left rear wheel bearing needs replacing

[whiterasta84]

how had is it? do i have to take the whole drum off or just the outside of it. i did a front wheel bearing on my 78 pacer a few years ago, but thats the front and this is the back. any help would be great.
matt

ps the car is a 92 dodge dynasty.

[22dodge]

First, jack up the wheel in question.
2nd, remove wheel cover,
3rd, get a beer
4th, drink ½ beer
5th, remove 5 lug nuts, these are 19mm or 3/4" which ever you prefer.
6th, drink other ½ of beer,
7th, remove dust cap in center of brake drum.. this is easily accomplished with a flat blade screw driver and a BFH (big hammer)
8th, get another beer
9th, drink ½ of the beer
10th, remove cotter key using pliers or suitable substitute
11th, remove nut retainer and nut
12th, finish beer
13th, pull off entire brake drum assembly.
14th... if drum assembly does not come off easily, cus, swear, kick and hammer on brake drum...
15, get bandaid for head
16th, have a shot of JD
17th, hopefully brake drum is off by now
18th inspect outer bearing
19th pound out seal on back side and inspect inner bearing
20th determine what is bad
21st spend a lot of time trying to save a buck going from junk yard to junk yard looking for a good one
22nd after wasting several days looking for a good one, go to parts store and by new ones
23, reverse removal proceedures. (aka chilton manual)

[Mike M]

Yea, that about sums it up. When re-installing new bearings, make sure they are packed nicely/properly... and use a new seal =p

[moparzrule]

The rear bearings are a piece of cake. The front....well thats another story.

[capev86]

my dad often doesn't bother unbolting the wheel. he just goes for the cap, nut, etc and uses the tire as something to grab onto to pull the whole thing off ~ much easier than prying off the drum with a bar - less damage too!!

[mopar3.0]

thoes berrings are cheap go to ai industrial bearing store and they will match em up
i got mine for like 6 bucks each cad

[whiterasta84]

im doing this tomorrow. do i take off the whole brake drum or just the outter part. do i need to diconect the brake line?

[Mike M]

The brake drum is the outer part, if I'm understanding you correct. No brake lines need to be disconnected.

[Reaper1]

Somehting that was missed...you need to preload the bearings after you install them on the car. There are several ways to do this, but over time I've always done it like this:
once the new bearings are packed and in the hub with the new seal, put the washer and nut on the spindle. Hand tighten them down. Now, use either a large pair of channel locks or the propper socket and as you turn the hub counterclockwise, tighten the nut down until you can barely turn the hub by hand. ***This is the important part!!!***Now, BACK-OFF the nut 1/8 to 1/4 turn to where the nut retainer can secure the cotter pin, don't go more than 1/4 turn, a little tighter won't hurt anything. Check to make sure the hub spins freely and that there isn't an excessive about of "play" in it. There will be a little, but that is normal. Now you can put the dust cap on and continue reassembly.....
HTH

[capev86]

Quote:

do i take off the whole brake drum or just the outter part. do i need to diconect the brake line?

the drum is the big honkin cast iron piece that spins and the brake shoes push out against it. the round flat plate bolted to the rear suspension and holds the brake shoe mechanism is called the backer plate.

on our older cars, the wheel lug studs are pressed into the drum. on my buddy's neon, they are pressed into a seperate rotating assembly that the drum slides over (the lug studs go through holes in the drum just like they do on the "hat" section of the rotor on the rear brake disc system) with the neon, you have to pull the wheel seperately and then slide the drum off to get at the brakes, unless you want to bother taking the whole center pin system apart (not advisable unless repacking the bearings, inspecting them, repair, etc). so with a neon, you dont have to worry about the center bearing at all just to work on the rear brakes.

Quote:

thoes berrings are cheap go to ai industrial bearing store and they will match em up

didn't know they were such a problem. i just make sure i put the same bearing parts back the way i found them (unless being replaced). usually an inspection and repacking with fresh grease every couple years is plenty to keep them in top shape. curious, but what supplier do you go to exactly?

[22dodge]

Quote:

Originally Posted by whiterasta84 im doing this tomorrow. do i take off the whole brake drum or just the outter part. do i need to diconect the brake line?

Obviously you have a problem following crystal clear directions . I could not have been more specific that what I gave in my step-by-step proceedure. notice there was NOTHING about brake lines mentioned because you don't need to screw with them. Nor was there any mention of parking brake cables. It is very appearant that this task is beyond your mechanical abilities. You really need to seek a professional to do the job.

[mopar3.0]

im not sure but il check the brand name when i go to the gerage tommorow

[Una]

I was about to do the rear bearings in my Daytona yesterday, but ended up they just needed to be cleaned, re-packed and tightened. They were just a little loose.

[whiterasta84]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 22dodge Obviously you have a problem following crystal clear directions . I could not have been more specific that what I gave in my step-by-step proceedure. notice there was NOTHING about brake lines mentioned because you don't need to screw with them. Nor was there any mention of parking brake cables. It is very appearant that this task is beyond your mechanical abilities. You really need to seek a professional to do the job.

no need to get fiesty about it. im just making sure i dont **** something up. i did it and did it well. thanx for the help

[turbosc20]

Quote:

Originally Posted by moparzrule The rear bearings are a piece of cake. The front....well thats another story.

Fronts aren't bad either...With the right tool(s):
http://phpix.planetb.net/index.php?a...ze=512&start=0


Tom