Replace PL510 Rear Wheel Bearings, without a press!

[Logical1]

I will be adding and editing this post for the next day as work permits. This is quite the process, Thanks for bearing with me ;)

 

I noticed some play in my rear wheel bearings in my Dime, So I scoured the net for a guide to help me with this... I ended up finding a few threads here and there about it but nothing encompassing the entire process. Armed with the info from several threads on misc forums and some first hand knowledge from Frank I set forth to replace mine and do a write up on how it was accomplished! I ended up being able to replace the bearings without removing the control arms or using a press which was a huge bonus in my book. Here is how it went:

 

Tools needed:

Decent socket set (larger style helps, the main nut is 1.125")

Box end wrenches 14mm x 2

5lb hammer

Grinder with skinny cut-off wheel or equivalent 

1/2" Air ratchet or huge breaker bar

Straight (slotted) screw driver to abuse

PB blaster

Drill gun & bits

2'x2" pipe or other hard bar of steel

medium nail set or other hard steel punch

Duct tape

 

 

Parts needed: 

4x Bearings

2x Giant Nylock Nuts

Bearing grease

 

1:

A: First off, lift the rear of your Dime, set on stands and block the front wheels.

B: Leave the ebrake off and in neutral.

C: Get under the back once its secure and remove the half shaft bolts that connect to the wheel hubs (4 custom bolts with jam nuts, dont loose these!)

 

2:

A: Once your half shafts are disconnected from your wheel hubs you need to fab up your wheel stop with a piece of breaker bar or other suitable material to stop the wheel hub from spinning when you crank on it shortly. I used a piece of 2" steel pipe with holes drilled in that fit onto my wheel studs. (see pictures)

B: Soak the large nut in PB blaster or other suitable penetrating oil.

C: Cut out the 'peened' spots on the holder nut as shown in the pictures. Your goal is just to free up the flat 'crimped' spots on the nut to enable remove without destroying the threads on the hub shaft.

 

3:

A. Once you have cut your nuts ( :rofl: ) I recommend soaking them with PB blaster again.

B: Attach your hub holder as pictured above and if you left your drums on (ONLY IF THEY ARE ON) set you ebrake.

C: Grab your air ratchet and attempt to zip those nuts off. (Make sure your hub holder is set the right way) if no mega air ratchet is available, Use as large of socket wrench you can get on the nut with a huge breaker bar and crack the nuts loose.

D: Once the nuts are off, pull out the stub axles and use your hard steel punch & 5lb hammer to knock the hub shaft out (from the inside out) using the dimple shown above (dont hit the hub shaft directly!) Thanks to tycot1 on the realm.

D: The wheel spindle, outer bearing and wheel hub should knock out without much work. I then used my 2" breaker bar to knock the inner bearing out. (From the outside in)

E: You should end up with 2 wheel spindle hubs with 1 bearing left on each, 2 loose old bearings you knocked out, 2 large nuts & a washer that you cut and zipped off, 2 spacers that fit between the bearings: (pictured are the wheel shafts without the bearing that is still on.)

 

4:

A. Hopefully with the help of a friend use a piece of angle iron or other flat bar steel wedged between the bearing and the wheel hub to knock the remaining bearing off. (I didnt get pictures of this but I will add some from my friends car that we are working on soon)

B: Clean the crap out of the hub shaft with a wire wheel, be sure to keep the spacer that was right next to the hub on the outer side of the last bearing.

C: Acquire the large nylock nuts and replacement wheel bearings

D: Clean out your wheel hub bores and re-coat with a LIGHT oil.

E: Put all 4 bearings in your freezer.

F: Take one of the better old bearings you removed and sand down the outer race 'ring' smoothly as possible while taking as much material off that you can stand to grind off while keeping it even around the circumference and not completely destroying the outer ring. This a modified technique Thanks to thisismatt for the idea about cutting the outer race to use as a punch to put the new bearings in. You are going to be using this modified bearing that is slightly smaller to knock the new bearings in. If you dont have a grinder, I would use the old bearing as is to knock the bearing in until flush then use an outer bearing race that has been cut to knock them in the rest of the way. You do this so you can still remove the modified bearing or the outer race when you have punched the new bearing in to its home.

G: With the info above start with the inner bearings first. Do one side at a time. I warmed the wheel hub bores with a torch until warm to the touch (not hot) Grabbed one of my bearings from the freezer and knocked it into the inner wheel hub bore with the modified bearing while the new bearing was ice cold and the wheel hub was warm. Rinse and repeat on the other inner side.

 

 

End Part 1...Stay tuned!

[Ranman72]

this is a great write up and excellent advice on the hot and cold part 

[Logical1]

Part II

 

5: 

 

A: Once both inner bearings are knocked in, wait a bit for temperatures to equalize (in the hub bore and bearings) and then take the spacers (2" steel tubes) and coat the interior side with high temp bearing grease. Then get a nice thick glob and put it on one outer side of the the spacer. Try to glob it on one spot of the outer side of this spacer, then carefully set this into the inner space of the wheel hub (between the bearings) The big glob of grease should hold up (line up) the spacer for when you knock your shaft though ;)

B: Warm up the outer part of the hub bore with the torch (warm not hot [dont want to melt the grease on the spacer down ether]) Then grab a bearing from the freezer and knock it in with the sanded bearing. Don't be afraid to knock it good with the 5lb hammer as long as you have the sanded bearing covering the new bearing. Rinse and Repeat.

C: After the bearings have been knocked in on both sides, Wait for the temp to equalize again. While waiting, take your wheel hub spindles and put them in the freezer & enjoy a sammich.

D: With the hub bore, bearings, & trailing arms equalized at temp. Take one hub shaft out of the freezer, (with spacer on closest to the hub) spray a little Teflon lube or grease on the entire shaft and knock into the bearings from the outside while the shaft is still cold with a wood block and the 5lb hammer. Mine knocked into both bearings (and through the spacer) quick and easy. After Knocking into the bearings, take a quick look at the inner bearing and check that it hasn't been pushed out. If so, use your cut outer bearing race to knock it back in. Rinse and repeat.

 

6:

 

A: Once both hubs are knocked in, it should look like the image above. Reattach your breaker bar wheel hub holder, slide the stubaxle flange onto the axle shaft, and replace the washer & the new nylock nut. 

B: Thread the nylock nut down by hand to make sure it threads correctly and then hit it with the air ratchet to lock that beast down. Alot of people think you should torque the crap out of it. I think it should just be torqued until tight with the nylock biting on the stud fully.

C: Spin your hubs and make sure they spin smoothly, sometimes you can damage one of the dust flanges and they will rub slightly. Try to repair them before installation but if they rub slightly, don't worry it will find its happy place ;)

D: re-attach your half shafts & wheels, Lower your baby down & take her for a quick spin. Go back to your garage and check lug nuts, half shaft bolts and hub temp. Hopefully everything is happy and you are now set for another 40 years!

 

[LB2]

Hmm!! Personally you should NOT!!! use air tools to set such a very important torque on such a critical holding point. You already have the holding bar for the axle why not take the time and setup a torque wrench to torque to the required 235ftlbs of torque and do it right the first time? I'm wondering if heat generated from brakes and rotational friction won't soften the nylock causing it to loose it's hold not that it really holding in the first place. You know, there is a reason Nissan didn't use a nylock nut in that position and instead used a nut designed to be steaked. On the Realm there is a write up on someone's 510 rear axle nut coming loose causing the axle to start pulling out because it wasn't properly torqued then staked.

 

Torquing and steaking won't cost you a tow and or a car or worse.