Rear wheel bearing noise...

[Stanger68]

I think I might have a rear wheel bearing needing replaced. I have heard that you have to pull the rear axle to replace the bearings. Is this true?

68 I6 200 with 3 speed manual trans.

Thanks

[carlite65]

Originally Posted by Stanger68

I think I might have a rear wheel bearing needing replaced. I have heard that you have to pull the rear axle to replace the bearings. Is this true?

68 I6 200 with 3 speed manual trans.

Thanks

yes. the bearing goes over the axle. how else would you remove it?

[crey]

It's not too bad of a job. Just remove the wheel, drum and brakes. The axle shaft is held in by 4 bolts. You will have to take the axle shaft to a garage to have a new bearing pressed on.

You should replace the seal while your at it. My seal was a pain to get out until I had the proper tool for it, a good bearing puller.

My car ran a lot quieter with the new bearing. My dad said it rattled like an old combine.

[Stanger68]

Originally Posted by crey

It's not too bad of a job. Just remove the wheel, drum and brakes. The axle shaft is held in by 4 bolts. You will have to take the axle shaft to a garage to have a new bearing pressed on.

You should replace the seal while your at it. My seal was a pain to get out until I had the proper tool for it, a good bearing puller.

My car ran a lot quieter with the new bearing. My dad said it rattled like an old combine.

Sorry Im pretty green with all this mechanical stuff. So I don't actually remove the complete rear end... just the axle shaft?

Thanks for the help.

[MrFreeze]

Correct. The shaft is retained to the end of the axle housing with 4 bolts. They are accessed through a hole in the axle flange. No need to remove the brakes. The hardest part is pulling the axle after the 4 bolts are out. Some come out easy, some require "encouragement." One easy encouragement method is to use the brake drum reversed as a junior slide hammer.

Good luck,
MrFreeze

[64.25]

You should do a search on this subject. You can borrow a slide hammer from auto zone, it makes the job much easier. You should replace both sides at once because if one went out the other won't be far behind. I used a hammer with a straight claw to pull the seals out. I shop will charge around $50 to remove the old bearings and press on new ones. All in all a pretty easy job. John

[gtonavy]

Here is a video from You Tube on removing the rear axle.

65 Mustang Axle seals Part 1 - YouTube

65 Mustang Axle seals Part 1 - YouTube

Gary

[Stanger68]

Originally Posted by gtonavy

Here is a video from You Tube on removing the rear axle.

65 Mustang Axle seals Part 1 - YouTube

Gary

Wow thats a big help. Thanks. I guess I will have to start doing searches outside of the Forum for answers. I would have never guessed to search youtube for something like this.

Thanks again

[JonK]

Agreed, you should be able to pull the axles w/o removing the brakes, putting all the springs back on is harder than pulling the axles.


Rotate the hub until you get to all 4 nuts through that hole. I rented the free axle puller from a parts store as mentioned, needed it to get one side loose but the other came out with a tug, you never know. I also agree to do both sides while you're doing it, they're both close to 50yr. old bearings.
I bought the bearings and brought them to the shop for them to press off/on and they only charged ~$30 or 1/2 hour of labor. Then you put new seals in and reinstall shafts careful not to tear the new seals. One shaft is longer than the other.
A good seal puller comes in handy:


Jon