removing rear axle bearings and retaining collars
 

I have new bearings and retaining collars for my new LSD rear end that i bought and I am having some trouble getting the old ones off. I have been using an air cutoff tool. i got the outer bearing race off pretty easily by cutting about 90 percent through it on 2 spots across from each other and then using a flat head screw driver and hammering it. however the same method wont get the retaining collar off. i cut about 90-95 percent through it on one spot but i cant get it to crack no matter how much i hammer it. this is the first time ive tried to do this. any suggestions guys? TIA.

Re: removing rear axle bearings and retaining collars
 

Ever think of using a cold chisel instead of a flat head screwdriver?

excuse my ignorance but what exactly is a cold chisel?

A chisel that's used for cutting and removing metal.

What are you doing ???????? those pieces are pressed on and off..

Like Mark mentioned, even if you manage to chip the old ones off you'll still HAVE to press the new ones on. These bearings are all that holds the axles on the car, so believe it when you're told they are pressed on hard. Stop where you're at and take them to a well equiped machine shop that is able to do this for you. This is from my Haynes manual which you should also obtain a copy of. To press off: 5 tons.

Then to press on you press them on a clean ungreased shaft. If it takes less than 2.7 tons (5900 lbs.) to do so it isn't tight enough and should be replaced.

Vernon

yea i know that they have to be pressed on but i heard that to get the bearings off the retaining collars have to be cut off so i figured i would just take them off myself and then take the axles and all the new stuff to a shop to get them pressed on.

Cutting/grinding is the accepted way of removing them. I think it would be obvious to everyone that they have to be pressed back on.

Yes, you cannot press them off, they must be cut off. Be careful not to damage the axle. a chisel will help split the metal once you have it thinned. A chisel will bite into the metal, whereas a screwdriver wont do it.

yes you have to grind the collar off, its the only thing holding the axle in the car, you want it as tight as possible

Really ?? I pressed both off and on.

A local drivetrain shop pressed my old bearings and collars off, and pressed the new ones on, for $25/axle. I dropped them off one day, paid $50 the next and picked them up.

Hth did you press them off? Theres no room for anything to fit in there? :confused::scratch: :scratch: :scratch: :scratch:

yea, how did you press them off? And to answer the original question, cut almost all the way through the retainer (and inner bearing race) in 3 or 4 spots around it, and then chip it off. It should come apart in several pieces becuase the multiple cuts have weakened it. Thats how mine came off anyway.

i had mine done like last month...i asked the mechanic how he was going to press them off and he pulled out a thick fork that attaches to the press that can take them off...i watched him do it to make sure he didn't try to use a torche...it took about 15 mins per axle to press off and on

he took his time and was very careful (probably because i was right there...) but they came out fine

Oh yea, I remember you telling me that. I'd like to see that tool, cause the brake backing plates are so close, I don't see how it could work. Cool stuff

well guys i got them off. i figured out a method that seemed to work pretty well. I cut about 80-90 percent through and then set the chisel point in the spot where the collar and the inner bearing race meet (or the race and the spacer) and hammered away in a few different spots around it, which cracked and seperated them (they were partially fused together) and then took the chisel and hammered in the spot where i cut. once it cracked, it bent to relieve the pressure from being pressed on at several tons. after that i just slid it off the axle.

i marked the axle slightly in a couple spots but to me it looks to small to make a difference.

yea mine got a few nicks in them too, shouldn't matter.

I cut mine off using my Dremel tool and about 10 of those small disks. I couldn't easily find a place that wanted to press them on so I found a way to do it myself. Granted, I have no clue as to whether the collars are tight enough ( although they are awfully snug on the axel :-).

What I did was I went down to my favorite hardware store and bought ~4 foot length of iron water pipe with an inner diamter of 1.25 inches. This is the perfect size to fit over the axle at the point the bearings go on. I just used the pipe to "convince" the bearings and then the collars to go on by sliding it up and down the axle, tap tap tapping until they were in place. The bearings went on very easily this way, so I can see why the collar is required to help hold the axle in place. The collars took a "lot" more effort. In the end it looks fine and the iron pipe is softer that the collar, bearings or axle so there was no damage to anything.