[FC] Differential side bearing

[Bill Wells]

Charles,

I have removed several FC bearings from the axle
successfully. Here is what I do.
For tools, you will need a bearing separator. I use an
OTC PT 1124. This was about 140 bucks, but has to be
top quality. 
I use a Harbor Freight 12 ton press. This is just
barely long and strong enough for the job. I have to
remove the lug studs to give me enough travel on the
press.
Soak the joint between bearing and axle with a
penetrant oil and bolt the separator below the puller
ring. Make sure you are not in the groove on the axle.
As per typical hydraulic press use, you will require
various blocks and pieces of steel to use as supports
for the separator.
About half the time, the puller ring will be ruined
during the process, but I have never ruined a bearing.

This is not a walk in the park, but as you have found
out, you can't trust just anyone with these bearings.

Good Luck,
Bill 

--- Charles <r75@shaw.ca> wrote:
> Hi all,
> 
> Well, I'm back from a long weekend to take another
> look into what is 
> making noise from my van's rear end. Ok, I've gotten
> some good advice 
> from some of you already about this. Here's the
> original observations:
> 
> I heard some nasty scraping from what I thought
> might be the rear 
> brakes. There was no real change in the sound when
> the brakes were 
> applied so at first I thought a rock or some piece
> of spring had broken 
> off and was grinding around in the drum. It happened
> a couple of times 
> for a few minutes and then just stops and then
> starts up again. I can't 
> imagine that the bearings would stop making noise
> once something goes 
> wrong. I pulled the drums and can't see anything
> wrong. There was no 
> evidence of something scraping around. I did notice
> that the star wheel 
> for the self-adjusting brake was not engaging on one
> side (the side 
> where I thought the noise was coming from). I can
> spin the wheels and 
> hear nothing like the god-awful scraping. Before I
> parked I put it in 
> reverse and then applied the brakes and then went
> forward and the noise 
> decreased significantly. I'm beginning to suspect
> that the differential 
> is the problem. The noise is not engine-speed
> related. I did notice that 
> when I pulled on the hub that it moved in and out
> about an eigth of an 
> inch. The bearings aren't great but again I find it
> hard to believe that 
> they could go quiet once they start making noise.
> 
> Tonight I'm taking off the section of floor over the
> tranny/diff and 
> having a peek inside the diff which is where I
> strongly suspect the 
> problem to be. My question is:  Is it possible to
> remove/change the side 
> bearing in the diff without having to remove the
> diff or drop it down?
> 
> I have another question: Has anyone sucsessfully
> separated a rear axle 
> bearing from the axle shaft without destroying the
> bearing of course? 
>  If so, what's the secret?
> 
> The reason I ask is that I had previously taken a
> set of axle/bearing 
> assemblies to a licenced machine shop to have the
> bearings pulled off so 
> that I could inspect them properly and with a bit of
> luck salvage one 
> useable bearing as a back up. When I went to pick up
> my professionally 
> separated bearings I was informed that they could
> not budge them. They 
> even tried pulling on the outer race which of course
> 
> cracked/broken/useless. A good reminder to never
> trust anyone. Sure, I 
> could have complained but to what end? Anyone who
> would do what they did 
> is not going to stand behind their "mechanical
> skills". All I can do is 
> warn my local car enthusiasts about this shop.
> 
> Thanks for the opportunity to rant a little and I
> hope somebody can help.
> 
> - Charles
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