Removing Difficult Bearings

Modified on 2018/09/16 22:10 by Jeff Joslin — Categorized as: Bearings, Maintenance, Restoration Topics

From owwm.org forum thread http://owwm.org/viewtopic.php?t=49352 by Jason Gangl

I'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.

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.

You can also download the video. After download, unzip the file. The video is in Flash Video format.

Remember that an oxy/acetylene torch burns much hotter than propane, and that is what you want. The race needs to expand before the shaft does.

Another option for removing the remaining inner race is to cut the race most of the way through using the cutoff wheel. Then put a cold chisel in the groove and give it a good rap with a hammer. That splits the race in two and it falls on the floor.