Need to Pull drive wheel and replace Bearings

[Seangie]

It looks like I'm going to have to pull my rear drivers side wheels and hub and replace the bearings and possibly the axle.  Ill post another thread when I get to the actual work but my main question here is what parts or tools are going to be hard to find to do the job? 

Any insight is welcome.  I have someone helping and we are both mechanically minded but it is the first time either of us have done heavy work on wheels/hubs.

Also - if you happen to be near Missoula MT, and want to help...pm me.  Thanks.

-Sean

PS- Boomer, it ended up being the rear left wheel, like you said and not the right front wheel that I thought it would be.

Fulltiming somewhere in the USA
1984 Eagle 10S
www.herdofturtles.org

[Mex-Busnut]

You double posted this.

We did this on our bus, and did not require any special tools. I do not know your bus, of course, but most likely not much different then doing it on a typical truck.

Besides the bearings themselves, don't forget to buy the gaskets for the axle shafts.

Let me highly recommend you go ahead and replace both sides and get it over with. Once one side needs replacing, the other cannot be trusted for too long. Better now at home, then some day in the middle of nowhere on the side of a highway.

When we did ours, we also found that our rear end oil had not been replaced in years, and was whitish-gray, which means it was contaminated with water. Check your oil, and if it is dirty, go ahead and replace it.

Let me suggest you start early in the morning with your friend's help. Nothing more frustrating than discovering you need another part, and the store is closed.

Hey: While you have it all apart, go ahead and carefully check all of your brake components and brake airlines.

Make sure you properly support your bus! You don't want it falling on you!

I wish you success, my friend!

[luvrbus]

Sean, if don't find any parts closer I have the parts here in AZ ,Don Fairchild dropped the parts off for another guy that lives in Montana that has sold his Eagle. Is it the axle or the axle housing ? call me if I can help with parts.
Pulling the hubs and axle is nothing major a little lift from a rental store works good to handle the heavy sucker,15/16 socket for the axle nuts, a 8 lb sledge hammer,a socket for the bearing nuts are nice but not a necessity no special tools needed, If you need to replace the axle housing that is a job and a 1/2 on a Eagle all the parts are here but a 1000 miles from you    

good luck

[Seangie]

Steve,

Thanks for the reply.  Your post is encouraging.  This is all new to me but its nice to know it's not a two week job of oil, grease and bloody knuckles.

Clifford - Hold on to those parts for me.  I have an event coming up this weekend and won't be back to start on it until the 28th but I've got a good feeling I'm gonna need something from you.  Ill have it shipped if I have to.  It'll be cheaper then getting it towed and rebuilt at a truck stop.

Also - How hard is it to pull the axle?  Do I need a puller tool of some kind?  Anything that will make it easier?

Thanks Again.

You guys are great.

PS - A gift - Bonus bus pic from a bus nut we met here in Ronan -



Fulltiming somewhere in the USA
1984 Eagle 10S
www.herdofturtles.org

[luvrbus]

Just remove the axle nuts and hit the center of the axle with a sledge hammer they pop loose you will see were it has been hit before  

[eagle19952]

What clifford says...the only thing really holding the axle in is the gasket goop the previous installer used and a dowel...

basically remember, for every action there is an equal opposite reaction...hit the sucker hard.

i prefer a long handle hammer.

[bevans6]

What is the process to remove/replace the wheel bearings?  Are they pressed in to the hub, on to the shaft, or what?

Brian

[eagle19952]

Not the best picture but this is what you are looking at..
I also think that Clifford meant nuts...
It has been my  experience that the nuts should be taken off and spray Kroil or some similar..then put the nuts back on to protect the studs. seen some awful misses.

[PP]

When I pulled the axles on my Prevost to replace the wheel seals, I purchased the axle nut socket- was under $15. from Napa and made it a lot easier when it came to re-torquing and adjusting the bearing play. Looks like a soup can someone took a hammer to. Will

[bevans6]

Is that hub taper roller inner bearings and ball bearing or roller bearing outer?  Just curious.  I just did wheel bearings on our race car, with an aluminium hub.  If you press them in or out cold they ruin the hub, so you need to heat it to around 250 - 300 degrees, what a pain standing there with a propane torch for 30 minutes, then what the heck do you do with a hub that is hot enough to start fires?  You also freeze the new bearing races in the freezer, then they slip in pretty easy.  Just a few taps.

Brian

[robertglines1]

just a reminder.. Don't put them in dry.. Seams as though over the last year I have heard of several failures rite after install. Even by professional shops. Don't depend on normal lube to be full proof instantly..One within 4 miles and had to have a spindle repair.  enjoy the ride.    Bob

[Lee Bradley]

Looking at that drawing, it has greased not oiled bearings. You have the axle flange, gasket, oil seal and another gasket. The oil seal runs on a seal surface on the end of the axle housing outside the threads.  That seal keeps lube oil from entering the hub.

[luvrbus]

That was just a option in the parts book from Eagle Lee he will have oiled hubs 

[Utahclaimjumper]

 The largest percentage of rear axel bearing failures is the drivers side,,,,,,,,,due to the crown on most roads,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,think about it.>>>Dan

[opus]

PS - A gift - Bonus bus pic from a bus nut we met here in Ronan -

Ronan, MT?