Wheel Bearing Question

[anomaly798]

So i am fairly certain my right rear wheel bearing is bad considering the very obvious positive camber and the constant humming.

Two part question:
1.) What all do i need to replace while i am doing this...inner, outer, race???anything else i am missing? Does the race come with the bearing?

2.) I have not yet done the aspire swap and am really wanting to but have not yet found the parts. If i spend all this money to replace will all of that be replaced by the aspire parts???? or can i use the new bearings with aspire swap?

I have never done a bearing before so this is new to me.

Is there anything else that could possibly cause this? i would hate to replace the bearings and still have a problem.


Thanks

-Rob

[jglutz]

Posible causes:
1) Old Bearings
2) Missing dust cap.
3) Inner seal is shot.
4) Spindle nut is loose or over tightened.

Notes for replacement:
1) Do both rear wheels.
2) Purchase complete inner sets, outer sets, seals, and spindle nuts. Save nothing.
3) Purchase a small tub of Hi-temp wheel bearing grease
4) Purchase some aresol solvent, Brake-Kleen or the like.
5) Purchase a Hanyes manual for instruction.

This is not a hard job...dirty...the trick is to not damage the drum when pulling the seal or knocking the old outer races out of the drum. I use a brass punch. Then clean every thing very well and get rid of all of the dirty/grimey stuff before starting the installation. Follow the Hayne's instructions from here.

I can do mine in less than an hour.

[shampooking]

check the insides of the drum first, might be craped already by the old outer bearing

[skeeters_keeper]

The rear bearings are the same for festiva/aspire (go to the advanceautoparts.com shop online, when you look up parts you can click "see what other vehicles this part fits", festy rear wheel bearings fit something like 50+ cars!).
While your in there replacing the drum isn't a bad idea, unless of course your planing on doing the aspire swap soon. Also, be careful, one of the rear spindles may be reverse threaded!

[FB71]

EERRRRR! wrong answer. It's the passenger side that has reverse thread (righty-loosey)

[skeeters_keeper]

yea, Jims got it (of course!)
I said one of them may be reverse threaded because i've heard reports that some festivas or aspires are not reverse threaded... however both my festiva and aspire brakes were, so idn if there is any truth to that.

[FB71]

correct, a very few had left-hand thread on both sides. Those are easily identified by the cotter pin and castle-nut, instead of a stake-nut.

[anomaly798]

i am picking up the parts tonight and will get started tonight...

any confirmation that the "race" comes with the bearing or is that a seperate part? i didnt find any part by that name.

Is the inner and outer bearing all i need??? i'll grab some new shoes too while i am at it.

Can anyone confirm that i can do this with all the special tools...like removing the race and pressing a new one on and remove the bearing without a puller?


Thanks

-Rob

[Pu241]

The races will come with the new bearing they are matched sets.
Do not mix old races and new bearing.
Might want to get an inner seal
But, if your careful about the removal you can reuse the old one if it's not ripped or nicked.
Just get them anyway because if you don't use them you can return them.
If you need them and don't have them your, uh ...in trouble!
Shoes are a good idea and it wouldn't be a bad idea to get a spring kit, because you don't know what shape the springs are in and this way you'll know your breaks are safe!
press not needed but use full, I do not like driving in the race with a drift/punch and hammer.
But, if you clean the drum really well you can heat it in the oven put the race in the freezer and drop the race into the drum while its hot and it should do the trick.
There is some talk of losing the anneal in the steel but at 350 to 350 or so I have never had any issue with the drums or bearings doing this.

[WmWatt]

I'd just do the bearings and inspect everything else while the drum is off.
It's a simple job and not hard to do if you want to replace anything else later.
My motto is don't spend money I don't have to.
Putting the axle nut back on is a judgement thing. Snug but not too tight.
When I did mine I stopped the car a few times out on the road to feel the rear wheels for heat. If the wheel is on too tight I figure the bearings will heat up and tell you.
Make sure there is no play (looseness) in the wheel and it rotates freely.

[jglutz]

When I did mine I stopped the car a few times out on the road to feel the rear wheels for heat. If the wheel is on too tight I figure the bearings will heat up and tell you.

LMAO.....I've never done that....no way...not me....put my hand on a rim....never.....j/k.

[anomaly798]

Well i got the well and brakes off. Now I am confused, I have an inner and outer bearing but i only see one bearing on the spindle and there is a ring toward the end of the bearing that i am assuming is the race??? it wont come off and none of the stuff i bought has anything like that so i dont have replacement...the haynes manual has no pics of the spindle at all and gives the direction to remove and inspect bearing....not very helpful.

Am i losing my mind or i am missing something here?


Thanks

-Rob

[gareth69]

No your not losing your mind. The outer bearing has disentegrated, all that is left is the inner race and a small part of the cage. Looking at your stub axle between the two bearings it looks damaged so I would say the parts of the bearing are in the drum stuck in the grease between the two outer races.

It also looks like the threads for the axle nut on the stub are damged. If my eyes are working right it looks like left hand thread which would be hard to find a die for. If you know what you are doing you might be able to clean it up with a thread file but the top looks pretty thrashed. I would think another stub would be the safest bet for you.

[gareth69]

I just re-read(is that even a word) your post. If you can't get the race off the stub it has probably spun and friction welded itself to the stub. If that is the case you will definately need a new stub. Having said that I once fixed one on an old falcon that was 1000 times worse than what yours looks like. The poor old bloke had no money for a stub so I spent 4 hours with a file cleaning it up.

[Pu241]

Rob
Your sanity is OK, you are missing something.
Pics help a lot.
From your pic I'm assuming you cleaned off the grease and put the nut back on for the pic.
If not please elaborate exactly what you did.
In your pic starting from the right and moving to the left; you have a non-OEM nut that should have held the drum onto the spindle.
Next on the spindle is your inner bearing.
Behind the inner bearing is the inner seal.
I suspect your bearing has seized to your spindle as it and the inner seal should have come off with drum when you removed the nut holding drum onto the spindle.
You must have had to pry the drum off with some effort!
Additionally, there should be a second smaller bearing bearing still inside the drum.
Please check this is so, pics of the drum would be helpful.
This is the outer bearing and should have been directly behind the nut that held the drum onto the spindle.
If you got a set of bearings they should match what you already should have on the car.
OK, you knew this was coming, bad news.
You have a ruined spindle and it will need to be replaced.
DO NOT try to unbolt it from front.
In your pic the four shinny hex heads you see are splined into the trailing arm they will not move.
There are nuts on the back of these hex heads which hold your spindle to the trailing arm.
Do yourself a favor and start to spray them with PB-blaster or the like (WD-40 is a poor substitute for a good reentrant) this will make your spindle removal much less painless.
The races for your bearings, both inner and outer, should be inside the drum.
Thats why I would like a pic of the drum showing where the spindle enters the drum.
One from the inside of the drum and one from the outside.
Then I can point out the races.
They are smooth, usually shinny, rings of metal that match the outer surface of the bearings, so they rotate smoothly and are set into the drum.
One for the inner bearing and one for the outer bearing.
Hope this helps