Rear Wheel Bearings. How to

Rear Wheel Hubs & Bearings T3.

Maybe this can be regarded as one of the more 'daunting' areas on the T3. At first glance, that huge castle nut in the middle of the rear brake drums looks ominous. Usually deeply rusty with a large split pin driven through the middle, the scene is set.

We service the rear brakes, but often have difficulty getting access to the mechanisms. Rear Hub is in the way. But, it has to be better than trying to remove that Nut from hell after negotiating with the split pin and drawing off the outer wheel hub. Go, check your own van, you see what I mean!
But, in all honesty, it looks worse than it is, so maybe the thought is worse than the task ahead. Once you fix the outer hub, it's a once in a lifetime job.

Also, if your bus is starting to sound like a tram on heat, or the rumbling from the rear-end sounds like a broken gearbox, maybe you'd overlooked the rear wheel bearings. Tucked away inside the rear swing arms are two handsome sized clusters of wheel bearings. If you don't know about them, you'd miss them, but once worn, they make a lot of rumbling whirring noises & generally start to complain.
Because of all of the above, you close your ears for as long as possible and then, one day, it's D Day. Got to sort this all out.
So, before you condemn your gearbox, take a good look at those wheel bearings.

Here's how it's done.

1.     About a week ahead of D Day, soak those two big castle-nuts in WD40 or similar. At the same time, climb under the van and soak the      four large bolts that hold the stub axle to the swing arm. They are just behind the brake drum. Lastly, soak the allen bolts on the outer      CV Joint of the drive shaft. DO BOTH SIDES!…… Repeat this every day for a week!……, it's worth it.

2.     Check out your tool box. You'll need a decent trolley jack, axle stands, a 46mm 3/4 socket and a bar of about 1.5 metres long. (5ft).      The socket must be 6 sided, not 12 because the 12 can slip and the 6 will hold in place when you apply about 14 stones of force on it.      Have some decent rubber gloves to save your hands. An electric drill (mains), a 5mm & 6mm quality metal drill, big copper mallet &      your usual spread of hand tools. Other handy items is a large blow torch, (and CO2 fire extinguisher in the area), WD40, Wire brush      and plenty of light.

3.      Pick a day when you are relaxed, the kids are locked away & the wife is baking fresh bread. Now's your moment. Allow 2 hours per      side.

4.     Easiest way to remove those big castle nuts is as follows. Wire brush the whole area clean. It will be fairly wet as it's been soaking in      penetrating oil. Using side cutters, see if the split pin will come out. If it does, the rest is easy. Mostly, they won't budge. I've heard of      guys cracking open the castle nuts & all sorts but actually this method worked for me with ease & engineering is better than brute      force. Using a 5mm drill, drill horizontally to remover the tails of the split pin. Then, with a 6mm drill, drill out the remaining split pin.      Takes a couple of minutes. Once done, you should be able to put the drill right the way through the stub axle. (see photographs).      Remove the drill.

5.      Put the wheel back on, put the van squarely back on the ground, apply the handbrake with some force and put her in 1st or reverse      gear. Using your 46mm socket and bar, extends the bar to about 4ft long. Then, make sure everything is stable, stand on the bar. I      am 14 stones and that was enough to finally crack the nut loose. (soaking it all week obviously did the trick). Came off very cleanly,      both sides about the same. Once the nut is off, squirt WD40 into the flange/stub axle. This will now slide off easily exposing the rear      breaks and outer wheel bearing and oil seal. The worst is over!

6.     From there, clamp the rubber brake pipe, disconnect the brake pipe from the cylinder, remove the upper bolt holding on the brake      cylinder and the two lower bolts which are next to each other on the lower brake shoe anchor point. Leave the brake shoes and      mechanisms in place!. With care, easy the back plate away from the stub axle. The lower anchor point has a location pin in the      middle. This can be difficult to free from the stub axle. Take care. As soon as the back plate is an inch from the stub axle, put the      upper nut back into the brake cylinder to keep everything in place. Carefully remover the whole back plate over the stub axle and      place to one side. The handbrake cable can be left attached, no problem. (this also saves loads of time).

7.     Now you are left with the wheel bearing housing. Another big lump of cast iron. Exposed are the four mounting bolts. These are      generally very corroded and difficult to remove BUT not impossible. Again, you MUST have a 23mm, 6 sided socket, not the standard      12. If you damage any of these bolts, you are in for a very long job, so make sure you don't! Using an electric drill & wire brush, clean      all four bolts thoroughly. You will find that there are four cut inserts into the housing, allowing the socket to fit perfectly. These have to      be perfectly CLEAN!

