removing bushing and needle bearings in lower front beam

[kevin derby]

i need to remove my needle bearings(outer)and my inner ?bearings or bushing not sure what is in there yet,what would be the best way to drive these bushing or bearing races out of the tube,also what is the best method of extraction IE tool to drive these from tube or would you pull them?? any help would be greatly appreciated, i am just learning about my vw and have never seen this done ,thanks to all who may offer their help..

kevin

[tim61]

First I spent 20 min. at the local car wash getting all of grease out of the inside of the beam. I used a cheap propane torch to heat the bearings. Then I used a hook from a hook and pick set to pull them out. It was a solid hook and I clamped vise grips on the hook, so I could get a good grip and pull hard. I also heated the micarta inners and then pulled them right out also. Hope this helps just how I did it. I know that you have a welder and are pretty handy with it you can run a bead on the race of the bearing you will be able to just tip over the beam and it will fall right out.

[Street Bug 29]

i had good quick results with a sawsall,stuck it in the beam,cut the needle bearing,then pryed it out, installed the red bushings,if you are carefull with the cut it works good

[Cliff@BrownBags]

i can make it easy for you. i used a piece of tub or box tubing about 3-4 feet long. slide it in from the other side and tap it out. took 5 minutes. i was like you, wasnt sure what to do until this lol