[T3] Replacing Real Wheel Bearings

Keith Park topnotch at nycap.rr.com
Fri Jul 22 17:43:59 PDT 2011


My original rear wheel bearings lasted me 180K mi, the will fail earlier if
someone has failed to properly tighten that rear axle nut though.

Keith


Top Notch Restorations
topnotch at nycap.rr.com 
http://www.a383ina68.addr.com/radiorest/main.htm
71 Squareback "Hothe"
65 Notchback "El Baja Rojo"
65 Squareback "Eggcrate"
87 golf "Winterat"
93 RX7 "Redstur"


-----Original Message-----
From: type3-vwtype3.org-bounces at lists.vwtype3.org
[mailto:type3-vwtype3.org-bounces at lists.vwtype3.org] On Behalf Of Jim Adney
Sent: Friday, July 22, 2011 4:23 PM
To: type3 at vwtype3.org
Subject: Re: [T3] Replacing Real Wheel Bearings

On 22 Jul 2011 at 6:48, Doug Brashear wrote:

> - is it possible to replace the rear wheel bearings (e.g. at least the
outer 
> roller bearing) without removing the CVs, drive shafts and stub axles?

Yes, it's possible, but any work back there is more trouble than it's 
worth. I've never seen one of those bearings fail. VW recommended 
repacking those bearings every 30,000 (or was it 60,000) miles, and I 
don't even do that. There's no reason to replace a bearing that's 
still good. Most of them outlast the cars.

> - does removing the CVs and axle merely involve undoing all the 6mm allen
bolts 
> and removing the assemblies? Or do I need to remove the transmission, and
then 
> all of this stuff from the car to do so? 

You remove the half-shaft and leave the tranny in place. The 12 point 
driver is called an XZN (or metric star) driver and most FLAPS will 
have one. It's not the same as a Torx. You need the 8 mm size.  

> I was thinking it would be good to replace both the outer roller bearings
and 
> inner ball bearings, as well as regrease the CVs (they're fine otherwise),
but 
> want to make sure I allocate enough time to get the job done.

I check the CVs for torn boots and just do maintenance on those that 
need to have the boots replaced. It's important to fix those, because 
water and dirt will get in and wear them out quickly. I've always had 
good used CV joints to replace worn out ones. I would say that CV 
joints are much more likely to need replacement than rear wheel 
bearings.

-- 
*******************************
Jim Adney, jadney at vwtype3.org
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
*******************************

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