Pressing Front Bearings into Rotors Options

[7TPorsh]

Got into this brake work, have all the parts then realized i have to press in the inner and outer races into the rotors. Doesn't seem to easily tap in.

Is this something I can easily do myself with limited tools? or am I looking at taking it somewhere and dropping $30 or $40?

thx

[Elliot Cannon]

Put the rotors in the oven and the races in the freezer.

[r_towle]

Put the rotors in the oven and the races in the freezer.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif)
And use the old race as a drift to tap in the new race.

Rich

[7TPorsh]

wow, rotors in the oven...wife'll kill me. how hot/ how long?

i need to bang out the old races? use them as a guide and hammer on the old one?

[blitZ]

wow, rotors in the oven...wife'll kill me. how hot/ how long?

i need to bang out the old races? use them as a guide and hammer on the old one?

Just ignore the crazy look the wife gives you, or just get used to it. It doesn't take much 250 for 20 minutes. I use a block of wood and a mallet to pound in the races.

[ConeDodger]

Hot and cold works pretty slick but even cold and cold using the old bearing race works...

[wobbletop]

Or buy a small press for $100. I'm amazed how often I use mine.

[ericread]

Just ignore the crazy look the wife gives you, or just get used to it. It doesn't take much 250 for 20 minutes. I use a block of wood and a mallet to pound in the races.

Just slip them into the oven as the wife is baking cookies. She'll never know the difference. (However, I'm not sure I'd eat the cookies...)

Eric Read

[ClayPerrine]

wow, rotors in the oven...wife'll kill me. how hot/ how long?

i need to bang out the old races? use them as a guide and hammer on the old one?

If you clean out all the grease, you will notice that there is a notch in the back side of the shoulder the bearing race sits on. Take a long punch and a hammer and use the notch to drive out the race. It should only take a couple of hits from the punch to get them out. Alternate sides (2 notches) to get them to come out straight.

Putting them back in is easy. I have a tool to install bearing races, but you can just tap them in straight with a BRASS hammer. When they get below the point where you can't tap them any more, use a BRASS punch to push them down the rest of the way.

[wilchek]

Not to bad to get out once you find the slot. You just need to get a long flat screwdriver and put it thru the shaft hole to the slot in the bearing seat on the roter (back of the race). If i remember there are two areas that have the seat missing so you don't cock the race (12 and 6 O'clock). Once they are out just freeze the new races. Take the old races and grind the outer edge down a bit so the slide in and out of the roter. Then use the old races to drive in the new races. It is not a bad job you can do it without any special tools.

[Spoke]

I use a brass drift to tap in and tap out the bearing races. Works just fine even without heat/cold. It takes a while as with each tap the race is moving just a tiny bit.

Tap all around the race as it goes in. You can tell when the race is all the way in as the sound of the tapping will change dramatically and sound more solid.

[melnyk]

i used a brass punch, hammer, and a block of wood

[7TPorsh]

Well guys, I started on getting the old races out, then realized how &$%*^*( dirty i was getting everything.

Was ready to put the bearings in the freezer then realized, what am i doing?

I caved in...Thought about it and ended up going to a local machine shop, amazing what's in that yellow pages book, and having it done pro.

$30 and 2 hours later I am set.

As I picked them up and saw the press job and fitting all nicely packed and sealed, i realized it would have taken a lot of time, patience, and hand goop to do it myself.

Thanks for the advice, i will use the hot and cold idea with other stuff i am sure.

...and if you're in the area, Bob's Automotive Machine Shop is the place. In La Crescenta and been ther about 40 years. Old school workers, luv it!

[PRS914-6]

If you decide to beat the races out back and forth with a drift and hammer you run a HUGE risk of dinging the step where the race seats. The old races may beat right out and you may not even notice the slight ding that damages the lip a few thousands. One whack where the drift hit the hub and it rolls the edge ever so slightly and the lip will be deformed. The result is that the new races don't seat square and you have to tighten the wheel bearings too tight to get the play out because the races are no longer parallel.

In my years of working on cars, I have found that the safest way to remove old races is to use a MIG welder. Run a bead all the way around the inside of the old race and let it cool. It will shrink and the race will literally fall out without ever touching it with a hammer. I use the same method with the rear wheel bearings, just pop the guts out of them and weld a bead in each groove where the balls used to run.

You will be amazed at how easy this is and how well it works. To install races, heat the hubs in an oven and use a larger flat piece of metal in a hydraulic press to get the race started straight followed quickly by a socket or similar that fits perfectly around the race. A little oil on the surfaces prevents galling. Pressing them in square is REALLY important . Back and forth with a hammer just deforms the precision hole. I realize people everywhere use the hammer method but I have worked on many cars to see the scars that this method typically yields.

The pictures shows a MIG welded race ready to come out and the other shows the lip that can be damaged when using a drift and hammer. Note, not a nick on the lip. Hope this helps out.....