Wheel hub bearing removal

Hump3

Active Forum User
VOC Member
Salutations from Japan - this, I believe, is the first time that I've posted on the VOC Forum.

I want to remove the bearing races from the hubs of my '54 Shadow. I have heard that running a bead of weld around the race will heat the hub sufficiently enabling the old race to drop out and the new one to be dropped in before the hub cools and the clearance closes. Is there anyone out there who has performed this task who can give me a few pointers? Is it really that easy?

-Humphrey
 

chankly bore

Well Known and Active Forum User
Non-VOC Member
If you have Imperial bearings 09067/09195 or 09074/09196 which are 3/4" bore, just heat the hub to 200 degrees Celsius and the races should drop out. If you are lucky enough to have 30204 metric bearings they may be tighter. This all assumes you have stripped down the wheels, of course. A hint here- use "Nilos" rings when re-assembling the bearings. I have seen the bead of weld trick done on the timing side outer race. Cheers, F5AB/2A/7945 since 1970
 

Ken Tidswell

Well Known and Active Forum User
VOC Member
What the weld does is it causes the bearing track to contract as the weld cools and heats the alloy housing as well. as my learned friend states the metric bearings make a far better job , because it makes the alloy hub thicker and gives better support from the alloy. New metric bearings are much cheaper that the imperial sizes,
 

davidd

Well Known and Active Forum User
VOC Member
Humph,

I remove all wheel bearings with weld this way. It saves on wear a tear of the hubs. As Boggler mentions, the bearing will fall out as it cools or when cool because the weld draws the bearing inward. I use TIG so there is no spatter to deal with. If you use MIG make sure the spatter will not damage anything. Usually a liberal coat of "Pam" or any other spray cooking oil will protect most surfaces from spatter.

This method works really well when it is a blind hole and you cannot get a puller behind the bearing.

David
 
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