[Spyderman]

Greetings,



This will be my first post here on the Forum. I'm getting ready to replace the rear wheel bearings on my '92 968 cabriolet. Already finished replacing the fronts. I was wondering if any Forum member might be willing to loan me the use of their rear wheel bearing removal/installation tool?



I've seen them available from $99.00 and up from various sources, but for something I'll probably only need to use once for the remaining life of this car, just seems like it's worth a shot to see if anyone would be willing to loan out their tool. I'll gladly pay all shipping expenses here and back, and I'll take good care of the tool. Oh, Rockville, MD is the destination.



Thanks for considering my request.



Regards,

Jim

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[Ryan]

You may want to check your local Auto Zone as they lend tools with just a deposit. They even ordered a new tool and had it delivered to my house once when I was doing tie rods on my truck.

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[Spyderman]

Thanks Ryan, I'll check with the local AutoZone, and possibly even Advanced Auto and CarQuest to see if they may have the tool for loan.

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[Cloud9...68]

Let us know how that job goes - I've never done it, but I've heard it isn't easy.

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[Bulti]

I've got that one coming at me pretty soon too. I have to check the bearing somehow first (rear, passenger side).

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[Spyderman]

[quote name='Cloud9...68' timestamp='1404748774' post='159715']

Let us know how that job goes - I've never done it, but I've heard it isn't easy.

[/quote]

I'll post back how it all works out. I found two good write-ups on the removal/install process, and I located two 'home made' bearing puller/installer articles that look to be feasible and inexpensive ways to go about this job. I may improve on them a little, but the basic designs and readily available components look pretty good.

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[Grandpa#3]

I bought the Arnnwork Tool for the rear wheel bearing removal. I have two 944's and found it easy ? to remove the rear wheel bearings. The same tool works for the 968, 92 - 95. Well worth the money in time saved as well as shop doing the job.



http://www.arnnworx.com/catalog/



Cheers,

Larry

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[Spyderman]

Well, I've got pretty much everything disassembled on the left rear wheel (brakes removed, axle half shaft and wheel shaft removed, etc.), but have hit a road block. The wheel hub won't separate from the wheel bearing. I'm guessing that after 22 years and 116,xxx miles, the two surfaces have bonded together in a death grip. I've tried tapping from the backside with a punch, hammering on the backside with a deep socket that's the diameter of the wheel hub shaft, but no luck. Sprayed PB Blaster and let it soak in, and still no sucess getting the wheel hub to turn loose of the wheel bearing.



I can't pull the old wheel bearing out of the arm with the wheel hub stuck in place. Thoughts, suggestions, ideas?

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[tryan]

Arnworx shows using a slide hammer attached to the studs. Tappy tap. Not sure if this is standard procedure but sometimes the hammers come out))

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[speedysprocket]

[quote name='tryan' timestamp='1405434665' post='160108']

Arnworx shows using a slide hammer attached to the studs. Tappy tap. Not sure if this is standard procedure but sometimes the hammers come out))



[/quote]

That's how you get it off. It has an interfence fit with the bearing. I had to use a chisel to get the inner race off once I got that hub off the car.

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[Spyderman]

Now THAT looks like just the ticket! Gonna' see if my car buddy neighbor has a slide hammer like that and a bracket that we can adapt to fit three of the wheel studs. Thanks tryan!

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[Spyderman]

Update: Car buddy neighbor had loaned his slide hammer set out some time ago and hasn't seen it since. <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/huh.png" class="smilie" alt="" /> I ordered a 5 pound slide hammer set online ($45.90 w/free shipping)     , and once it arrived, it made quick work of extracting the wheel hub from the rear wheel bearing. A couple of 'taps' and the wheel hub came out cleanly from the bearing.



I assembled all the pieces that make up the 'home made' bearing puller/installer that a couple of people had documented online         , and set about assembling the contraption to remove the left rear wheel bearing. The plumbing pieces have the correct diameters to allow safe removal of the bearing, while not damaging the aluminum trailing arm assembly in the process. The most important aspect of using this 'home made' tool, is to get all the parts lined up as evenly and as centered as possible. If any of the pieces are skewed or off center, the potential for doing serious damage to expensive components rises exponentially. I suppose investing in a better tool, such as the one offered by Arnnworx, would certainly eliminate much of the klugginess of this home made 'tool'.



Once I had everything 'lined up', I placed a deep well socket on a breaker bar on the backside nuts, and I began tightening the outer nut with a box-end wrench. As I continued to apply pressure with each turn of the nut, you could hear an audible 'pop', as the bearing was being extracted from its bore in the trailing arm. I continued cautiously turning the nut, and within about five minutes, the bearing was free of the trailing arm. I backed off the nuts, and dis-assembled the pieces to reveal the bearing and the smooth bore it once resided in. I was impressed with the relative ease that this contraption made in extracting the wheel bearing from the trailing arm. Again, make sure all the pieces of the 'tool' are lined up as centered as possible before you begin the serious tightening.



One thing I noted at the end of the bearing extraction, the soft steel 'all-thread' rod that I used suffered significant 'rounding' of its threads during the tightening process. I went to my local Home Depot, and picked up a short piece of stainless steel 'all-thread' rod for the remaining use of this 'tool'. I expect the soft steel nuts to now have their threads deform when I set about installing the new wheel bearing in the next day or two. Stay tuned...

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[flash]

write the procedure up and put it in a PDF!!! it would make a great addition to the site.

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[Spyderman]

Good point 'flash', this could get rather lengthy with my updating it here piecemeal. Once the job's done, I'll get on it.

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[flash]

lol - i may be the first to use it too

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[Tahoe968]

[quote name='flash' timestamp='1407425059' post='160956']

lol - i may be the first to use it too

[/quote]



Guys, How do you know when it's "time" to do this? Should I be considering this for my car ('94 w/100k ) - Is there a noise one hears?

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[flash]

you'll hear it

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[Spyderman]

In my experience, rear wheel bearings tend to hold up better than the fronts. I guess the fronts are subject to additional loads in different directions when compared with the rears. Rear wheel bearings can last for 200,000 plus miles, if they haven't been exposed to harsh extremes or abnormal stresses (such as racing or extended periods of high temperature). My cab has 116,xxx miles on her, and I was picking up a low rumble or 'growl' coming from the rear wheels. I checked the brakes for some kind of issue that might produce such a sound, and all was in good order with them. The axle half-shafts looked to be in good order too, and the transaxle had been serviced recently, so I deduced that the wheel bearings were probably the culprit.



Aside from their making noise, you could jack up the rear of the car, and grab hold of a wheel and tire and see if you can get them to move either in and out or up and down, hopefully not too excessively, but just enough to indicate that a bearing is worn to the point of allowing the wheel and tire to move in a plane or direction it's not supposed to move in. Short of the wheel bearings being absolutely 'toasted', the movement should be minor, but still perceptible enough to indicate wear. You may also be able to pick up on a severely worn wheel bearing if you can feel a vibration at speed.

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