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<DIV>Steve T.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>My WSM calls out an 18G304 Puller and 18G304B Adaptor. Pictures from
the Service Tool Catalogue attached.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Lann</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV>In a message dated 3/7/2014 7:26:51 P.M. Central Standard Time,
strovato@optonline.net writes:</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px"><FONT
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" color=#000000 size=2 face=Arial>Well, on
the right side, I started to attempt the hub removal. I <BR>tried the
old trick of putting the brake drum on backwards, and using <BR>it as a sort
of slide hammer. That didn't work. I tried a three arm <BR>puller
and cranked it a bit, until it slipped off the hub. A three <BR>arm
puller isn't necessarily the best thing to try to engage on a <BR>square
part. I was a bit cautious and not really committed to <BR>getting
deeper into this today. I am sure I can come up with a <BR>better puller
for this in the future. The factory puller pulled the <BR>studs, rather
than trying to hook around the back. Anyway, I would <BR>say that this
hub is the exception to the "does not take much" <BR>rule. For now, I
cleaned up the mess I could reach. I took new <BR>grease, and applied it
to the outer bearing as well as I could. I <BR>put it back together and
the rest will be a project for another <BR>day. It is definitely still
on the to do list, though. As for the <BR>inner parts that I never
reached, the manual says that the inner ball <BR>race bearing spacer and oil
seal will remain on the stub axle, and <BR>must be withdrawn with the aid of a
separate extractor. It's not the <BR>inner bearing, it is the spacer
they think will be stuck. They list <BR>special tool part no.
68895. I have no idea what that is. I don't <BR>expect to find
one, of course, but it would be interesting to see <BR>what they had in
mind. I didn't try the left side at all, but I did <BR>make note in the
manual that the left side of the car is left-hand <BR>thread. That could
be frustrating without that bit of <BR>knowledge. There is also a
statement to remove the grease retaining <BR>disc and felt washer. The
grease retaining disc is, I guess, what I <BR>would call a metal washer.
I didn't find any felt washer and I don't <BR>remember seeing one in any of
the diagrams. Anyway, thanks for the <BR>advice and I'll get back to
this another day with a bit more time and tools.<BR><BR>-Steve T.<BR><BR>At
05:39 PM 3/7/2014, Fletcher Millmore wrote:<BR>>Steve-<BR>>If the grease
is noticeably thin (or dry and solid), then yes, <BR>>replace it. It likely
got that way from too much grease and too much <BR>>heat. Grease is just
oil in a soap base, meant to meter the oil to <BR>>the parts - what you see
is the base disintegrated. Probably the OE grease!<BR>><BR>>Some hubs
(random on identical cars) require a puller, and some do <BR>>not. This
appears to be a tolerance issue; there is NO reason that <BR>>the bearings
should be a "tight" fit on the spindle. It usually does <BR>>not take much
to pull the hub; two prybars behind the hub often do <BR>>the job. Or bolt
the wheel back on with the spindle nut removed, and <BR>>smack it with a
mallet from the back. Since a tight fit is not <BR>>needed, I always clean
up the spindle with emery, so that the <BR>>bearings are a nice slide
fit.<BR>><BR>>If the inner bearing is stuck, it will pull the seal out
of the hub <BR>>as it is pulled, but normally doesn't damage the seal,
which is <BR>>likely dead of age anyhow.<BR>><BR>>The inner spacer is
a free fit on the spindle, no problem. Worth <BR>>polishing the seal track
with 400 and oil -high polished tracks eat <BR>>seals. In addition to what
I described below, I pack the space <BR>>immediately behind the seal
(bearing side) with grease; this is to <BR>>provide lube to the seal, and
to block water from getting to the <BR>>bearing if the seal doesn't
seal.<BR>><BR>>FRM<BR>><BR>>On 3/7/2014 5:13 PM, Steven Trovato
wrote:<BR>>>OK, so here's my wheel bearing update. Everything
looks just fine <BR>>>so far, except the grease in there now is very
liquid. It's no <BR>>>surprise at all that it is making its way
onto my wheels. If I <BR>>>want to do an official bearing
inspection and service, I better <BR>>>make sure I have some new grease
seals around. I'm going to have to <BR>>>use a puller to get the hub
off, I checked. I am also going to have <BR>>>to remove the inner spacer
and oil seal from the stub axle if the <BR>>>manual is to
believed.<BR>>>And this is supposed to require some other magic special
tool. I'm <BR>>>sure there is a way to do this with readily
available tools, but I <BR>>>am not in there yet, so I don't know quite
what will be <BR>>>required. So, I can either forge ahead, or
clean things up a bit <BR>>>and put it together as is for now. I
agree with Fletcher about not <BR>>>disassembling a known good hub, but
I don't think there is any way <BR>>>to keep the current nasty thin
grease from leaking out without <BR>>>cleaning it all out and putting
some reasonable modern grease in <BR>>>there. On the other hand,
if I just put it together, everything <BR>>>seems functional and safe
for now.<BR>>>Decisions, decisions.<BR>>><BR>>>-Steve
T.<BR>>><BR>>>At 03:30 PM 3/1/2014, Fletcher Millmore
wrote:<BR>>>>Doesn't matter who made the bearings- all ball bearings
are the same.<BR>>>><BR>>>>Too much grease is evil. It just
creates heat - which melts the <BR>>>>grease out, and all over the
wheels, or brakes if it goes inside.<BR>>>><BR>>>>I pack the
bearing, and smear all internal surfaces - including <BR>>>>the cap -
with grease to prevent rust.<BR>>>><BR>>>>Remember that
modern greases are far more stable than the old <BR>>>>stuff, and
last more or less forever - far longer than you
will.<BR>>>><BR>>>>Once you put a hub together correctly,
properly greased, it should <BR>>>>easily go 24000 miles, and likely
100,000.<BR>>>>I never take a known good hub apart for inspection -
it just wears <BR>>>>out the bearing fits, and introduces
dirt.<BR>>>>IF the car is parked under water, or the brakes hang and
get <BR>>>>really hot, then it makes sense to "inspect and service"
the bearings.<BR>>>>IF the outer bearing looks a bit dry, smoosh some
grease into that <BR>>>>bearing. The only place that grease went is
along the hub taper to <BR>>>>the inner
bearing.<BR>>>><BR>>>>FRM<BR>>><BR>>>_______________________________________________<BR>>>Zmagnette
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