Rear wheel bearing assembly installation
I would appreciate any comments (good / bad) regarding experience with installing the pre-assembled "wheel bearing assemblies" offered by many after market parts dealers. These are the complete bearing assemblies that you attach to your trailing arm (not the units provided with trailing arm already attached). Are they relatively easy to install? Bearing tolerances correct? Rotor run out acceptable? etc. I understand that you must install the assembly to the trailing arm and then install the park brake components last. Any recommendations or heads-up suggestions are appreciated. Thanks for all comments!
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Re: Rear wheel bearing assembly installation
Richard,
I am assuming you have a 65-82 Corvette and you have considerable knowledge of how the bearings are shimmed for correct tolerance.
I cannot for the life of me figure out how this assembly could be sold to just anyone in the field and they instantally figure out how this needs to be assembled on their trailing arm.
You would have to have an installation tool that I'm sure anyone would sell you but that drives the price into the range of a complete assembly.
I would NEVER sell an assembly to ANYONE that was not installed completely on the trailing arm.
I suggest that you contact one of the people that advertise in the "Driveline"! Gary who answers a lot of questions on this board would be glad to help as well as "Bair's" or "Ikerds". Most ALL the trailing arms sold thru dealers come thru those three rebuilders.
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Re: Rear wheel bearing assembly installation
Richard-
Is it similar to this?
At $639 ((per side) I'd sooner have my own hardware rebuilt
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Re: Rear wheel bearing assembly installation
Richard,
As Joe may have implied, it ain't easy.
I think if you can fit the assembly into the trailing arm as he said, then you can probably do the whole thing yourself meaning that you can fit the bearings on the assembly also.
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Re: Rear wheel bearing assembly installation
Joe, Mike, Domenic:
Thanks for the heads up.
My application is a 1966 Corvette. I have a reasonable knowledge of the set up process and have seen it accomplished by "hammering" the parts out (spindle & shock mount etc.) which seems a bit harsh to me. To purchase the tooling (spindle press, bearing puller, shim set up tool etc.) is a bit expensive also for the (hopefully) limited use. The photo in Mike's reply is exactly what I am talking about. It seems that this assembly would need to be pressed apart to allow access to the trailing arm bolts (which I agree) seems to defeat the intent of purchasing the assembly. Can this be installed without disassembly? I'm told it can as long as the park brake components are installed last. This sounds questionable to me. Comments? Thanks again.Comment
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Re: Rear wheel bearing assembly installation
Richard,
I have heard tales of people installing the parking brake stuff after the axle is in place. If that's true, they have skills way beyond mine and maybe mortal man. It's possible but just plain stupid to risk the possibility of one clip dropping out and destroying the shoes and or rotor.
The assembly pictured cannot be installed without removing the axle or parking brake assembly to get to the nuts for the spindle flange.
Again, for the investment you can purchase a complete assembly and be done in less time.
JR
PS. This is a case of "Do it right the first time and NEVER have to touch it again."Comment
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Re: Rear wheel bearing assembly installation
I'm in the middle of doing this on my 67. But, I have the tooling I need in the shop. The tooling you mention will set you back a bunch. And, do you have a glass bead cabinet to clean everything up? Not necessary but.....
One question, why not do the whole trailing arm, if you need the new bearings, etc., the trailing arm bushings are probably shot too.
Bairs seems to have a very good rep. The price in their catalog per arm is $350. That's for everything, bushings. bearings, brakes,etc.
IMO, if you don't already have the correct tooling, this is a very reasonable price. You gat back a complete assembly that's ready to bolt on.Comment
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Re: Rear wheel bearing assembly installation
Agree with Bill's post above. Bair's does a lot of labor and uses many new parts when they do a trailing arm. They will also send you wood shipping containers to send your trailing arms to them. If I had not purchased the Kent Moore tools 20+ years ago to do my 68 and 70's rear bearings I would use Bair's. I used Bair's to have the 70's rotors trued and rivetted because a Chevrolet dealership removed the rivets when they did warranty replacement on the bearings. After their warranty work the rear braking problems began with the rotor runout causing pumping of air into the rear calipers. After Bair's truing and rivetting of the rear spindles and disc rotor I have had no rear brake problems for over 20 years now.
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Re: Rear wheel bearing assembly installation
I can offer my prespective, having been doing these for some time now.
Regardless on who does the work, know some things such as bearings and seals used, bearing endplay tolerance, rotor runout,and the condition of the arms, supports,caliper brackets,etc.