8.     Heat each bolt, one by one, before removing them. They are VERY tight, so you'll need an extension to your 1/2 inch socket      and arm. If the 23mm socket is loose, buy a 22mm socket and hammer it on. What every you do, don't bugger the bolts up. Be very      careful of your back too! And be careful because they are now very hot!….

9.     While they are cooling, get under the van and remover the drive shafts from the Gearbox. This is far easier than trying to remover      them from the stub axle inside the swing arm.

10.     Take the four axle nuts out and gentle remover the whole axle & drive shaft away from the van.
11.     On the bench, you can then remover the drive shaft from the stub axle with ease.

12.     After thoroughly cleaning the stub axle, put the axle in a press and gently drive out the stub axle shaft.

13.      Then, remover the big cir-clip which is behind the inner oil seal and push the bearings out, taking care to keep everything in perfect      alignment.

14.     In reverse order, press in the new bearings, repack them with grease before putting in the 'inner' oil seal.

15.     Press the outer bearing in, but leaving the inner sleeve to one side for the moment.

16.     Press the stub axle back into the bearing housing.

17.     Finally, pack the outer bearing with grease, gently slide the inner sleeve of that bearing over the now placed axle shaft & gently tap it      home into place using a sleeve or the outer flange. Fit new oil seal…….

18.     Re-attach drive shaft to outer hug, slide the whole assembly back onto the swing arm and using loads of grease, (copper-slip) locate      the four mounting bolts are tighten them to 150 nms. Re-attach the braking system, clean, adjust, bleed etc. Finally, check all the      bolts, drive shaft attachment to gearbox and handbrake adjustment. In my case, I carried out a major service on the rear brakes at the      same time, but that is according to condition.

19.     Tighten the Castle Nut (having packed with Copper-Slip) to 5ft bar, plus your full weight. Something like 500 nms, but my torque      wrench only goes to 150! Put the wheels back on and go for a test drive!………

20.     Reward yourself with a piece of your wife's home made bread!…… Job done.


Photo's of project. Link to.
https://plus.google.com/photos/105656464648875652440/albums/5810572635065115729




Edited by Mark-Hans - 15 Nov 12 at 09:23

As requested.

Very helpfull. Just cleaned the rear brakes and noticed i have some play in the rear wheel! Next job on the list!

I think there gone as there is a fair bit of slop on one corner.

Read the link, that's enough to put everyone off. Hope my description corrects the nightmare. I have to say, while soaking all those bolts I too was wondering about what would come of all of this. Couple of points if you are reading this thread. PREPARATION is VERY important. It's not rocket science, but I can't express enough that if you screw this job up in any way, your buggered!, big time. SO, for example, when removing the brake pipe from the Brake Cylinder, use a proper brake pipe spanner. (5 sided open end, 11mm). Then taking out the bleed nipple, use a 7mm ring and ease it out 'very' gently. Most come out!. The rest you know. It is also true that the back plates of the brakes almost always disintegrate, so before you do the job, have new cylinders, new backplates and a brake shoe fitting kit (springs/clips).

So, here's a shopping list.
2 x Wheel Bearing Kits.
2 wheel cylinder kits..(optional, but always handy to have).
Brake Pipe Spanner.
Copper Slip Grease.
LM Grease.
WD 40.
2 Brake Pipe Clamps.
Bleeding kit...(jam jar, rubber hose).
Brake Fluid.
2 Rear Brake Back Plates.
Brake Shoe fitting kit.
46mm 6 sided Socket. 3/4 drive.
Extension bar for above socket,
Trolley Jack Handle (or even longer extension).
Pair of Hobby Rubber Glove

Preparation is indeed the road to success.
And really, it isn't 'that' bad..

Mark

You dont have to do number 6 or take the drive shaft off. Look at 2.25 onward here for a much quicker and easier way 

Edited by jed the spread - 17 Nov 12 at 09:48

Mark-Hans wrote: Jed. The link doesn't seem to work. No 6 refers to releasing the brake back plates. This 'has' to be done, because the job is impossible with the brake back plate in place!..... Also, you need to remove the drive shaft to press out the stub axle assembly. No entirely sure where you are coming from here!.... but I'd be curious.

No worries I hope some might find it useful.

Everything should be paid in Beer (or Vodka).

Hi, this is brilliant!

I have managed to follow it all until getting to the circlip behind the inner oil seal - just can't figure that bit out

Any ideas/pics?