Wheel Bearings

[chuckstsi]

What the heck is the deal with wheel bearings???

I'm on my second now, and if its not the nut stuck to the axle, the axle wont come out of the hub.

Is there some magical way of doing these things?

Right now I'm stuck on my r/f. Nut wont come off, and Im sure the axle wont come out either...

 

[knochgoon24]

An impact gun is the best way to get the axle nut off. That or a breaker bar with a long extension. Make sure it's a breaker bar with a warranty.

As for the axle/wheel bearing. The only thing you can really hope will work if it is really stuck is a shop press. I had one of mine in a 25 ton shop press. We heated it cherry red, doused it in water, and did every thing else we could think of. Nothing...

Now, when I have to do wheel bearings, I just order an axle along with the bearing. If I don't use the axle (did happen once) then I just return it.

 

[travs_dsm]

When I did my rear bearing, I used an electric Dewalt Impact Tool to get the nut off.

Of course the axle was frozen in the hub, so what I did was soak it with PBlaster overnight, hit it with a 3 pound hammer (be sure to flip the castle nut around so you don't ruin the end of the axle). What finally worked, was flipping an old brake rotor around, loosely putting the lug nuts back on and just slammed it back and forth against the lug nuts--HARD. This of course ruined the old wheel studs, but since new ones came as part of the hub assembly, it was no worry.

 

[Sandman817]

haha this sounds extremely familiar to me...

When pulling out my engine i started with the drivers side axle, that was simple, nut came off easy with an Ingersoll titanium 1/2 gun and then i just used an air hammer with the proper attachment to break the axle loose from the hub. The passenger side...now that was a different story. Nut came off fine but the axle was siezed in the hub. air hammer wasn't doing shit, 10lb sledge wouldn't budge it. Ended up heating it with an oxy torch and applying 30 tons of pressure to the axle and it finnaly came out. Antisieze/moly lube is your friend!!