The Good, The Bad and The Ugly!

Well, I decided tonight to move on to the back of the super and look things over. I knew the wheel bearings were bad so I figured I would get at least one axles bearings changed.
So here is THE GOOD:

The bearings came out nicely and I am using a socket here to tap the new inner bearing in place.

New bearing installed and seated. I use Mobil one synthetic grease cause it's the best.

 Install the snap ring and the inner bearing will be almost done.

 Here it is installed. You can tell it is seated all the way if the snap ring fits. If it doesn't, tap it some more.

Here is a crappy picture of the seal installed. I had to take the picture with the camera facing me.

 Here is the stub shaft. This is what rides on the 2 bearings and gives power to your wheels from the CV axles. Luckily it was in good shape and could be reused. If you look closely on the right side of the shaft you can see I have installed the first of 3 spacers. This spacer is actually used to run on the grease seal installed for the inner bearing.

 This view is looking at the side where the outer bearing goes. It is very important to load this area with lots of grease because this is the only way the bearings get any lube. That is why it's full of pink grease.

 At this point I have installed the 2nd of 3 spacers. You cant see it but it is the longest spacer and goes on before you install the outer bearing. I have installed the outer bearing but have not installed the inner race of the outer bearing. That goes on next. You have to tap it on very lightly.

Here I have installed another seal and the last of 3 spacers. The seal gets installed in the bearing housing which then gets installed by 4 bolts. I am trying to wiggle it here and there is absolutely no movement. That is very GOOD. 

I installed the a new brake drum on this side and torqued it down with the torque meister to 250 FT LBS.

Cotter pin installed and it spins like it just came off the showroom floor.

Now for: THE BAD

 I went to the other side and removed the new drum I installed earlier.

 The torque meister makes removing the axle nuts easy work too. I used a 3/8 inch ratchet to remove the nut that was torqued to 250 FT.LBS. It takes a 1/2 inch breaker bar and a 4 foot cheater to get them off usually.

Then last but not least: THE UGLY.

This is what I saw after I removed the bearing housing. The spacer is not really there. The rings look like some washers. I should of looked under the bearing housing before I installed the drum the first time but from the outside everything looked OK.

 Here I moved the washers out more and you can see what was causing all the grinding noises I heard when I test drove it. That roller bearing is actually turned sideways in there.

 There is also some roller bearings actually missing. I don't know what happened to them. As I looked deeper I can't really tell if the outer spacer is missing or if it is the inner race of the outer bearing. One or the other is definitely missing and has caused some problems. The stub shaft is not in as good of shape as the other side but I think it can be saved. The new bearing comes with a new inner race so I just need to find a new outer spacer. The one that is in there is all torn up and I'm not sure if it's the spacer or the race. Anyways, It should go together quickly and will be as good as the other side. Hopefully it will last the life of the car from here on out.

So, here is where the super remains for now. Still on all 4 jack stands. Things are looking up though. Once I find an outer spacer the axle and new bearings can go in and the rear tires put on. The back should be done then. I am taking the gas tank in to see what can be done with it tomorrow. It should be an easy fix and then once that's in, It should be sitting on all 4 tires. An alignment, parking brake adjustment, and that should complete it. I have nicknamed this bug Paris because so far it has been very high maintenance. Kinda like Paris Hilton?