Hi, first post here.

I am in the process of replacing the hub races and bearings all around on my 96 F250. On the rear hubs, I am finding that I cannot seat the inner races fully. I've tried everything including freezing the races overnight, and greasing the hub, but they are hung up about halfway in. The front races went in without a hitch.

I don't have a press, and the Lisle toolset I have doesn't have any attachments that fit our inner bearing races properly, so I made a driver from one of the old races by cutting a slot in it to shrink it down a touch, and a couple slots in case I need to punch it back out from the other side. A 4lb hammer is what I am using to drive them in.

Has anyone done this job before who can confirm that they should seat fully? I am using Timken 3920. I seem to recall that when I took the hub off originally, the inner races were not fully seated, but it has been a while since I took them off, so I can't recall for sure.

Picture attached, showing the current state of my effort.



DIY inner race driver on the left, and the new races on the right.

 

The pics look to me like the races are fully seated. Aren't the wide side of the races setting on the wide part of the hub?

 

Thanks for the reply, farmert.

Yeah, the taper on the race is facing the opening, so that the bearing can sit in there properly.

Here is a close up that shows why I'm not sure if it's seated properly. It sure feels like it's seated, but my eyes have me second guessing. The bore is smooth from the top opening to the bottom lip in the picture.



The service manual just says to drive it in until it's "seated", but doesn't clarify what "seated" means. Common sense tells me it would be all the way to the lip!

 

You are right on your common sense thinking. The race should sit on that lip. Sometimes the rolled taper on the edge of the race can fool you. You should be able to hear a different sound to the race when it bottoms out.

 

I used a punch an slowly set them to depth. You have to be careful to not wreck the small edge of the race. It takes a bit of time but it needs to be all the way down. You can feel the hammer bounce when the race is seated. Confirm with a bent feeler gauge...

Good luck, you will be successful.

Remember to torque the wheel bearings properly.

 

When I did my front hubs I had to use 5lb hammer and a large brass rod. My race and seal driver kit didn't go big enough. It took considerable force. I had the hub on a 2x12 on the concrete. I also had another hub from a 2wd f350 I did that I could not get out with a brass punch I was hitting it so hard it was just sheering pieces off. I had to use a steel punch. If you have a gas grill you could put the hub in there on low for an hour. I've done with with balancers to get them around 250, I'd say that hub would be fine to atleast 300 maybe even 400

 

Not sure if you got it sorted out yet, but I have my hubs off currently to do the seals and I believe that picture is correct, and it does not slide all the way down to that large lip. I remember smearing grease in a void beneath the big race that looked like that.


I can look at it when I get home if you are still working on it?

 

I'm not convinced that the race should go further and I believe it is seated correctly.

Look at the machined surfaces 'above' the race and the area 'below' it that you are concerned about. I suspect that what you are seeing is the first, and rough machining of the casting 'below' the race. Then, there is a finer machining you are seeing 'above' the race.

Hopefully someone has a pic of this area with the race removed to prove me right or wrong.

Edited to add that if I would have read BBLB's post, he already said what I just said...doh...

 

Hey everyone. Thanks for the feedback. I had a shop look at them, and they confirmed that it doesn't seat all the way to the bottom. Installation went smoothly.

Hopefully this thread will help someone out down the line!

 

Thanks for circling back with an update! And great idea using the old race as a driver, and cutting it so it won't get stuck.

 

Glad to hear it all worked out!

 

Min have gone all the way down. But if it will not move any more I guess it is good.

 

I would set that race all the way down and check with the feeler gauge. You will destroy the bearing and seal quickly if not.