1G Question about removing rear CV axles on 1G AWD

[XC92]

So I ended up removing the old front bearings today, on the driver's side. What convinced me was when I washed down the knuckle after brushing a ton of old rust off it. Some water made it past the seal and into the bearing, leaving me no choice but to remove it because the water would have trashed them.

What a pain the whole effort was. The OEM snap ring has got to be the worst design I've ever seen. Barely anything to grab onto. It took me dozens of tries with various snap ring pliers, vice-grip pliers and whatnot, and then only after grinding the "ears" to give me a bit more to grap onto. Had to use several screwdrivers anyway.

Then getting the inner race off the hub flange took a while as I didn't quite have the ideal tools. 2-ton jaws and some race adapters and a socket did the trick. Getting the outer bearing out of the knuckle was the easiest part as I bought an Astro Pneumatic wheel bearing kit a few years ago. With an impact wrench it makes fast work out of it.

So everything's apart, knuckle, hub, tone ring, dust cover, bearing, seals. Bunch of rust in places I couldn't get to so having it all apart allows me to get rid of it now, a side benefit to taking out the bearing. I HATE rust, even if it's in places that I can't see and where it can't do any harm. Just knowing that it's there bugs me.

Btw, any suggestions for coating small parts where paint doesn't make sense, like nuts, bolts and the tone ring? Paint would either come off the fasteners or potentially mess with the ABS sensor on the tone ring.

I'm thinking either clear top coat or one of those zinc sprays. I derusted a bunch of underside fasteners last year with drill brush bits, and now they're super-rusty, because this took off their zinc coating. I have to put something on them, not just for esthetics but to keep them from rusting into nothing.

 

[EZ91Talon]

I meant to warn you about those stupid snap rings but felt I was already being long winded. Sorry, but glad you made it through the disassembly

 

[EZ91Talon]

I think what eventually worked for me was a pair of flat-blade screw drivers. Start by prying the angled tips of the ring out of the groove, gotta use two screwdrivers, one on each end of the ring to keep it from spinning in the groove. Once the ends are out, keep working to pry the ring inward (toward the center) and up away from the bearing until the thing just shoots out of the groove and flies right at your eyeballs (did I forget to warn you to wear safety glasses?)

 

[XC92]

I knew from past experience to wear goggles. What I did was grind down the very poorly designed "hook" part, use vice-grips to squeeze them enough so I could fit a screwdriver in the gap between the ring and bearing, then slowly pry it out with it and a gasket scraper. I actually didn't really need goggles as I kept a hand on the top of the bore to catch the ring if it flew off. Took me between 1-2 hours!

Now I have to do the other side. But I think I've figured it out so hopefully it'll go faster and easier this time. And I won't try to clean or derust anything till the whole knuckle-hub assembly is disassembled. SO much easier that way. And hopefully the Timken snap ring is of a better design, with real "hooks".

 

[pauleyman]

I doubt your bearings come with a snap ring

 

[XC92]

Just checked and yes, you are correct. And since I haven't been able to find better aftermarket snap rings, I guess I'll have to reuse these stupid ones. Even Timken doesn't list any on its site nor do vendors have them. Just the OEM.

 

[Mech Addict]

I also ended up using a dremel to hog out the notches in the snap ring a tad, but did have good luck by buying a long-reach needle nose pliers that just worked. There must be a giant set of pin-end snap ring pliers that work on semi trucks and dsm bearings.

I also bought Timken bearings, though they actually are NSK?!?! I also bought Timken (inner) seals, and they aren’t correct for these cars, so buy some from National instead. The Timken ones fit the diameters, but have a rubber lip that protrudes out, and binds when you torque the wheel nut. I wrote to the company, but they never responded.

 

[XC92]

If I replaced wheel bearings more often I'd definitely invest in a decent pair of snap ring pliers. I have long ones but they have round pins meant to fit into the more sensible kind of ring with a hole at each tip. But, once I'm done with the fronts I'm probably good for years. Unless the rears need to be replaced.

I'll check the inner seals, thanks. I bought everything last year thinking I'd replace them then but never got to it. So I might be stuck with a bad set. When did you buy yours? Maybe you got a bad batch or they've since switch sourcing. I just took a look at the inners and they're stamped Timken, not NSK.

The knuckle and hub assemblies are way dirtier and rustier than I expected, and it was quite the job to get everything apart. Had to use all or part of 5 or 6 tool kits to get it done. Thankfully it's all available as a loaner from Autozone. Doing all this would have been way more expensive otherwise.

I'm supposed to get the rest of the parts next week, and hope to be done by next weekend. All that's left now is finishing up cleaning, painting and reassembling the knuckle and hub assembly, installing the new SS braided brake hoses I got from JNZ, putting the trans back together and back on the car, and reinstalling everything up front.

I'd also like to clean up and derust a whole bunch of underbody fasteners and coat them with a rust inhibitor. Any suggestions? I'm leaning towards getting this zinc spray that's intended for just that. Or I might just clear coat them.

 

[XC92]

Another quick question. The FSM says to apply Part # 2525035 grease to the bearings when installing. The Timkens come already packed with grease, but do I have to apply a bit extra after they're installed, or is the supplied grease enough? I know I have to apply a thin layer of grease to the seals prior to installation.

If I do have to add grease, is Lucas Heavy Duty (Green) grease OK? I can't find the OEM grease which probably isn't made anymore and isn't cross-referenced to a suitable newer grease anywhere I found. Maybe the vfaq has some info.

 

[Mech Addict]

I did purchase some Timken-branded red grease for mine. Both mine came fully greased, but didn’t explain that very well on the package, so by the time I got them apart, I went ahead and repacked them with freshy (removing the factory grease completely, on the chance they don’t play nice together).

 

[pauleyman]

Let's get a new thread if we're moving on to front bearing stuff. We are way off topic.

 

[XC92]

Well, I started the thread so I think I can hijack it.

And it's wheel bearings. Front and rear aren't all THAT different.