SpecRacer.com

Just wanted to share a quick tip, been trying to find a good way to support the upright when pushing out the bearing for years as that's always the most awkward position. I always just used various sockets spread around the upright, it was a real pain.

Was buying a hole saw today and inspiration hit, I bought a 3 inch one, brought it home to try it out and it works perfectly. Just put it around the bearing cup and when you press it out, it just falls right into the hole saw. Hope this helps someone.

another way - long ago I found a piece of 3" heavy gauge pipe, took the grinder to it for some slots for the steering arm and at the bottom where the lower stud fits, and it has worked great to support the upright.

Sounds like a great solution for getting the bearing out of the upright. What do you use to pull the hub and then remove the race from the hub (short of cutting the race off with a cut off wheel)?

Been working out, so I just pull it off with my hands.

I always try a slide hammer first, just put it through the hub with a nut on the other end. If that doesn't work I use a bearing splitter between hub and upright and support it on the press with deep sockets. Then I use a bearing splitter to get the inner race off the hub. I've never tried cutting it off. Also I always use grease when I reassemble and haven't noticed any wear on the hubs.

Usually my hubs/ bearings are falling apart by the time i replace the bearings....not really. I have a piece of metal U channel that has a hole in it that goes through the steering arm to support the upright on one side, and another piece made of angle to support the other side, that stuff holds the upright up enough to allow use of a socket and the press to push the hub out. Have a bearing splitter or whatever it is called to bush the race off the hub; but it has never worked well and most times I put some slits in the race with a cutoff wheel and use a cold chisel to split the race. (warning: this is the perfect time to wear eye protection, it is impressive how brittle those races are and how sharp the shrapnel they produce is!)
I'll try to post some pics of the junk that i use sometime soon - it ain't pretty, it really needs improved construction, but I've probably done hundreds of bearing replacements with it over the years.

Machinist's "step blocks" are really handy for dealing with irregular shaped/height objects on a press:



They're basically just a block cut on a diagonal, with lots of little steps machined on the hypotenuse (that could be the very first use of "hypotenuse" on SRF.com...ever !). Stack'em however you need to get the right height. Use one set on set of the knuckle housing at one height, another on the other side/height...piece of cake.

http://www.carrlane.com/catalog/index.cfm/28025071F0B221118070C1C513E111D081B0006280B1713050245221E0107070F1A3C3B285352435C58

Sort of discovered them when I was trying to push a bearing out of a VW upright ~20 years ago on a Sunday afternoon...I actually owned two sets, as they were in a clamp kit I had with a vertical mill.

I know you can get them from machine tool supply places like Abrasive Tool Co. & Enco, and the clamping sets from Harbor Freight (!) also have them. http://www.harborfreight.com/58-piece-combination-step-block-and-clamp-set-3-8-eighth-inch-16-nc-studs-1-2-half-inch-clamps-5952.html

Also...being a pack-rat and refusing to throw anything out, EVER....old bearing parts yield really good supports for pressing out parts. Never thought of using a hole saw...and I have a bunch of those....good trick !

machinists step blocks....pfft...way too sophisticated!