wheel bearings, yay

[MTec007]

well so i changed my drum brake pads Wednesday and checked the bearings as well as i could, and they looked perfect, but wouldnt you know it, i tried to drive to work this morning and my rear right tire locked up something fierce. so i get home tonight and start to take the drum apart, and my outer bearing is gone, metal shavings every where, the bearings that are left are not round any more. so now im ordering bearings and seals for both rear sides. and a new tire, as mine is not flat, but has a flat spot, square if you will.

what do i need to know when putting new bearings on? my brother in law has a grease gun bearing packer, so ill probably be using that to pack the bearings up real good.. what kind of grease are good for these bearings? is there anything that i could have done wrong when changing the shoes that could have brought this on a perfect looking bearing?

[resuwrecked]

You could have over tightened the nut. I tighten mine and spin the wheel to make sure they are seated and make sure its just tight enough to take all the play out. Its more of a feel thing and is hard to tell one how to. Any high temp bearing grease will work fine. How is the spindle? I would think its chewed up too. Check it out. A bad spindle will eat up the new bearings.

[WmWatt]

Put the bearing cage in the palm of your hand and press the grease into it with the other hand, making sure it squeezes out all around.

[MTec007]

ok, thank you for your info much appreciated

i have a bearing grease packer for a grease gun

[1988redfordfestiva]

well i have a nice method i did with mine after i tighten the bolt i backed it off 1/4 turn back then drilled a hole for a counter pin then pin in place i did this cause i had a tire fly off previously not a pretty site now the car sits in the garage since the carb doesn't want to run right and i'm thinking its something stupid

[MTec007]

ok, i cant get the old bearings to come out, the one on the outside of the drum seems to be stuck to the spindle. i cant get the drum off because of this.. any suggestions?

[1988redfordfestiva]

rubber mallet smash the drum a couple of time side to side if the inner bearing is stuck use a screw driver to smack away the bearing

[MTec007]

the drum wont move side to side, and there is nothing left of the bearing to chisel apart, but the end of the bearing that faces the washer and nut is stuck on the spindle, i have been beating at it for a while and its just as stuck as ever, pb blaster didnt even work. i cant get anything in there to try and pry it towards the end of the spindle either.

[1988redfordfestiva]

i'd hate to say it 4 bolts in back of drum housing take the spindle off

[1988redfordfestiva]

your probably gona need a spindle i hope u got junk yard near by and another drum

[MTec007]

ok so my brotherinlaw borrowed a cutting torch from work and we tried to heat the bearing that way, but it didnt work, couldnt get it to move at all. so he tried cutting it a bit and nothing.. well, now i need a new spindle and were probably going to cut the drum tommorrow just to get the thing off, so ill need a new drum too, lucky the junk yard has 2 festys with rear ends. i cannot understand how this thing is sooo stuck on the spindle, it seems impossible that it could be so stuck

also the four nuts on the back seem to be welded on, or i just cant get them to break loose

[1988redfordfestiva]

i can get a spindle from a car at the junk yard if u need it tomorrow and anything else u need which side so i know

[MTec007]

i have 2 festys in the local yard with what i need, but thank you

[1988redfordfestiva]

no prob buddy i have to go there tomorrow for parts myself

[Breedlove]

I just replaced a rear drum and inner and outer bearings on both rear wheels, at Autozone:

drum-44.00 dollars, takes a couple of days, and inspect it before you leave because the first one they tried to give me a big chunk broken off of the outside of the drum.

Bearings- 17.00 dollars for both inner and outer timken bearings per set.

Inner Seal- 6 or 7 dollars, and you might want to buy extra because they have to go in perfect and if you jack it, like I did, you have to go back and get more.

Did you buy your brakes from O'reileys? I had to replace mine with an Autozone pair because the ones I put on from O'reileys broke apart into chunks in the drum.

Anyone know a good trick to align a new drum and new brake shoes because even though I have adjusters all the way in, I still have a hard time getting the drum on when everything is new