ERA 427 S/C w/ERA rear suspension, outboard brakes and pin drives

[DonC]

Right around 40,000 miles on the car and the driver side rear wheel bearings appear to have gone south. Was planning on doing the bearings on all 4 corners this winter when the car is up for regular annual maint. but this one was premature.
Question for anyone who has ever done a rear wheel bearing replacement. Is there anything unusual to expect when replacing them.
The hub carrier has been dismounted from the car and is at a local machine shop ready to have the old bearings pressed out and new ones pressed on. I have a full set of new bearings and seals ready to be pressed in.
Should I remove the pins for the pin drives and the brake rotor before trying to press the old bearings off? I don't want to disassemble any more than is absolutely necessary but if it's advisable the pins and rotor can be removed.
If I do have to remove the pins will a propane torch generate enough heat to release the red locktite used on the pins? There is a note in the manual about not exceeding 300 degrees and I don't want to overheat them.
Any other insights to the procedure would be very welcome.
Thanks,
DonC

[strictlypersonl]

I don't know whether Doug sets the bearing clearances (with the spacers) up before he installs the rear rotors. It's probably easier to disassemble (to adjust the spacing) without the rotors, since a puller would fit better over the naked hub.

You would have to work pretty hard to overheat the assembled drive pins with a propane torch, so I wouldn't worry about ruining the heat-treating.

[DonC]

Bob:
Thanks for the info. I'll go ahead and remove the pins and rotor.
What the heck are you doing answering questions on Saturday. You working folks are supposed to take the weekends off and get away to the "stupid humans" for a bit.
DonC

[patrickt]

Don, from the write up in the manual, that looks to be a reasonable PITA. If you can, take some shots of the job and post them for us.

[DonC]

Patrick:
I'll try to get some photos as the project progresses. To this point the dis-assembly has gone as expected. No surprises. I just hope it continues.
I may call Doug early on Mon. to see if he has any words of wisdom for me.
DonC

[patrickt]

Thanks. Shots of the DTI used to check the hub end float on the outboard braked rear would be very nice. That's not something most of us get to do very often.

[RICK LAKE]

Don C. Don the only thing you will have to recheck with the new bearings on the hub will be the shaft play in the bearing. Wiggle room. You may have to get a new spacers for this. I did the same repair on my Jag rearend and ended up taking the hubs up to Doug at ERA to get the correct spacers for the shafts. Too tight and you over load the bearings, too loose and you have wondering and knocking of the car in the rearend. Make sure you have the torque specs for this. The Jag XJ-6 repair manual has a good info section of rebuilding there rearend and showing how to get the correct shaft play. You can get the spacers from ERA unless you can find an old Jag dealer in the area that sells the spacers. Problem is they come in packages of 10 and you have to buy them all. ERA just sells you what you need.
Does you hubs have grease fittings? I give mine a couple of good shots after every race meet I go to. Use Hitemp grease from Amsoil on the housings. Works great and the grease stays soft and takes alot longer to dry out. I also use this on my trailers. Over 100K between car hauler and 5th wheels my parents owned. no bearing failures. Don't over tighten the nut pass spec in the hub. Go less than more to get the cotter pin into the hole. Remember that there is alot of heat there and expandsion rate will take up the lower torque reading back to spec numbers. After replacing the bearings, ( you might want to do both sides together, Road test the car for about 10-15 miles and recheck the fastener for tightness and play. Doug has the GIFT at ERA and does it by sight and feel. 10 years and the rearend play for shafts is still tight. Rick L.

[DonC]

Rick:
Thanks a lot for the info on this. I was hoping there was someone out there who had done it.
Unfortunately no grease fittings on the hub. I have them on my trailer and give them a shot every season before I start any towing and it is really convenient. Might be something to recommend that ERA start using if that type of stub axle is available.
An earlier post regarding the torque specs mentioned that Doug sets the initial at 120 lbs. then tightens the nut to align the castellated portion with the hole for the cotter pin to set the final torque. I'll be giving him a call tomorrow morning to check on his procedure.
I think I have a copy of the XJ-6 repair manual and will check it as you recommend.
I'll try to keep a running post of what happens as I continue with this.
DonC

[RICK LAKE]

DonC Don some hubs have breathers in the rear outter hubs. My stock ones had them. I have a set of contempary hubs and they came with grease fittings. My time is 95% track and 5% street. I know there is alot of heat buildup from racing. The different is my brakes are inboards. Rick L.

[Excaliber]

No grease fitting on my hubs, a HOLE with a PLUG you remove to squirt grease in there. I've seen some write up's on bearing replacement that suggest you check the clearance with dry bearings (no grease) and dial indicator. THEN, you pump in the grease through the plugged hole opening or grease fitting and HOPE it get's into the bearings. I don't like that method. I set my clearance up with dry bearings, then disassemble to I can PACK grease into the bearings and finally reassemble and then squirt more grease in through the hole.

...maybe I don't need to assemble twice, I just like to know my bearings are packed with grease rather than relying on filling the cavity with grease and hoping for the best.

[mickmate]

I think the theory is it's an awful big cavity to fill with grease just to have it run out the ends when it warms up. I make the plugs for Jags with a grease fitting for 3/4" holes.

[Excaliber]

Eh eh, Mick that is a MONSTER cavity to fill with grease!

I'll pack 'em myself, the question is: Before or after you take your clearance reading with a dial indicator? Seem's to me the setting is something like .002, if I recall correctly. Grease in the bearings could impact that reading, it being so small and all.

[DonC]

At the "cautiously optimistic" stage. Everything is back together and, initially, seems to be working as expected. Sorry about not having any photos but the shop that removed and pressed in the new bearings got them done in a couple of hours while I was off on another errand. I expected it to take longer but they said it was very straight forward. No damage to either the hub or the hub carrier. The outer bearing was very dry and appears to be where the noise was coming from. On the plus side when it happened I couldn't have asked for a better place other than in my driveway when it started to go south.
As is typical with ERA everything came apart and went back together without any surprises. Again, a very straight forward procedure. I did notice that the area around the inner seal had been center punched to help hold the seal in place. Didn't see it till after the seal was removed. The punched areas were peened back in rather than grinding the material away since the aluminum is so soft. Re-punched the inside of the carrier in the same manner but in different places to duplicate the original.
Total out of pocket cost was $110 for a new set of inner/outer bearings, races and seals. $40 to have the bearings and seals pressed on and off. $35 to have the brake rotor turned as long as it was off. Bearing and seals were available from NAPA.
On re-assembly it looked like the existing old spacer was really close to what I needed so reused it and all seems to be well. Really not sure about the 225 ft/lb final torque called for in the manual. Was able to set the initial to 120 on the bench and did my initial checks there. Spun everything up to about 50 mph while off the ground and rechecked for end play. Just barely able to feel any. Put the car back down on the wheels and put a couple of miles on it and lifted it back up to check. Somewhat more axial play than initial which I expected. Tightened the nut to the next castellation and reinstalled the cotter pin. Got 25 to 30 miles on it last night and will get the car up and check the axial play again today.
Don't know what the final torque value is on the nut (my wrench only goes to 150 and it was slightly beyond that) but getting that last castellation lined up is as tight as I feel comfortable with.
I'll update this afternoon with what I come up with.
DonC