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I started installing my disc brakes on the 49 today. Had to remove the bearing race from the outside of the new hubs and install the ones for the 49 spindle. The hub didn't have much of a place to put a punch to drive them out, so I took them over to my buddy's auto machine shop. He looked at them and said "no problem". He made (2) 1/2" long welds on the race with a mig welder, turned the hub over and waited about a minute. The race fell out! The weld shrank and so did the race. Pressed in the new races and everything was good.
We put the bearing sleeves on the spindles too. Put the sleeves on a bearing heater and when they were hot, just dropped them on the spindle, No Problem! Checked the fit of the bearings after they cooled off and everything worked fine. Made my day!
The welds expand the race, you can do the same with a torch, but the mig localizes the heat into the race more precisely. To reinstall we would stick the race in the oven at 300* for about 15 minutes while the spindle sat in the freezer or was wrapped in a wet towel and ice packs for the same time. You just needed to be sure you got it all the way on the first time, or it was back to the parts house for another race.
Bobby, wheel bearing races are separate from the bearings so packing them is not an issue since you don't heat the bearing, but I'm sure you really knew that.
LOL...yes. It turns out that I wasn't thinking clearly (again) in the pics of the bearing heater it shows a bearing on it, well, I was thinking front wheel bearings.....no need to heat up the front bearing since they reside in races that get pressed into the hub. For the rear axles....NOW, I can clearly see the benefits of a bearing heater.
Whew!, thats alot of thinking for this morning, I think I hit my quota for the day.
When I did my bearing adapters I tossed them into the oven at its highest setting for a bit. They slipped right on my spindles with ease.