Labor cost for pressing axle bearings??

[Big_John]

Yes. I had the enjoyment of doing a ton of Mets as a kid working in a gas station and helping a friend restore one some years back.

This was the early 60's. My oldest brother was an MP at Fort Benning in Georgia. When he first got there, one of the calls they got was a couple drunk guys in a Metropolitan that had gotten into the wrong area where they were having some nighttime tank maneuvers. The guys in the Metro managed to get themselves run over....

 

[fury fan]

I thought you were meaning that you'd had a Metropolitan and that's why your memory hasn't been too sharp.
Interestingly, about 20 years ago a neighbor bought a Metropolitan to restore. I had forgotten about that until now.

Sometimes it's not our memory, it's just that we don't know which file cabinet/drawer the memory is in, and we just need a hint.

 

[Big_John]

The press worked out just fine and I think it just paid for itself.

I posted this in the "tool tips" thread, but thought it would be good to post it here too. I used two hose clamps to protect the seal surface while I removed the old bearing.

 

[fury fan]

Yes, knowing that the shafts didn't get gouged during disassembly is worth that money.

 

[Ripinator]

The press worked out just fine and I think it just paid for itself.

I posted this in the "tool tips" thread, but thought it would be good to post it here too. I used two hose clamps to protect the seal surface while I removed the old bearing.

View attachment 610426

John: What bearings are you gonna install? Timken?

 

[Big_John]

John: What bearings are you gonna install? Timken?

I got the Timken bearings from Rock Auto.

I got it all installed and I'm having an issue getting the end play to less than .030". When I started, the end play with the old bearings was a little more than I prefer, about .022". I noticed one of the foam gaskets was missing on one side... I think it was removed to get the end play down. My initial check was .040" so I removed both the new foam gaskets and that got it down to about .030"

A look into the center section shows the center spacer to be there, but unknown condition.

This is frustrating... I never have a problem setting the endplay and I've had a bunch of these apart over the years. The thought occurred to just push it out and set the car on fire... But I regained my composure and closed the garage doors and went in the house.

The plan now is to remove the backing plates and clean those surfaces up. They have gaskets that have obviously been glued into place. Once I first saw that, my intentions were just leave it alone, now I want to check for any issues and use fresh gaskets. I also decided to pull the trigger on the sure-grip unit since I'm probably going to pull the center section to check the center spacer anyway. I had been thinking about swapping the open center for a sure-grip anyway. Has anyone used an aftermarket sure-grip?

 

[Ripinator]

I got the Timken bearings from Rock Auto.

I got it all installed and I'm having an issue getting the end play to less than .030". When I started, the end play with the old bearings was a little more than I prefer, about .022". I noticed one of the foam gaskets was missing on one side... I think it was removed to get the end play down. My initial check was .040" so I removed both the new foam gaskets and that got it down to about .030"

A look into the center section shows the center spacer to be there, but unknown condition.

This is frustrating... I never have a problem setting the endplay and I've had a bunch of these apart over the years. The thought occurred to just push it out and set the car on fire... But I regained my composure and closed the garage doors and went in the house.

The plan now is to remove the backing plates and clean those surfaces up. They have gaskets that have obviously been glued into place. Once I first saw that, my intentions were just leave it alone, now I want to check for any issues and use fresh gaskets. I also decided to pull the trigger on the sure-grip unit since I'm probably going to pull the center section to check the center spacer anyway. I had been thinking about swapping the open center for a sure-grip anyway. Has anyone used an aftermarket sure-grip?

Mighty fine on the Timken bearings. I used National bearings on my recent axle bearing repair; but I wish I'd used Timkens. End play on my setup worked out to be .017.

I thought all was well with my repairs, but on the way home from Carlisle, I noticed some noise from the rear end. I could modify the frequency of the sound by steering left an right. Looks like I now hafta tear back into the axles and the diff (which I replaced with a 2.94 Sure Grip when I was in there). Maybe it is only a bad u-joint, but I don't think so. Looks like both of us are on the same road of destruction. . .

 

[Big_John]

Mighty fine on the Timken bearings. I used National bearings on my recent axle bearing repair; but I wish I'd used Timkens. End play on my setup worked out to be .017.

I thought all was well with my repairs, but on the way home from Carlisle, I noticed some noise from the rear end. I could modify the frequency of the sound by steering left an right. Looks like I now hafta tear back into the axles and the diff (which I replaced with a 2.94 Sure Grip when I was in there). Maybe it is only a bad u-joint, but I don't think so. Looks like both of us are on the same road of destruction. . .

The Timken bearings do have the better rep, but who knows these days?

That does sound like the classic bad axle bearing symptom which is exactly what I was experiencing.

My issue is now lifting the pumpkin in and out... I may start a thread looking for suggestions on that one.

