Page History: Removing Difficult Bearings
Compare Page Revisions
Page Revision: 2009/01/10 15:25
From owwm.com forum thread http://owwm.org/viewtopic.php?t=49352 by Jason GanglI've seen many posts with people struggling to remove bearings. Broken pullers and propane torches and the like. I've been using this method for approx. 15 years in the Heavy Duty transmission business, and it works 95% of the time, especially on small (under 2" I.D.) bearings.
First, you are going to totally ruin the bearing, so write down the numbers, and take measurements, and so on.
Cut through outer race with a cutoff wheel, or cutting tip on torch. I used a cutoff wheel because my cutting tip was giving me trouble.
Rotate the bearing 180 degrees and cut through the other side too, and both halves will fall off. Now split the cage and it along with the balls will fall off. and you will be left with only the inner race.
Now for the fun part. Chuck up a long center punch in the vise. Place the center point in the shaft on the punch. Now spin the shaft with one hand and apply heat with the other. When you're all done the race will drop off due to even heating because of the spinning. The shaft will be warm to hot, but not hot enough to hurt anything. If the race is being stubborn, and won't just drop off, heat it until it is red all the way around. Now lay it the anvil of the vise, to back it up, and smack it with a hammer to expand it and it should fall off.
I hope this helps some of you guys. Remember that an oxy/acet torch burns much hotter than propane, and that is what you want. The race needs to expand before the shaft does.