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Date:         Sun, 16 Apr 2017 11:33:55 -0600
Reply-To:     Steve Williams <steve@WILLIAMSITCONSULTING.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Steve Williams <steve@WILLIAMSITCONSULTING.COM>
Subject:      Re: List Wisdom - DIY rear bearings...
Comments: To: Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@hotmail.com>
In-Reply-To:  <CY1PR20MB002997F5B36FFA1A7442AB85A0070@CY1PR20MB0029.namprd20.prod.outlook.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed

Hi Dennis,

Thanks for your advice last night. I was able to get the drum and the flange off quite easily once I knew which way to turn the adjuster :) I'm not a stranger to drum brakes as my old 1972 Dodge Dart had them and I put over 350,000 miles on that car so I was in there more than once! lol

Also, thanks for the input re. removing the housing & brake backing plate. I don't have rust issues and have been soaking everything in penetrating oil overnight.

I absolutely need a new flange hub. A piece of the flange hub broke off right where the grease seal runs and has ground up into a real nice grinding compound! Here's a photo of the damage. It's a fairly big photo and might be a bit slow downloading as it's coming from my own server @ home.

http://www.williamsitconsulting.com/westy/DSC02206.JPG

Two more for different perspective:

http://www.williamsitconsulting.com/westy/DSC02207.JPG http://www.williamsitconsulting.com/westy/DSC02208.JPG

Because of the wonderful grinding compound that resulted with the chunk of metal in the bearing housing, I'm probably going to put in new bearings.

I'm just not sure how to determine if the splines on the shaft are damaged or not. While I've had the vehicle, probably 25,000 km or so, the bearings have never been very loose. The splines look in very good shape, with original machining marks almost the entire length on the surface and they still look quite parallel.

http://www.williamsitconsulting.com/westy/DSC02210.JPG

The brakes are actually in good shape so other than a good cleaning/lube, I'm not going to worry about them.

http://www.williamsitconsulting.com/westy/DSC02211.JPG

What I will probably do is open a huge can of worms and re-grease my CV's if I have to be messing around down there anyway :)

Everything is within my abilities and I struggle paying shop rates for a mechanic to do this when I'm only working 1/2 time and I have a heated garage to work in :)

Cheers, Steve Williams

On 16/04/2017 10:16 AM, Dennis Haynes wrote: > I really doubt you have a bearing or spacer problem. You need the flange hub and you may need the shaft. Yes this can be done on the car but unless you really have rust issues it is not a big deal to remove the brake backing plate. From experience you are likely at a point the brakes need servicing anyway. You haven’t done them recently if you can’t easily adjust them and you aren’t experienced if you don’t know the relationship of the two adjusters. You have to drop the axle to service the bearings in place. If you are removing the housing you only need to disconnect the outer CV joint. > > If you are looking to lubricate the bearings there is an easy cheat for that. Get a thin grease needle for your grease gun. Remove the outer seal. Thread the grease needle through the bearing rollers into the housing. Pump in fresh grease until the housing fills and then until the old stuff gets pump out. You won’t get it all out. Keep wiping out the mess. After pumping, wipe out as much grease as possible on this side of the bearing. With the housing full the grease will expand and try to churn out. You want space so it doesn’t blow out the seals and foul the brakes. Replace the seal and you are good until at least the next brake job. > > Check the archives and look for past posts about adjusting-shimming the lower shoe rests and adjusting the brake cables. The cables can only be adjusted with the drums off so you can see the lever gap to the push bar. After that the self-adjuster takes care both. > > Dennis > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of Steve Williams > Sent: Sunday, April 16, 2017 11:18 AM > To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM > Subject: Re: List Wisdom - DIY rear bearings... > > Hi, > > Luckily (or unlucky)? the problem started with the axle nut not staying > tight so I don't have the problem of trying to get the axle nut off! lol. > > Thanks for the suggestion about the CV bots. I would not have thought of that until I had wrecked one of them! > > Did you do it with the bearing housing on the vehicle? > > Thanks, > Steve W. > > On 16/04/2017 7:52 AM, Don Hanson wrote: >> tbe job is difficult but not complicated. Have​ some extra cv bolts >> on hand, and I had an extre axle nut.. it's now aboard as a spare. >> the forces are BIG! We had my van raised on jackstands under the >> back jackpoints when we tried to deal with the axle nut. With a >> socket and​ a 6' jack handle as a cheater bar we were bouncing the >> front wheels off the ground with two people on the cheater bar on the >> right side axle nut, and it still wouldn't budge. >> I've got the other side rumbling now😐 >> >> On Apr 15, 2017 9:06 PM, "Steve Williams" >> <steve@williamsitconsulting.com >> <mailto:steve@williamsitconsulting.com>> wrote: >> >> Hi, >> >> I have determined that I need to repack at a minimum, more than likely >> put new bearings & spacer in the rear passenger side of my 91 Westy. >> >> I watched a step by step on The Samba ( >> https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=670910&highlight=bearing+spacer >> <https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=670910&highlight=bearing+spacer> >> ) >> In this "step by step", the person had the bearing housing removed >> from >> the vehicle. Looking at my vehicle, it looks like that would require >> removing the backing plate which would require disconnecting the brake >> lines, etc. >> >> I also watched a video ( >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pDzWH0GebQ&ab_channel=ThomasEXOVCDS >> <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pDzWH0GebQ&ab_channel=ThomasEXOVCDS> >> ). >> In the video, he did the bearing job with the bearing housing "in >> place", working from the back. I don't have a hoist, so I'd be >> doing it >> on a crawler laying on my back. >> >> Nothing I saw in either scared me too much. But the devil is in the >> rusted fastners! lol. >> >> I could pay for a shop to do this, but this is something I fell pretty >> comfortable with. I've been doing my own wheel bearings, brakes, >> basic >> maintenance on all my vehicles all my life. >> >> Am I opening a can of worms trying to do this on my own? >> >> It looks like I'd have to buy some long drifts, and not sure how >> I'd pop >> the grease seal out if I do it "in place". It looks like a long >> reach, >> though if I'm replacing the seal, I could just punch it out from the >> outside of the vehicle. >> >> What is the "list wisdom" of a DIY rear wheel bearing grease? Any bad >> gotcha's? >> >> I'd likely dive in the CV joints at the same time give that I'd >> have the >> shaft out anyway. >> >> Thanks, >> Steve Williams >>


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