With those preassembled units you have to install them in the arm, then install the flange,spacer,and nut and torque to 100ft/lbs + to install the cotter pin. The BIG Question is how were they fit? The spec is 001-008" endplay so in theory anywhere in between those figures is ok. I cut my spec to 0015-002 because at 003 I can push and pull on the spindle and see it move. That is more endplay then I want in my builds.
Assuming the endplay is smooth with no endplay beyond 002 when you reach 100 ft/lb then you can go and install the parking brakes. I have done this on the car in the past and it can be very trying to ones nerves. Add to this EVERY new SS parking brake hardware kit I get in I have to make some adjustment and mod's the parts. If you don't pick up any issue with them now it's very likely to pop a spring and then you're back to the starting point again.
I have faced spindles to true them as some claim will resolve runout and this doesn't always work. I have found new spindles matched to new rotors can runout up to 010" others will be under 002. Unfaced original spindles pretty much the same. Some places will claim a spindle is bent because of runout, I'd be very skipical of this claim unless you know the car was curbed or hit hard on the wheel. Once the original rotor is removed from the spindle it's not uncommon to check them and find runout, it does not mean the spindle is bent.
As the others mentioned, going by this approach you do not replace the front bushings or check the arm condition-if doing it on the car. These arms rot from the inside out. Take a long read on this thread and you will better see your options and hopefully answer all your questions.
I also have found with the setup tool you have to watch the endplay when you get down to the 002 range. Many times I see and guys will call me to ask how they could get 002 on their setup tool and endup with 004-005 in the final install. There are several reasons for this, one of which is the setup tool. Also I've found new shims and spacers out as much as 005 from parallel.
I'm not saying those are bad but just be sure to check on the areas I mentioned when you're done. Use the rebuilder,supplier,vendor you think will serve you best. Once rebuilt correctly rear bearings should go 80-100k miles. This of course is an open statement as it does depend on usage but for a street car the bearings will mostly likely outlive the owners. That is why places offer a lifetime warranty, the bearing grade is the same, the grease is better but the cars aren't going to be driven a lot for the life of the owner or vendor.
Good luck.
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Re: Rear wheel bearing assembly installation
Gary & everyone;
Thanks for the very informative feedback, I'm sure glad that I asked the question before making a purchase. Seems the arm / bearing assembly rebuild is the best solution.
I was / am reluctant to remove the arms because of the alignment issue (re-shimming) that will be required upon re-install. I expect the shim process must be done by an alignment shop. I'm concerned that there are no shops near me which would have experience with this type of alignment. Is this straight forward for any alignment shop or is "first hand" experience required? I'm sure the arms are good structurally (they are not rusty) but the bushings are factory original. Comments are appreciated on the arm alignment & shim set up. Thank you very much for the help.Comment
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Re: Rear wheel bearing assembly installation
Drop by the oldest independent alignment shop in your area and talk to the senior guy there. Explain that you'll be bringing him a restored C2 with shiny new trailing arms and lots of shims and that you just need toe-in and camber set. Take a picture or two with you so that he sees that it's all pretty with no seized bolts in sight to ruin his day.
Most will jump at doing that over yet another half rotted out econobox.
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Re: Rear wheel bearing assembly installation
You can make a level pad for all four tires with floor tile and set caster/camber first then stringline the side and set toe. Make sure the stringline is across the center of the rims and pull it snug.
I use fishing line, then set the toe by shimming the inside stack in the rear then adjust the front with the sleeves. After that go for a ride and you may have to tweak BOTH adjusting sleeves in the front until the steering wheel is exactly straight while driving on a level straight road.
It's a great learning experence and it saves $$, if you take your time the result may be as good or better than a shop. The equipment is as only as good as the operator but whatever you do use the slotted shims in the rear.Comment
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Re: Rear wheel bearing assembly installation
Yep, getting the rear toe close is not that hard. What Alan & Timothy said is right.
I use the string line all the time with jigs built for specific cars (racecars).
The string method works well IF:
The strings are parallel.
And equal distance on each side of the car.
You have to set them up using a point on the frame for reference, same point on the right and left side of the car. Measuring from the tires or the center of the bearing hubs is iffy because the amount of shims in the front a-arms and location of the rear hub (different camber adjustments side to side) can cause the strings to be off.
But it's not that hard to get the strings equal and parallel.
A lot of guys use jack stands for the strings.Comment
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