 

[Ripinator]

The Timken bearings do have the better rep, but who knows these days?

That does sound like the classic bad axle bearing symptom which is exactly what I was experiencing.

My issue is now lifting the pumpkin in and out... I may start a thread looking for suggestions on that one.

Yeah. I really hate having to do those axle bearings again. I don't think I have more than 1000 miles on them. However, there may be a problem with the diff, although it was in very good rebuilt condition when we installed it. Worst case (if it turns out to be the diff), I'll just re-install the old 3.23 peg leg. . .

We used a floor jack and a lot of my son's muscle to install the the teetering diff.

 

[fury fan]

Some years ago I made a diff holder out of a piece of channel (opening upward) with a piece of pipe mounted vertically.
The channel (make it a good width to cradle the diff) holds it, while the pipe was sized for the u-joint dia in the yoke, and then the u-joint straps held it in place.
It then bolts down onto the floor jack in lieu of the saddle.
It was simple to make but does require some stuff to be the correct size.
Key point is that the diff's flange must be right at the end of the channel, otherwise the axle housing interferes.

With that said, when I R&R'd the gears last year I skipped the homemade tool and did it on my back, on the floor.
Grabbed it and did a shoulder-roll and threw it into place on first try, and I'm not a big guy. I remember I did a quick sincere prayer about 15 secs prior.

 

[rags]

I made a diff holder out of a piece of channel

did something similar to pull a spicer chuck out of a 4500 ram. hole sawed the channel so that i could bolt it to the pinion wiith the pinion nut, with the compion flange removed. welded a plate with a 3/8 hole drilled through it to the bottom of the channel. bolted that to a transmission jack. getting the old chuck out is easy. being able to bolt the new chuck securely to the transmission jack made it a lot safer and easier to install.

 

[Big_John]

With that said, when I R&R'd the gears last year I skipped the homemade tool and did it on my back, on the floor.
Grabbed it and did a shoulder-roll and threw it into place on first try, and I'm not a big guy. I remember I did a quick sincere prayer about 15 secs prior.

A long time ago, I was helping a friend do a gear change. He got under the car and reached over next to his head and picked that damn thing up and into the housing like it was nothing. Those days are gone...

 

[noah300g]

What is everyone paying to have axle bearings pressed on?

I'm trying to justify the cost of a Harbor Fright hydraulic press. I don't use a press that often, and before I retired, I had access to a press at work.

The press is $170, about $184 by the time I pay sales tax. Doing the press work is easy, I'm not worried about that. If it was $25 to press the bearings on, I wouldn't bother buying one. At let's say. $100, then the press is a good buy.

It will depend on if the shop knows what they're doing. Hourly labor rate x how long it takes can turn into hundreds of dollars quickly if the shop takes a long time to get the old ones off. Need to destroy the collar, and usually the old bearing to remove them, and then need the big press to put the new stuff on correctly. BG7 axle bearing kit from NAPA is about $70 per side, but the stupid oil seals are now around $20 each and you need 4 of them, plus the hourly labor cost. If it takes the guy 4 hours to do the job, it's going to run 500 to 700 to get both sides done.

 

[Big_John]

It will depend on if the shop knows what they're doing. Hourly labor rate x how long it takes can turn into hundreds of dollars quickly if the shop takes a long time to get the old ones off. Need to destroy the collar, and usually the old bearing to remove them, and then need the big press to put the new stuff on correctly. BG7 axle bearing kit from NAPA is about $70 per side, but the stupid oil seals are now around $20 each and you need 4 of them, plus the hourly labor cost. If it takes the guy 4 hours to do the job, it's going to run 500 to 700 to get both sides done.

I've always removed the old bearings and handed the shop the bearings I wanted to use rather than what someone had in stock. I'd use a good shop and get a quote up front.

The last shop, I brought the axles in and the guy behind the counter said "Mopar axles", so I knew I was going to be OK. He would have gotten extra points if he said they were for a 7 1/4 LOL. Then it turned out he used to date my niece, but that's another story.

Having quoted work myself (not automotive), I get the difference between a quote to do the job versus an estimate that involves hourly rate for simple jobs like this. If someone said "it depends on how long this takes) for this job, it's obvious they either have never done it, or don't want to do it... Or even they screwed up the last couple jobs and are covering their butts.

Moot point though... I bought the press, installed the new bearings. Rock Auto was $37 each for Timken bearings and seals were all under $10 each.

The whole project did snowball though... I added a sure grip and that meant new bearings that needed to be pressed on etc. The rear had been sourced from a local car by the PO, meaning the rust scale didn't match the rust free car, so I ended up pulling the entire rear end out, cleaned it up and painted it because I got a little carried away.

 

[volaredon]

Cost me $0. I have my own press.