Seized bearing race


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Old 12-27-08, 08:50 PM
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Seized bearing race

Any ideas......I have a bearing race that is seized to the spindle. The bearing got hot and fell apart, but the lady kept driving. When I got the car the wheel was making all the noise and wriggling all over the place. Jacked up the car and it was easy to tell the bearing was shot.

Anyhow I pulled the wheel and the outer bearing just fell apart. The race is stuck on the spindle and I can't seem to get it off. I have tried a gear puller, it just pops off once you put some pressure on it. Attempted to beat it off with a hammer and punch, just beat the heck out of my knuckles. Tried to apply heat to the race with mapp gas, while applying puller and/or using punch and hammer. Managed to beat knuckles while burning fingers. Even gave a pipe wench a try, but realized it was also pinching down on the race at the same time so didn't think it would work to well and it didn't.

My next try tomorrow will be to use a grinder with a metal cutting wheel. If someone has a easy way to break this thing loose, please share it with me.
 
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Old 12-28-08, 05:34 AM
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Most likely will have to replace the spindle, the race probably got hot enough to weld itself to the spindle, and will not be removeable.
 
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Old 12-28-08, 05:52 AM
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Only other thing I've seen that worked occasionally was ice it. Heat it up a little first then pack the ice on there real quick & try puller as close to spindle shaft area as you can get to minimize that buckling inward from top edge. Another thought? Do you have room to slide some homemade metal wedges in behind race & spindle back plate area? One top & one bottom maybe?
 
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Old 12-28-08, 06:29 AM
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ide use the grinder cut a slot in it then use a thick chisel to spread it apart no matter how hot they get the metals wont bond together completly
 
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Old 12-28-08, 06:39 AM
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Wire twister, thanks for the input. However, that is what I am trying to prevent. I understand replacing the spindle is always an option but am hopeing that I can get race off of spindle.

Mike B. I'm not sure I understand the wedge theory. Getting any wedges or plates behind race would be difficult as the race butts up against the slope of the spindle. The inside diameter of the race is at the 1" area of spindle and then the spindle diameter increases to about 1 1/2" right behind race. I thought about trying to put some plates behind the race to get a better grip with the puller, but that isn't going to happen, unless I can make them a solid piece somehow. Don't have a welder or I might be able to put them in place and than tac weld them together to give a larger shoulder to pull on. Hmmmmmm.....may have to pull spindle off of car and try that. After all, I will have to pull spindle to replace it, if that is the way this thing goes.

I did try to heat the race while keeping spindle cool with a wet rag. Figured if I could expand the race with heat and contract the spindle with cold it may give race enough room to move.....no joy.

I appreciate the inputs, if nothing else they did get the brain juices running again. I will let you know how things go today. Wire twister may be right and the easiest thing may be to replace the spindle, just don't know where I will find one around here on a Sunday.

Thanks again.
 
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Old 12-28-08, 06:42 AM
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Originally Posted by sanman8008
ide use the grinder cut a slot in it then use a thick chisel to spread it apart no matter how hot they get the metals wont bond together completly
That is going to be my first try today......as soon as I go get a new grinder, my son burnt my last one up and than put it back on the shelf, otherwise I would have done it last night. I should have known something was wrong with it cause he actually put it away when he was done with it.
 
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Old 12-28-08, 06:47 AM
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On a bit of a side note, but may be helpful to some:

Talked to my cousin last night and he told me if the race was inside the rotor there is an easy way to get them out.

You run a welding bead on the inside of the race, near the shoulder of the race, all the way around. Once you have the bead ran, turn the rotor over and wait for the bead to cool. When the bead cools it will pull the race in (contracting) and the race will just fall out of the rotor.

Of course, that isn't the case here, but I thought I would throw that out there just incase someone would like to try it sometime.
 
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Old 12-28-08, 07:22 AM
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Unless the race was spinning it shouldn't have welded itself to the spindle. Getting the race off without heat would be the first choice. I think I would cut grooves lengthwise on either side of the race as close to the seal surface of the spindle without getting into it. Try to get the grooves about 1/2 way through the race without getting into the spindle.

Just cutting the grooves will heat up the race a little. Then use the chisel in the groove idea to turn the race on the spindle to break it loose. Once you've broken it loose you should be able to get it off with the pullers.
 
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Old 12-28-08, 07:27 AM
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Replace the spindle, for two main reasons.

1: Even if you do get the race off, the spindle is designed as a finished slip fit based on the bearing tolerances. Even a slight deviation will create forces on both the bearing and spindle that they were not designed to handle.

2: The spindle is made of hardened steel. Between the bearing failure and the heat you have applied to it, much of that tempering has already been lost.

Bottom line - re-using a damaged spindle (and it IS damaged) is not safe. If you're a professional, you should know this. Professional or not, if you're repairing this car for someone else, you're liable.
 
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Old 12-28-08, 07:43 AM
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I have to agree with pmgheritage. The spindle temper, hence the hardness, and hence the strength, has been compromised with the applied heat.

Otherwise, the method for removing a battered race from a spindle is with either a die grinder or abrasive cut-off wheel in combination with a cold chisel. This technique assumes the spindle doesn't get damaged in the process.
 
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Old 12-28-08, 08:53 PM
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Okay just so everyone is up to date and because I don't like it when someone starts a thread and than never comes back to let everyone know how the problem turns out......

I did pull the spindle off the car just to give myself easier access to it. Once I had it off, I noticed that the bottom of the spindle actually had some "blueing" to it. I decided than that it was unsafe to put this part back on the car. So will go to junk yard tomorrow to another one.

However, since I didn't have anything else to do decided to see if I could get the race off, useing a grinder. I placed the spindle in my vise and cut a notch in the top of the race. Used a chisel to try to break it free, nothing happened. So went back to using a pipe wrench to see if it would break it free....nothing broke free but my vise! So to work off my anger, I went back to the chisel and hammer. This time I was able to break off a piece of the race but it left a small ridge where it was welded to the spindle. It is evident that the race did spin on the spindle and there is no way it is coming off without causing damage to the spindle.

So long story short.....going to replace it tomorrow.

Thanks for all the inputs hopefully finding a good used one will be easy and I will get it right the first time.
 
 

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