Date: Thu, 27 Jun 1996 21:30:23 -0500
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: cmoran@cswnet.com (Colin A Moran)
Subject: '86 Syncro wheel bearings(kinda long)
Howdy Listies,
I finaly pulled the wheel bearing out of the passanger side front
wheel. If you'll remember it had developed an excessive amount of play.
Just to be on the safe side I replaced it. The bearing looked good, no
problems, other than the extra play. Most of the disassembly was easy.
1. Remove tire and rim.
2 Remove brake line from back of wheel bearing housing.
3. Remove upper ball joint from the upper control arm
4. Remove brake caliper from wheel bearing housing, and suspend it with a
piece of heavy wire. Do not disconnect break line.
5. Disconnect tie rod end.
6. Remove nut and spacer from stub axle. Press axle shaft out of the wheel
hub.
7. Remove bolts from lower control arm and radius rod end. pull wheel
bearing housing and lower ball joint out of lower control arm.
8. Remove 8mm flat heat allen bolt from disc brake rotor. Seperate brake
rotor from wheel hub. This is one place I had problems. The allen
slot stripped out, I had to weld a 5/16 bolt to it to remove it. Be
careful, I am having trouble finding a bolt to replace it with.
The following steps require a press of some type.
9. Press wheel hub out of bearing. This will destroy the bearing. This is
the point of no return.
10. Pry out the bearing seals with a screw driver or similar device.
11. Remove the snap ring (Circlip) from the wheel bearing housing.
12. Press the wheel bearing out of the bearing housing.
13. Remove the inner race of the wheel bearing from the wheel hub. This is
difficult, Bentely showed a clamp type puller. I did'nt have one that would
fit into the narrow recesses of the wheel hub. I used a die grinder and a
very thin cutting wheel to remove the race. I cut two slots in the race,
180 deg apart, not down to the hub but within about .010". I then used a
cold chisle and a hammer to remove the race.
Installation is the reverse of the above steps. Remember to clean the
axle splines and use lock tight on the Axle splines. I don't recommend this
job if you don't have access to a hydraulic press.
I purchased the bearing from an industrial bearing supplier. Bearing
cost $55.00 seals where about $4.50 each. FLAPS wanted $65.00 to $70.00 for
the bearing. I did'nt check the dealer;-)
Part Numbers
Seals CR #25140 2 required
Bearing CR # FW161 or FKS # 305988
Hope this helps some one. I appriciate all the information this list
provides, and I apologize for any ill informed comments I have made, ie
aircraft engine operating rpms.
Thanks.
Colin A Moran
If you can't dazzle them with brilliance,
baffle them with bull sh*t.
'86 Syncro GL