67 Wheel bearing saga- Unbelieveable

[Terry M.]

Re: 67 Wheel bearing saga- Unbelieveable

OK I had it backwards -- the more material is the weaker.

In any case the construction was precisely because the caliper becomes the only object holding the rotor/wheel in place once the stub axle breaks. Those crafty engineers knew this and allowed for it in the caliper design.

[Michael H.]

Re: 67 Wheel bearing saga- Unbelieveable

Clem,

Sounds like a great idea and several people had even marketed that exact idea. Problem is: It won't work! Why? Because you have to fill the entire cavity with grease before it gets to the bearings. How do you know when the cavity is filled and the bearings are lubricated???? When the grease squirts out of the seal! This happens and your lubricate not only the trailing arm on the inside but the parking brake shoe assembly behind the hub. Makes a nice mess and you end up taking the whole things apart anyway!

Yeah, I know you can be careful but do you think that would happen????

JR

Yup, I agree. For most guys, just replace the bearings and use good quality "modern" grease and the bearings will be good for 150,000 more miles.
Most of these old cars will never see more than a few thousand miles a year so long term fixes are really not logical. We'd have to own it for another 75 years before the bearings would need service again.

[Michael W.]

Re: 67 Wheel bearing saga- Unbelieveable

I believe that there was a scheduled maintenance tasks to repack these bearings every 40K miles. Most owners probably were not aware or did not comply.

What would the reliability record look like if every owner had taken the time?

[Chuck S.]

Re: 67 Wheel bearing saga- Unbelieveable

I reckon I am lucky...no broken spindle, no fire, no damaged fiberglass on my '64. What tipped me off that I had a problem was a sound not unlike grinding glass when attempting to move the car in the hotel parking lot. I was enroute to Marlborough on the Road Tour and was directed to a shop in Cumberland, MD. After working on the car for awhile, the tech handed me parts of a race and said he had no idea where the rollers disappeared to. Two and a half hours of shop time and I was enroute to Carlisle to meet up with the Tour. Thank you Mike McCagh .
Best regards,

It's probably bad karma to make jokes about Gerry's plight, BUT...It seems NOT ONLY has his hearing gone south, but all the nerve endings in his butt and extremities are dead too! HaHaHa...

Only kidding you, Ger...After seeing how you abuse your po' ole Vette, we're happy you're still with us. Now I know that we can turn our rear spindle supports into little tiny melt furnaces, and not even feel it up on the "bridge".

[Chuck S.]

Re: 67 Wheel bearing saga- Unbelieveable

I believe that there was a scheduled maintenance tasks to repack these bearings every 40K miles. Most owners probably were not aware or did not comply.

What would the reliability record look like if every owner had taken the time?

That sounds about right, or was it 30K?...I remember thinking it was a very short mileage interval for the travail you have to go through to repack those rear spindle bearings.

Since the technical requirements of this task exceed the hammer rating of 95-99 percent of Corvette owners, no doubt owners were supposed to pay Mr. Goodwrench to do this "duty" for you. This begs the question: How many Mr. Goodwrenchs had read the manual, had the necessary tools, and could do the setup properly such that the bearings didn't fail prematurely?

Mike, you probably know this in your business, but every good maintenance engineer is aware that preventative maintenance costs big money ("Pay me now"), and that comes right off the bottom line. So, regardless of what the OEM says, the first thing you do is start extending the maintenance interval to determine the "real limit" of the machine...once it fails ("Pay me later"), you've established the maintenance interval.

The manual locking hubs on my old SUV are recommended to have a complicated, expensive bearing and locking mechanism service every 50K miles. After the first couple of these, spending big bucks and a weekend, I said let's apply maintenance engineering principles. Now, I'm at 100K interval, looking at 150K for the next time. Of course, neither I or the vehicle is going to make it that far.

I'm with Mike on this one...extending the interval is good. Perhaps, even running to failure, that ultimate determination of extended maintenance interval (A corollary of the "if it ain't broke" rule. ) You just have to be careful not to kill yourself in the process.

[Michael H.]

Re: 67 Wheel bearing saga- Unbelieveable

[quote=Michael Ward (29001);373358]I believe that there was a scheduled maintenance tasks to repack these bearings every 40K miles. Most owners probably were not aware or did not comply.

What does an owners manual call for as far as rear wheel bearing repack? I don't remember any recommendation at all.

[Mike M.]

Re: 67 Wheel bearing saga- Unbelieveable

[quote=Michael Hanson (4067);373368]

I believe that there was a scheduled maintenance tasks to repack these bearings every 40K miles. Most owners probably were not aware or did not comply.

What does an owners manual call for as far as rear wheel bearing repack? I don't remember any recommendation at all.

as i recall, the midyear owners manuals or shop manuals recommend repacking the spindle bearings every 25K miles.mike

[Bill M.]

Re: 67 Wheel bearing saga- Unbelieveable

'63 Shop Manual: Repack front and rear wheel bearings at 30,000
'64 Shop Manual: Rear bearings are lube-for-life feature

I think what happened here is that the '63 rear bearings were a slip fit assembly, and you could disassemble them. There were a lot of bearing problems, and they soon became a press fit. I'm not sure what was done to make them Lube-for-life, but lasting from 1967 to 2008 ain't bad!

[Michael H.]

