From: Steve Grammont (islander@midmaine.com)
Date: Mon Jul 21 2003 - 14:45:49 PDT
Hi all,
I just wanted to sum up the advice I have received and pass along my
progress. Three suggestions were made to me on how to remove this
stubborn bearing:
1. "Hydraulic Method" - apparently an old mechanic's trick. Find a
solid, cylindrical shaft (broom handle, dowel etc.) that fits nice and
tight into the bearing. Use wax paper or other substance to take up any
"slack" between the shaft and bearing. Pack the bearing completely full
of grease so that there are no air pockets. Place the shaft into the
bearing and bang away with a hammer. Just like a hydraulic system, the
grease will force the bearing out under pressure.
2. "Chisel Method" - remove the needles and use a fine chisel to crack
the bearing casing in two places so that you have one small and one large
piece. Pull out the small piece and then the larger piece.
3. "Mechanic Method" - use a purpose built tool for the extraction. I
am sure there are several different kinds, but the one I used had a
scisors like set of prongs. You insert it into the bearing (after
removing the needles) and twist so that the prongs expand. Then you
whack the sucker outward with the prongs doing the pulling.
Problems:
#1 - a bit messy and requires some amount of setup time
#2 - labor intensive and potentially damaging to housing if not careful
#3 - too expensive to buy on your own, but perhaps can be borrowed from
mechanic friend
I opted for #3 :-)
The device I got unfortunately didn't work. All it did was crack the lip
off of the front side of the bearing's casing. Thee best place to get
the prongs behind was the very back of the bearing, but there simply
isn't enough room back there to accomodate them. So I had to use the
front lip instead. Guess that bearing is in good and hard :-/ Now that I
have done this, the Hydraulic Method will no longer work because there
can no longer be a tight seal. That means I have to go with the tried
and true brute force method of #2. Oh well, it was worth a shot!
Thanks to all the guys who chipped in their 2 bits worth. Hopefully this
summary will be of interest to you.
Steve
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