Anyone changed out their rear wheel bearings on a GSL axle? Did you take the axle down to a local shop to press off the bearings or . . .

 

Had both mine done a few weeks ago. My local mechanic had a press and did it himself. Pressing the bearings that is. You do need a press though for sure.

 

I replaced both rear wheel bearings on my '83 GSL. I'm fortunate to work at a company which remanufactures engines, transmissions, and differentials, so I just took my axles to our diff. dept. and they pressed off the old stuff and installed the new for me, although after seeing it done, there's really wasn't much to it. I think any shop with a press could get the job done adequately. Just becareful to install the new seals straight if you're going to replace them too. I ended up w/ a huge mess when I tried to rush through that part of the job.

 

Okay, thanks for the advice.

 

The guy that did mine heated the old one up with a torch, bashed it with a hammer, and it popped right off. he pressed the new ones on. It took him about an hour to do both sides.

 

Totally off subject, but the other day when I picked up the 83 GSL, I tried to take my rear wheel off to put the spare on so I could tow the car home (engine doenst run), I couldnt, for my life, get that wheel of . I took all the lugs off, and then tried pulling, kicking, hitting, bashing, and anything else in the book, but it wouldnt move!! Call me stupid if I missed something, but has this happened to anyone else?

~T.J.

PS - I ended up just buying a can of Fix-a-Flat, less work

 

If you don't have the right spacers and whatnot you can't acutally press the old bearings off. Like Felix said you will have to bash em off. But, the new ones can be pressed on to axle quite easily.

 

I saw some instances of this when working for Firestone. Seems the dissimilar metal of the aluminum wheel and the steel drum/rotor hat like to stay together in certain instances. I have gone to town on a wheel with a rubber mallet with the car on a lift and still had it not budge. Use a penetrating oil and let it sit, then beat the fool out of it!

 

if you heat up the new wheel bearings before you press them on they go on much easier. My mechanic let them sit on the coffee pot while he got the axles ready.

 

I did it myself. Of course, I worked at the shop...

After taking the brake apart (it was a GS but apart from the brake it's the same) and unbolting the backing plate, you need a slide hammer to yank the axle from the housing. To get the retainer and bearing off, I used by good buddy the cutoff wheel to cut very deep drooves in them, which I then cracked with a chisel. (this required cutting the bearing apart in order to get at the inner race to crack it apart) Then clean the axle up with an emery cloth, press the new bearing on with your handy 12-ton press, press the retainer collar on, slide-hammer the axle back in the rearend, and bolt it all back together.

Simple, eh?

 

All the same here, but I used a long piece of galvanized pipe that was roughy a little bigger than the axle, and a box hammer and drove the new collar on there