Re: 67 Wheel bearing saga- Unbelieveable

'63 Shop Manual: Repack front and rear wheel bearings at 30,000
'64 Shop Manual: Rear bearings are lube-for-life feature

I think what happened here is that the '63 rear bearings were a slip fit assembly, and you could disassemble them. There were a lot of bearing problems, and they soon became a press fit. I'm not sure what was done to make them Lube-for-life, but lasting from 1967 to 2008 ain't bad!

That's what I thought. Thanks Bill.

[Jean C.]

Re: 67 Wheel bearing saga- Unbelieveable

[quote=Chuck Sangerhausen (20817);373360]It's probably bad karma to make jokes about Gerry's plight, BUT...It seems NOT ONLY has his hearing gone south, but all the nerve endings in his butt and extremities are dead too! HaHaHa...

Jerry can probably stand a bit of humor about now. I was lucky that mine was discovered while in a parking lot with lots of knowledgeable NCRS members around who were willing to help, a Texas Chapter member just happened to have an MT trailer we could use to get my car to a shop, that all this just happened virtually in Mike McCagh's backyard, that Mike had the bearings and seals in his parts inventory, that Mike offered a old trailing arm just in case it had to be cannibalized for parts, that Mike had previously instructed the shop owner how to do the job..... Jerry is lucky that his problem did not occur somewhere between Lost Wages and his home on some dark desert highway, cool wind in his hair, enroute to the Regional a couple of years ago.

Ya never know when you will have a problem on the road and a fellow NCRS member or members will come to your aid.

Just to make a long story longer....on the Road Tour to Park City, studs on the exhaust manifold/exhaust pipe on my '64 backed out/fell out and I had a problem in Missouri. (reckon you can use too much non-seize compound on these studs!!) I went driving, looking for assistance and happened upon a fiberglass repair shop for "Corvettes and Boats." Stopped in at 5:30 in the afternoon just at closing time and the owner, who happened to be a former NCRS member and had his '67 apart in one of his bays, offered to call his parts supplier who would bring the parts to him and he would meet me at a nearby mechanic's shop. I went to the shop to await the parts and the shop owner/mechanic said he likely had the studs in his box of bolts. Sure enough. He replaced the lost studs and nuts, tightened everything up all around and charged me $10. When I told him that the job was worth more than that, he told me not to complicate things, $10 was the price. Oh, the studs from the parts house were incorrect. Here were two guys who went out of their way at closing time to help me and I was most grateful. Ya just never know.
Best regards,

[Dick W.]

Re: 67 Wheel bearing saga- Unbelieveable

I fixed a set of arms with grease fitting's in them about 25 years ago. I also drilled a small vent hole in the top so that I could vent them rather than blow the seal out. Been driving that suckah since then with no problems.

One thing to keep in mind, if you do it, always use the same grease, some greases are incompatable.

[Steve L.]

Re: 67 Wheel bearing saga- Unbelieveable

[quote=Joe Lucia (12484);373307]Terry-----


The grease used for packing these bearings in PRODUCTION was GM #1052497. This is a lithium SOAP type of grease. It's an old-technology lubricant and was replaced years ago by a much more modern lubricant but not before the 1052497 was used on all 1963-82 Corvettes. Basically, this type of grease is an oil + a soap. <<snip>>>

I just checked the spec sheet for Mobile 1 Synthetic grease that some posters have suggested to use when repacking these bearings. It ALSO contains lithuim SOAP. Quote from Mobile 1 site:


"Mobil 1 Synthetic Grease is an NLGI No 2 high-performance automotive grease which combines a synthetic base fluid with a lithium complex soap thickener. The thickener system provides a high dropping point"

I suspect that the oil part of this has probably been improved a lot.

Steve L.
73 coupe since new

[Michael W.]

Re: 67 Wheel bearing saga- Unbelieveable

'63 Shop Manual: Repack front and rear wheel bearings at 30,000
'64 Shop Manual: Rear bearings are lube-for-life feature

I think what happened here is that the '63 rear bearings were a slip fit assembly, and you could disassemble them. There were a lot of bearing problems, and they soon became a press fit. I'm not sure what was done to make them Lube-for-life, but lasting from 1967 to 2008 ain't bad!

I thought I had seen task this in a newer (mid/late 70s C3?) maintenance schedule. Perhaps it was added back in based on actual field experience with 'lubed-for-life' bearing assemblies.

[Gerard F.]

Re: 67 Wheel bearing saga- Unbelieveable

Chuck,

Funny thing from the incident

As I skidded to the shoulder in a billow of smoke from the left rear, my partner and I exited the car so fast, I forgot the 3 point fire extinguisher which was conveniently placed in back of the passenger seat.

We got pretty far from the car as we thought the car was on fire. I then went back to retrieve the fire extinguisher, but by that time I realized I didn't need it.

Luckily, I had some Pepto-Bismol with me

[Chuck S.]

Re: 67 Wheel bearing saga- Unbelieveable

I thought I had seen task this in a newer (mid/late 70s C3?) maintenance schedule. Perhaps it was added back in based on actual field experience with 'lubed-for-life' bearing assemblies.

I thought I had seen an interval also, Mike, but I checked my 70 owner manual and CSM, and I saw no mention of rear wheel bearings. I guess they were stilled "Lubed-for-Life" in 70.

It's possible my skepticism was from mentally applying the front wheel bearing repack interval, which was 24K miles. Maybe for later model years, they had enough problems that they changed to a mileage interval for repacking the rear wheel bearings.