rear wheel bearing

[Jay]

Pretty much what Simon said. What I find with my Aprilia are the silence blocks are always the issue, as these tend to seize on the nut or housing. With this job being no different and took me an age.

Remove the 4 clamping bolts 2 on the cross member (hidden at top) and the other 2 you can clearly see. Prise them apart and spray plenty of penetration oil, to free the silence blocks and bolt. Then I use one of those bent obstruction ring spanners, which just slipped on to the front (thin) nut, wedging it on. Then on the rear bolt i use socket with a 2m tommy bar and jump up and down until it moved. One side was better than the other, which in the end the rubber of the rear silence block disintegrated, so the bolt could turn, then had to cut of the steel outer from then cross member and inner off the bolt. Another 20mins job that took a day 

[DavidHill]

Thanks Julian,....yes its a very difficult job - i have invested in a thin 22mm ring spanner with a 6pt Hex head that just fits onto the left hand nut...its very difficult to keep it engaged as the other end is undone...but will get there..

[Jay]

I used one of these with a wooden wedge behind to hold it in place, as my wife rarely ventures into the garage to help, let alone any of my old cars.   

[DavidHill]

Thanks again Julian, i eventually made a very long handled spanner out of a hex socket and some steel bar.  That did the trick...the axle is now off the car and i have removed the spring (with the compressor tool keeping it tight)....to date the wheel bearing is still resisting!  I have it upright on the bench and am soaking wd40 into it...

[DavidHill]

The whole axle is off the car now, and i have finally after a tremendous amount of pressure and heating to red hot, got the drive shafts out and then removed the bearings.  Phew!  Now onto reassembly!

[Jay]

Anybody attempting this, after getting nowhere with standard pullers and a lot of heat, I invested into one of theses sets, wasn’t too expensive. What a joy, still needed heat, but all came apart nice and easy with 20 tons of pressure. Only difficulty was removing the trailing arm bearing retainer ring, was going make a tool, but thought I would try this and it worked again with heat. Wasn’t the most elegant solution as had to keep lowering the angle in the vice and making sure the bolt was tight. Although starting with the chain wrench I was lucky to find a very large pipe wrench in my late father’s workshop.   

[lancialulu]

Anybody attempting this, after getting nowhere with standard pullers and a lot of heat, I invested into one of theses sets, wasn’t too expensive. What a joy, still needed heat, but all came apart nice and easy with 20 tons of pressure. Only difficulty was removing the trailing arm bearing retainer ring, was going make a tool, but thought I would try this and it worked again with heat. Wasn’t the most elegant solution as had to keep lowering the angle in the vice and making sure the bolt was tight. Although starting with the chain wrench I was lucky to find a very large pipe wrench in my late father’s workshop.   

I have that puller set. I think the hydraulic ram is rated to 10 tonnes. The seals let go on an agressive pull, but have managed to get new seals and refilled with grease. I invested in a 20 Tonne press (with gauge) after that....

[Jay]

Hi Tim, this one is manufactured in the US and rated at 20 tons and a lot more powerful than my 10 tons bench press   

[davidwheeler]

That is one hell of a vice to take all that!