I had my trailing arms sand blasted and powder coated. This has left the cavity for the wheel bearing all clean and fresh--and bare metal. Do any of you treat the metal to prevent corrosion before pressing in the bearing?

I use my favorite Swepco 101 grease.

light grease is all you need.

Arm looks wonderful BTW

But if the area behind the bearing seat is still fresh metal, I would paint it at minimum, or I would be tempted to get some high temp masking and have them redo the inner area. From the picture it looks like the area the stub axle and C.V. Joint occupies is still raw steel, and that was because of the masking and application.

Thanks, Stephen. The picture is deceiving, and the PC goes all the way inside the opening for the stub axle and CV joint. The only exposed metal is in the wheel bearing cavity.

Hi,

the trailing arms look great!

I did this a couple of times, but I‘ve always left the outer shell of the bearing in the cavity while sandblasting and powder coating to protect the surface. Pulling the outer shell after powder coating.
Sandblasting is abrasive and I was afraid, that the surface will be damaged resulting in a bad fitting of the bearing.
I‘m not quite sure if this really happens, so maybe others could chime in and report their experience here.

Answering your question, I would at least put a light coat of grease in there before installing the bearing. Maybe use beforehand some emery cloth to slightly finishing the surface.

Benno

Hi,

just another remark concerning powder coating. You should definitely free up the mounting surface for the rear brake caliper from the powder coating. Its typically so thick, that the calipers can come loose while rubbing down the remaining powder coating ...
Metal on metal is what you‘re here aiming for ...

Benno

It used to be when you bought bearing as part of a kit for VAG cars, they came with a small tube of Molybdenum Disulfide paste. Most don't now.
I use this when installing wheel bearings.

moly paste

Greg W.