>
> Idiot's Guide to Front Bearing Replacement
Excellent post Larry. I've made some comments from my own recent
experience with wheel bearing replacement. BTW, the procedure using the
Thoma tools is detailed in the "Tech" section of my site.
> I am not going into discussion of axial clearances, or knuckle tolerances.
> My knuckles had 75k on them. They looked good to me. I don't want to
> argue about bearing sources, bought mine from Cinnabar. I don't own a
> micrometer, but wished I had one to hold the pages of my manual in
> the wind.
I hear what you're saying, but it's easy enough to find a local machine
shop to get accurate measurements taken. I agree re: Cinnabar bearings
- - $85 and you KNOW they're the right ones.
> I bought a 3/4" drive breaker bar, and, of course, a new 1 1/2"
> socket to go with it. (Now I had two new 1 1/2" sockets, a size not
> formerly in my tool box.) Now, we are ready to go.
I guess I got lucky - the only drive size I could find a 1 1/2" was
3/4"(Sears). Then again, my right side was only finger tight.
> Remove the three bolts securing the retainer plate. This is fun (not!).
> Use a short 9/16" box-open end.
I used a combination box end from Sears. The kind with no offset, just
a little angle on the head. Worked for me!
> It's fairly easy to get the retaining plate fastened with your newly
> modified bolts.
Compared to doing it the other way, yes. Still had me muttering to
myself tho'
> 8. Take the whole assembly to the coach. The hardest part for me, in the
> whole procedure, was getting the lower ball joint into it's hole, the drive
> axle spline engaged in the hub, and the upper ball joint forced down into
> it's hole. All while you are holding the weight of this thing. This whole
> thing is heavy!
Amen brother! What worked for me was inserting the lower ball joint just
enough to start the nut. Then rotate the knuckle toward the back as far
as possible. Push the axle toward the center while pushing the outer CV
forward and rotating the stub axle to the rear. Insert the stub axle
into the hub, push the knuckle into place and push down on the upper
control arm to start the nut on the upper ball joint. It takes a little
grunting, but it will go together that way and you're not supporting all
that weight while trying to put it together.
> This procedure draws enverything inside the hub together with the CV joint.
Minor nit here - probably just semantics, but the proper torque serves
to hold the assembly within tolerance, it cannot be relied upon to pull
the parts into place. This is what I suspect was the reason behind my
right side axle nut being finger tight.
Great post Larry!
Patrick
- --
Patrick Flowers
Mailto
atri63
The GMC Motorhome Page
http://www.gmcmotorhome.com
> Idiot's Guide to Front Bearing Replacement
Excellent post Larry. I've made some comments from my own recent
experience with wheel bearing replacement. BTW, the procedure using the
Thoma tools is detailed in the "Tech" section of my site.
> I am not going into discussion of axial clearances, or knuckle tolerances.
> My knuckles had 75k on them. They looked good to me. I don't want to
> argue about bearing sources, bought mine from Cinnabar. I don't own a
> micrometer, but wished I had one to hold the pages of my manual in
> the wind.
I hear what you're saying, but it's easy enough to find a local machine
shop to get accurate measurements taken. I agree re: Cinnabar bearings
- - $85 and you KNOW they're the right ones.
> I bought a 3/4" drive breaker bar, and, of course, a new 1 1/2"
> socket to go with it. (Now I had two new 1 1/2" sockets, a size not
> formerly in my tool box.) Now, we are ready to go.
I guess I got lucky - the only drive size I could find a 1 1/2" was
3/4"(Sears). Then again, my right side was only finger tight.
> Remove the three bolts securing the retainer plate. This is fun (not!).
> Use a short 9/16" box-open end.
I used a combination box end from Sears. The kind with no offset, just
a little angle on the head. Worked for me!
> It's fairly easy to get the retaining plate fastened with your newly
> modified bolts.
Compared to doing it the other way, yes. Still had me muttering to
myself tho'
> 8. Take the whole assembly to the coach. The hardest part for me, in the
> whole procedure, was getting the lower ball joint into it's hole, the drive
> axle spline engaged in the hub, and the upper ball joint forced down into
> it's hole. All while you are holding the weight of this thing. This whole
> thing is heavy!
Amen brother! What worked for me was inserting the lower ball joint just
enough to start the nut. Then rotate the knuckle toward the back as far
as possible. Push the axle toward the center while pushing the outer CV
forward and rotating the stub axle to the rear. Insert the stub axle
into the hub, push the knuckle into place and push down on the upper
control arm to start the nut on the upper ball joint. It takes a little
grunting, but it will go together that way and you're not supporting all
that weight while trying to put it together.
> This procedure draws enverything inside the hub together with the CV joint.
Minor nit here - probably just semantics, but the proper torque serves
to hold the assembly within tolerance, it cannot be relied upon to pull
the parts into place. This is what I suspect was the reason behind my
right side axle nut being finger tight.
Great post Larry!
Patrick
- --
Patrick Flowers
Mailto
atri63The GMC Motorhome Page
http://www.gmcmotorhome.com
