MarkPerez

has anyone replaced the rear wheel bearings ??
and did it yourself ??? arn't they press fit,,off,,on ???
if you did,,how did you do it,,without a press ??

SilverRocket

I did both of mine a few weeks ago... my advice is to have many a beer on hand! You'll need an axle puller, I was able to rent one from one of our trusty Canadian Tire stores. You'll also need a dremel tool or some other cutting wheel instrument to cut off the old collars and most likely bearings as well.

Pressing on the new bearing/collar was an adventure lol... it takes 230 pounds of pressure to get those ***** on!! I did it by holding a large wrench over them (with the old collar above them to protect the new stuff) and having a friend slam a clutch/flywheel assembly down the axle into them a couple hundred times... I don't advise this method lol, at least not unless you have very strong hands/wrists (I am not liable if you break your hand doing something like this lol). You can also use a large hammer to hit the wrench, depending on how tight yours are. Rotate the wrench every hit or so to press them on evenly.

That method sucks though; the right way to do it is to find yourself a nice length of pipe of the right size to fit down over the axle. Then you just bash them on with a big *** hammer hitting the top of the pipe. Alternatively, just take it to a machine shop and have them press it on... next time I think I'll do it one of the easy ways.

Good luck!

MarkPerez

when you replaced the bearings,,what was the reason ?
locked up ,,?? could hear the bearings through out
the car while driving ,.?? made the driveline out of
balance ,.?? what were the signs of bearing failure ,.?
you really cut off the old ones,,and beat the new ones on ,.?,.,.,.man,,, and can you feel,or tell the differance
now how the car rides now ,.?

ASEmaster

I would suggest taking them to someone with a press... it's a lot easier that way. Any competent machine shop or garage should be able to do it for you.

I replaced mine when I had to replace an axle shaft on one side. I figured since they were so old, it would have to be better... plus I was starting to get a seal leak at one of the axles, so I took the opportunity to replace those while I was at it. Just don't get in a hurry when doing any of the work or you'll be spending a lot of time/money later to fix it again.

There's my 2 cents

mperformance

mark my car had a whole history of weird problems due to failure of one bearing...

I posted a thread a couple of weeks ago about it.
My car was acting up really messed up. it would have no traction on most gears since one of the tires would spin and the other one get locked. Also the rear had a weird vibration and the car felt unstable at high speeds.

After the bearing replacement traction hooked up, vibration was gone, and the suspension feels better.

I suggest you take the bearings to a press. Worth every penny...they are a PITA to get in.

MarkPerez

i've got that vibration crap going on,,thought the drive
shaft went out of balance,,but how could it ,?went and
had all the wheels and tires rebalanced,,the only work
under the car that i did lately was the clutch,,but after
the clutch job the car was smooth,,,the vibration just
started out of the blue,,then i was also thinking u-joints.
as of yesterday i can hear what does sound like a bearing going out,,you know the sound i mean ?..
today i jacked up the rearend and spun each wheel,
they spin fine,,no noise,,but when the cars on the road
i've got that sound,,and your right on the money about
the car feeling unstable at higher speeds,,plus the noise
drives me crazy..so if i have to drive it,i don't go over 40
mph..today when i ordered the bearings,,when i changed from drum to disk brakes i put in new fluid..and
when the car was up today i also checked the fluid,and
let me tell you..it was(is) black,and beat up bad,,,i hope
the LSD isn't going to take a dump anytime soon..,
i almost want to sell the 7 and buy a 4runner,.don't worry ,.,.,.
thanks guys

Felix Wankel

Heat the bearing up with a torch and bash it with a hammer. It'll come flying off.

MarkPerez

like ring gears,,huh,,?

SilverRocket

The reason I replaced mine was they were both absolutely toasted - one of them was actually cracked through the outer casing. The symptoms were a very loud "train-like" chugging noise while driving (getting louder and faster as speed increased) and the kind of vibration that you're talking about.

Now that I have replaced them, the car feels much smoother and more enjoyable to drive. I no longer have that strange and annoying feeling while driving that "something" is wrong... the whole car just feels much nicer. I enthusiastically recommend the procedure for anyone suffering similar symptoms!

Felix Wankel

I paid a guy $120 to do mine and he did it in like 45 minutes. Hes a pretty good rotary mechanic.

yayarx7

BE CAREFUL HERE!

I had the nightmare of a time with my rear bearings. I removed the axle and took it to a shop w/the new bearings. Went the next day to pick it up, and then tried to put it back in the car. After about 6 hours of trying to figure out why my brake swould not go back together properly I finally realized the little spacer was missing. Of course the shop had no idea what I was talking about. I had to order one through Rx7.com, they had to special order one through mazda of Japan, as I am the only person in America who gets one lost.

I finally got it back together and running...Then the engine blew.

Moral is..................I forget...............Oh yeah, MAKE SURE THEY DO NOT LOOSE THE SPACER THINGY!

SilverRocket

I think some years of 7s have those spacers and some don't - mine does but none of my friend's RX-7s do... either way don't mess with it lol

vic'srx-7

I am in the process of redoing the bearing and seal on my '85 GSL, I picked up the parts and was about to put in the new seal and noticed that it is about 1/4 inch to big. My old seal is 2 1/4 inches aprox. and the new one is 2 1/2 inches. Mazda insists that this is the correct one but I don't think it is.
Has anyone had this problem.

Vic

Northern 7

iTrader: (3)

The sound you should be hearing (if you have a bearing problem), is like a woop - woop - woop oscillating noise that is very annoying - gets louder as you go faster. If they are gone to the point that the noise is as loud as you describe, they would have to be in pretty bad shape. Have you jacked it up and checked for movement in the wheel hub? If you get any movement while pulling on either side of the tire (pulling toward you as you sit facing the wheel) it's a sure sign of bearing wear.
Don't mess with rear bearing - get a shop to do it and have them press fit properly. If you press them in youself and are off by a hair, you'll be doing it again very shortly.