Ok, I followed the instructions in the Haynes manual for strut replacement. I removed the hub assembly (not needed in my opinion) and found that the bearings were gone. Now a few Questions....

1. someone said something about oil (draining and replacing). What oil? Is it in the replaceable strut or inside the strut tube? WTF?

2. The bearing races are stuck like a *****. What to use to get the old out and then the new in?

please I hate to see my baby on jack stands with nothing in the front wheel wells (looks crippled and decrepid)

peace

 

bump

 

Yep, in the Tube. Use good clean motor oil.

 

Damon, when you remove the original strut components from the strut housing, you will find the oil you're looking for. The replacement cartridges then need to be immersed in a lightweight oil within the strut housing to enable heat dispersement.

Some of the residual oil from the strut housing can be used with the new strut cartridge, or do what I do, and use some fresh hydraulic jack oil (recommended to me by a Mazda mechanic).

As far as the stuck race, I would try a punch with a flat circular tip to tap it free. goodluck!

 

the strut tubes are filled with oil. when you replace the strut cartridge, there should be an 'oil bath' in that strut housing. it'll get a little messy if you put too much in, and i can't remember how much we used. but we used plain old castrol 10w40 for it and it's been fine going on 3 years. when my races were stuck, i used a dowel rod and a hammer to get them out. the wooden dowel rod(1/2"dia?) kept from scratching the metal. maybe try heating the races up with a torch prior to the ritualistic whacking of the hub.

 

Is the inner or outer race stuck?

 

I once had a rear bearing "weld" itself to the axle shaft on an old RX7 of mine. I had to totally remove the rear end, take it to a machine shop, and they welded a tang to the bearing race and then yanked it from the rear axle. My attempts at removing it with a hammer and cold chisel set ended up in 3 ruined cold chisels...

I was in college and had a cheap socket set, a couple pliers, and some open end wrenches and did all the work in the parking lot of my apartment. It sucked majorly and the $40.00 check I wrote to have the work done bounced.. lol..

Those were the days when Ramen was a feast fit for a king.

 

Thanks for all the info guys, much help.

oh and to answer the race question both races are stuck the car has over 200k on it and none of this has ever been changed.

peace

 

Whaddya mean "were" and "was"??? You mean it isn't??? I can live offa Ramen, and at a buck for a case of 20 packages, it's good on the wallet too.

Damon: There are sometimes notches in the hub where you can use a chisel to push out the race from the opposite side. Clean out all the bearing grease to see them, I'm not sure if the RX-7's have them, but I know many other cars do.