Rear wheel bearings: Remove and re-use original bearings?

[epowell]

Hi Folks

...been studying all night on this topic and there does not seem to be any definite consensus regarding how to properly service the rear wheel bearings. Everyone agrees that the OEM originals are the best and it is best to keep them in there, and everyone also agrees that the best way to service them is to remove them completely, clean, and inspect.

But where there is disagreement is whether or not a skilled but inexperienced hobby mechanic with not all of the "proper" tools and training can remove these old bearings without damaging them.

The other suggested option seems to be to remove the BEARING HOUSING and soaking the whole thing (with bearings still installed) in cleaner... cleaning out all of the old grease this way with bearings still 'insitu'... then re-packing with grease and be on your way. To me, this method seems safer... the only real advantage to removing the bearings, it seems to me, is a more thorough clean, and the possibility to really INSPECT the bearings. But if we intend to run these OEM bearings until they die anyway, is it really SO important to inspect them so closely, if removing them might risk damaging them?

- - -

In my specific case, I don't think my bearings are causing any noise - but I was not really listening for it. My van does have a lot of weird noises so I can't be sure...
...I tested the wheels (raised off the ground) for wiggle and spin, and the pass. side passed with flying colours (I think), but the dr.side wheel has a more pronounced "wiggle" (still nothing extreme), and it seems that it doesn't spin as well, and 'might' have a slight noise at certain parts of the spin. The point being, both sets of bearings are currently working satisfactorally but the dr.side is a bit questionable.

I have zero experience with this, but from what I have read, it sounds like the questionable bearing can be brought back to full life with a full cleaning and new grease....

>>> hence, my question:
Should I actually remove these bearings, or just remove the bearing housing (and wash the bearings without removing them)

PS, I do have a press, but no special pressing tools.

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To accompany this thread I am posting a bunch of fotos that might be useful - I found these fotos during my research into this topic.

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www.edwardpowell.com

[DanHoug]

great photos of the assembly! i have the exact same questions on the hub and will be watching responses.
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-dan
60% of what you find on the internet is wrong, including this post.

'87 Westy & '89 Westy both 2.1 4spd

Past projects can be found at--
www.thefixitworkshop.com

[dobryan]

An alternative is to remove the outer seal and use a grease needle to inject new grease deep into the bearing and push out a lot of the old grease.

This is not as good as fully disassembling and cleaning but is a lot less work and does not run the risk of damaging the bearing. YMMV.

I did this on my euro bus project.

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Dave O
'87 Westy w/ 2002 Subaru EJ25 and Peloquin TBD

"To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive." Robert Louis Stevenson

MD>Canada>AK>WA>OR>CA>AZ>UT>WY>SD
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=620646

Building a bus for travel in Europe (euroBus)
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=695371

The Western Syncro build
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=746794

[T3messie]

The inner race of the ball bearing should be a press fit on the stud while it´s outer race is press fitted in the housing.
By pressing the spindle out, you are side loading this bearing which it is not made for.

[MarkWard]

Noise could be related to the brakes. With the cv shaft disconnected and the brake drum removed, you will get a good feel for the bearings. If genuine bearings and seals were available, I’d have already tossed the old ones out. So much cheap stuff out there, not worth the gamble.

If the condition I described above is met, the stub axle should turn smoothly and quietly. Minimal play is also ok. If they are quiet, I’m in the work fresh grease in. Some years ago, a member fitted up grease fittings for working in new grease. Problem is, the old grease has to go somewhere and with it all assembled no easy way to clean up the excess.
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[epowell]

[epowell]

[crazyvwvanman]

You should evaluate the wheel bearings with the axles unhooked at the wheel end.

Mark

[epowell]

[Sodo]

[dobryan]

[epowell]

Do rear bearings need to be changed in pairs, even if only one is bad?
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www.edwardpowell.com

[dobryan]

[Wildthings]

I wouldn't remove the shafts unless I intended to replace the inner seals, so basically in highway driving that means accessing the bearings every 300K miles or so. If you are driving in extremely dusty conditions, crossing streams frequently, or using your van on salt strewn roads, more frequent service may well be necessary.

Whenever I do brake work, I remove the outer seal and pump grease between the rollers using a needle fitting, I then wipe off the grease on the outside of the bearing to create an air pocket and install a new seal, being sure to lube the lip.

[Sodo]

That’s a good point about renewing the seals. My rear wheel bearings are original and quiet at ~175k. The seals were worn to the point that they were no longer touching the seal lands. The dirt buildup was further eroding the seal. They had Dirt lands where removal of the dirt buildup left a GAP If I drove the van in deep water, they would have let water into the bearings.

Renewing the grease every 100,000 miles is good and renewing the seals makes a lot of sense. I wish I did it at 100k, but I did it at ~175k. Nobody puts effort into longevity issues at 100k (when it makes the most sense).

Everyone waits to close the door after the horse has left the barn. Cuz you don’t know back then how coveted your antique will become.
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'90 Westy EJ25, 2Peloquins, 3knobs, pressure-oiled GT mainshaft, filtered, cooled gearbox
'87 Tintop w 47k 53k, '12 SmallCar EJ25, cooled filtered gearbox
....KTMs, GasGas, SPOT mtb

[MarkWard]

The last backing plate I tried to remove off of a rust bucket did not come off so easy. I recall it was staked pretty well at the bottom brakeshoe pivot. Your results may vary.

As far as the freeplay is concerned. Have you checked the torque of the stub axle outer nut? Its pretty high torque. The manual I have in front of me says 369 foot pounds with wheel on the ground.

The spacer sleeve between the inner and outer bearing sets the preload. There is a spec for that as well in the manual.
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[T3 Pilot]

Hey MarkWard,

I see what you did there. ThankYou.
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1988 Vanagon

The most important part in every vehicle is the nut behind the wheel......

[Abscate]

Are there any threads on setting the preload? Sounds important...
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.ssS!

[Wildthings]

[bobbyblack]

What part of the system handles the axial loading when you turn corners?
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'87 Westy 'Flossie','86 Westy 'R1','86 tintop GL - Subi2.2 'J2','83.5 stock tintop L 'ZoomBus','74 Karmann Ghia, '63 Notch