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MG TD TF 1500 - Removal of Bearings from Front Wheel

Pulled the right front wheel from the53. The inner bearing and seal remained in the hub. Was able to pry the seal out of the hub (planned to replace it, anyway). Now the question is 'how do I remove the inner bearing from the hub'? Looking inside, it's obvious that some hammer-mechanic beat upon the angled surface of the distance piece and burred it up. How do I remove the inner bearing? I'm guessing that the outer bearing is a press fit from the outside of the hub and will have to driven out from the back of the hub once I've removed the inner bearing. TIA. Bud
Bud Krueger

Hi Bud, I am sure the correct method is to use a bearing puller, but I had the same problem and not having a suitable puller, removed the bearing by undoing the brake back plate and carefully driving a wedge (long screwdriver) behind the back plate, this slowly eased the bearing of the axle. Matt
Matt Davis

Matt, I have already removed the brake drum from the stub axle. The bearings are still inside of the hub. I need to remove the bearings from the inside of the hub. Bud
Bud Krueger

Bud - the outer bearing is a 2-piece taper bearing, so the bearing part should just pull out of the race. Once that is out you use a long punch on the outer edge of the inner bearing - there are 2 small semi-circles in the hub for the punch to access the outer race. Don't punch on the inner race, as that will damage the bearing.

Clean (don't spin with compressed air to dry) check for roughness and if OK then re-pack, tap the bearing and seal into the hub. Tap the hub on the spindle, tighten down the nut snugly, loosen a tad so there is no play in the hub, cotter pin, and that's all.

Tom Lange
Bar Harbor, Maine
t lange

Tom, I'm of the impression that the outer bearing (6306) is a ball bearing device, in one piece. Bud
Bud Krueger

Both the inner and outer bearings are ball bearings, which makes them a bear to remove. You will need to reach through the distance tube with a long 5/16" drift punch and probe around until you find the two cutouts in the flange that the bearing is seated against. The two cutouts are 180° apart and you will have to work back and forth between the two, driving the bearing out a fraction of an inch (like 1/64) at a time until the bearing is completely out. If you are going to replace the bearing, you may be able to get a bushing driver into the inner race and drive or press the bearing out, but you don't want to do this if you are going to reuse the bearing. Once the inside bearing is out, you can remove the distance tube and play the same game with the outer bearing. After going through all of this, it makes it seem well worth the work involved to replace the bearings with tapered roller bearings. Cheers - Dave
David DuBois

Okay Dave -- if I'm reading you correctly -- I can expect to find the cutouts in the outer edges of the distance tube where it abuts the outer race of the inner bearing. I can't picture how I would have access to the flange the the bearing is seated against. Let me go and look. As a Bridge paying friend was oft heard to say, " one peek is worth a thousand finesses." Bud
Bud Krueger

Bud, the outer bearing is really cheap. You could just knock it out with a long screwdriver from the inside (which would likely damage it), then you could move the spacer around to locate the cut-outs and tap the inner one out. George
George Butz

Dave DuBois is correct. That's the way I did mine. But since you can't get to the outer race, you end up tapping on the inner race to get it to start.

The general rule is that if you don't intend to replace the bearings, you don't remove them. Clean and grease it in place.

Warmly,
Dave
Dave Braun

Bud:

As George indicated, remove the outer bearing. I am always reluctant to use a hammer on the car. If possible, I use my 12 ton press. I have used a drift slightly smaller than the sleeve and pressed the outer bearing out through the sleeve. With the outer bearing removed, it is rather easy to use a larger drift (a large diameter socket and short extension works) and push the inner bearing and sleeve out together. Insure that the center of the hub is supported and that there is enough space for the bearing to drop out. Using the press usually results in a re-usable part as pressure is applied evenly to the entire bearing, and pressure can be cotrolled. A hammer and punch will usually mark up or destroy the bearing, and sometimes damage the hub (as in expensive) if the bearing does not move easily or evenly. The damage to the hub you noted in your original question is testament of this. Voice of experience.

John
John Masters

Thanks, guys. Looks as if the inner bearing is going to be sacrificed. Its preference for the staying in the hub, rather than staying on the stub axle indicates that it could spin on the stub axle. Not good. The bearing spacer is butchered already. With luck I may be able to salvage the outer bearing. Fortunately, my local bearing distributor can usually get what I need. Bud
Bud Krueger

Yikes, what a mess!!! Ended up using a Dremel tool with a bunch of cutoff wheels to cut through the inner race of the inner bearing. That allowed me to get a surface onto which I could drive out the inner bearing. The small half-moon recesses in the hub are fine for driving out the bearings, once you have one out and have access to them. It looks as if the spacer is small enough to come out of the hub through the outer bearing stop. This allows one to drive out the outer bearing using the spacer to work against the bearing's inner race. Not the best of all worlds, but it sure beats a Dremel tool. Bud
Bud Krueger

Holler if the spacer is toast,Bud. Probably have one in the bin if you need it. Dan
Dan Craig

This thread was discussed between 01/10/2011 and 03/10/2011

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