease in the other and use the heel of your hand to force the grease into the bearing. Repeat a whole bunch of times until the bearing is completly packed with grease, flip the bearing over and repeat again. Put a light coating on the races and your ready for install.

Some people say to pack the entire hub with grease, but I usually dont as the centrifigual motion will keep the grease on the intside of the hub walls as it heats up and spins outward when the wheels in motion. That being said I still use more grease then necessary.

Jeff

Lucky Strike,

I hope you don't mind me making a comment. Your profile does not mention the size of your truck. If you have a light/medium duty truck, I do not think there is a need to worry about the bearing "pre load" (or "pre-tension").

Your best best is to follow the instructions in the Shop Manual for your year.

What is the year and model/size/series of your truck?

Tim

The 'pre-tension' you mention is also called 'pre-load', which is a standard way of adjusting wheel bearings, as well as other bearings. The whole purpose is to make sure the bearing is neither too tight, which will accelerate wear, nor too loose, which will disturb wheel alignment, also cause wear, and if loose enough, will affect braking. There are torque specifications for pre-load and final load adjustment, but I don't recall them at the moment- something around 15 ft-pounds while rotating the wheel for pre-load, then loosen the bearing and tighten it to a lower level. Some published methods use the 'flats' on the spindle nut: rotate the wheel while tightening the spindle nut 'firmly', usually using channel-lock pliers, then back off (loosen) the nut 1 or 2 flats; then move a flat to align one of the slots with the closest cotter pin hole in the spindle. Two flats is sometimes too loose, so you would tighten the nut to the closest cotter pin hole. Insert the cotter pin and you are finished. The wheel should rotate freely and there shouldn't be any detectable movement in the bearings when you are finished. In the shop, most people develop a feel for the adjustment and use the 'pliers and flats' method. In the past, there were torque wrenches made for adjusting wheel bearings, but I don't think they caught on very well.

Until you are experienced and comfortable with the 'flats' method, you probably should use the torque method and/or the vehicle manufacturer's method.

Also, make sure you install the seal so the sharper edge of the sealing surface faces the inside of hub, or you will end up with grease on your brake linings. Typically, the 'outside' of the seal is smooth and has the manufacturer's part number stamped on it; the 'inside' typically has all the crimps on it to hold it together. Also, most seals have a light-weight coil spring around the inner circumferance of seal suface; the spring helps keep the seal in contact with the intended surface.

Harvester

I usually put the bearings and grease in a plastic sandwich bag. You can do the exact same packing of grease into the bearings but don't get grease all over your hands.

No Tim, I don't mind at all. Sorry, my truck is a 58 Apache 1/4 ton short bed side step. I've got a 327 in her with flat top pistons, power pack heads (worked over with hard seats and bigger valves), corvette cast iron 4bl intake, 4GC carb, and headers, comp cam, roller rockers, etc.

I'm switching to disk brakes in the front end. I've removed the hubs from the drums, removed the old ball bearings, and have bead blasted and painted the hubs. I'm starting re-assembly and am going with roller bearings rather than ball bearings.

There is a whole bunch of other stuff I've done to her, and I will be doing some more interesting things as well but I don't want to bore or offend any of ya'll.

Thanks for all the help. Honestly, I would not have gotten this far without the bolt!

Here are some pictures. She was painted black and red when I got her, I'm fixin' to get to body work and paint after I finish with mechanical... I don't know the black and red is kind of growing on me though...

pic1

pic2

pic3

pic4

pic5