Renewing rear axle bearings or seals
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Video 89-91' axle pull (poor , fails to replace outboard seal, w/ bearing off). Sidekick's/Vitara's and Trackers. (all years, nearly the same) Parts and materials: See parts here. New axle bearing and seal, some newer car has seal in the bearing, like below has. Early Seal and Early bearings (rear) RTV sealant Bearing grease (for seal lips and for bearing if its NOT sealed.) Seal hook tool Slam hammer Basic mechanics tools. (wrenches, spanners,etc...) Brake fluid. (if needed) GL5 Gear lube Grade 5. (it's due anyway, so change it out, but will leak out bad as axle is pulled, so drain it first) New brake shoes if the seals leaked GL5 all over shoes. Procedures: (key hints first:)
I showed my axle (in hand) to 3 machine shops, 2 of the 3 declined to touch it. Said needed magic. (truth is, they have no PRESS shim blocks to fit my Suzuki bearing carrier and would bend it , if they tried. or are just lazy ,whateva) The 3rd guy removed the bearing 1 atom at a time (LOL) for $25 (I had parts in hand ) ( The shop was over 50 years old and very skilled old guy there did this... my age) In effect, the bearing was removed (it had overheated) just like the retainer collar is removed, Grind the slot, and cold chistle it to crack it just like the above FSM pages show. exactly. What damage you find is by FATE. If confused? ask your machine shop what they think, and how to correct damage. At step 14 is the best time for new studs if yours are missing or broken as many are. The new bearing has it's seal on outboard side. (some See Red comments on this PAGE. (PDF) ABS? Great way to remove Tone ring! FSM says cut it off. No, see video , press it off. The bearing must be greased with top quality grease. The top bearings come greased with special grease that don't sag out or puddle. LG5 never ever lubes this bearing so be careful in any grease selections. Photo 1: The drum pull trick. and 2 spare screws here , turn them CW evenly and the drum pops off alxe flange. (pre 92 drums there are 4 fange bolts to remove here.) 2004 car. next 7 photos, others are 1996 Photo 2: You can see the side gears inside, amazing , no? The below photo is axle out, and shows brake parts clearly, for later. Photo 3: 12mm spanner. below. Photo 4 USE the Slide or Slam hammer. (is next after the 4 NUTs above are removed) Photo 5: I Slam the hammer gently, as to not hurt studs or brake parts.. Note triple jack protection. ! (safe around kids and pets) Some folks tie chains to the studs, and yank them (snow chains) Finding a slam hammer that fits is PITA. (had to grind my slam hammer flange to fit) Only the 4 nuts/studs seen, hold this axle on car. Photo 6: This bearing is WRECKED. (loose, rattly and rough spun ,fails all checks) And Naturally since the bearing is bad so is the seal (beat to death it was) Photo 7: I put 2 spare bolts added below, so my backing plate don't float around. (just a precaution, not necessary) But will allow you to keep the brake cylinder in place and lines not removed, or leaking. The seal ready to go in with tool., note spring side if seal goes INBOARD ! grease it ! ON inside and lip. My 1996 Sidekick has an internal housing seal, and one on the outer brearing seal. The machine shop, cut the axle bearing collar , then pressed off the bearing , and replace my seal there and put back a new bearing with seal and new collar. (this cant be done at home, unless extreme rednecks comes in play (hammers /grinders etc) Photo's , red arrows are seal, 1992 to 1998 car. and all are similar... Finding an outer seal takes a silly trip to the OEM Suzuki or GM. Dang! But found one after long hours searching. (Look on Rockauto.com first to see who makes them and p/n , then use this info, to find them locally... ) < 2004 example. (rock had no outer seal for my 04) The odd thing was the newer the car, the harder it was to find a seal... very odd. rev2 ++++ 4-09-2011 |