Re: repacking wheel bearings

["skippatnode" <skippatnode@domain.elided>]

Dana,
Just a couple of things I haven't seen covered yet:
After you clean the bearings, blow them dry but don't "spin" them using
compressed air.  This could damage them.
Don't get finger prints on the bearings or the spindle.  Acid in your
fingerprints will cause corrosion.
To pack the bearing by hand:  Place a "gob" of grease about the size of a golf
ball in the palm of one hand.  Hold the bearing with the other hand with the
opening at the large end of the rollers toward this palm full of grease.
Force the opening down over the edge of the "gob" until it presses against
your palm.  Continue until clean grease emerges from the small end of the
bearing.  Rotate the bearing and continue until you have clean grease coming
out all the way around.
That's one, now you have 3 more bearings to go!  It's a lot easier with the
double cone tool Harbor Freight sells!
It is not necessary to fill the rotor with grease.  A nice lite even coat on
the inside of the rotor and the outside of the spindle will keep corrosion
down.  The extra grease that is packed into the rotor will never find its way
to the bearings.
Make sure the torque is correct.  An over-tight bearing will burn up in a
heart beat.
See ya at Roebling,
Skip
67 Duetto
Norfolk Va


Date: Mon, 03 Feb 2003 08:16:01 -0500
From: Dana Loomis <dloomis@domain.elided>
Subject: 105: repacking wheel bearings

I've disassembled the front hubs of my '71 Giulia Super, cleaned
everything, and checked the bearings.  Now I'm getting ready to put it all
back together, so I need to repack the hubs and bearings with new grease --
one of the few jobs I've never done on an Alfa.  The factory manual isn't
very specific about how to do this, so I'm turning to the collective
experience of the Digest for advice.  I'd appreciate suggestions about how
much grease to use and how to put the system back together with a minimum
of fuss and mess.

Thanks,
Dana Loomis
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