Rear bearings......

mrvette

Phantom of the Opera
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Mar 24, 2008
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Location
NE Florida
When I bought this '72 in '95 I had a DC region Corvette shop redo the entire rear suspension, stuff I had no clue about and honestly more interested in the interior and injection and shit.....

SO, it's been since '95 the rear wheel bearings been looked at, I remember the guy packed them with RED bearing grease, and of course new seals....I think the bearings themselves were new, but been 20 years now....the rotors were drilled off the spindles, I have had the 1/2 shafts unbolted a few times over the years....but never dropped the spindles off the T-arms....

I think the bearings need rebuilt/at least inspected and fresh grease....

car runs ok, but even if some rough running I could not hear over the exhaust anyway.....

I remember a huge nut on the spindle when I drop the drive shafts....
so can I inspect/ fix with the t-arms in the car or is it too much?? can the spindle/bearing/housing assy be unbolted from the t-arm without too much BS??

I just nervous about it being 20 years now, and would like to turn it over to my son soon enough, and in good condition.....

:nuts:
 
Gene -
As you know I've been down several other paths with my rear suspension - but I do recall some good intro videos on YouTube. Sorry I can't give you an exact pointer - but worth a look see.

Cheers - Jim
 
Hi Gene,
well a lot depends on the setup and grease used 20 years ago. The greases used the past 20 years are a lot better then the type used in 1972.

I read all the time on various forums where guys say to break them down and regrease them. Clearly they have never worked successfully on 63-82 rear bearings. These are greased for the life of the bearings, that could be 30-100k miles but a lot depends on how the car was used and stored. I had in arms from CA with low mileage but the car was left on grass over a year. The bearings seized in the races and corroded enough to create groove. I have had in original 60's arms that looked prestine but once apart I found no grease left on the bearings. Both cases if left as they were would have failed in short time.

You can check the play of the bearings by checking for rock in the wheel at 3 & 9 o'clock. You can remove the wheel and grab a wheel stud to see if you can push/pull on it for play. You should not feel any play. The only way to know how good the grease is or how much is left is to break it all down and then you're into replacing them. Some guys slip fit the inner bearings to remove the spindles, not recommended to do and I won't do that. The press on method is the correct one and went disassembling will almost certainly wreck the bearings.

Bearing grease tools and tapped grease fittings are both snake oil deals. One doesn't pump in grease past the old hardened paste grease and the other gives you no idea on how much or where it's going. I plug every support I get in that is tapped for a zerk fitting.

I have had in many "rebuilt" arms and can say they were all pretty poorly built. Bearing set up was all over the place.

You're pretty handy guy. The arms can be rebuilt on the car, many vette shops do it because it's fast and they make a good buck doing it. I recommend removing the arms from the car to really go over them to check for rot, bending, spindle damage, bushings, and to finish them better then a cheap coat of paint.

To answer your question on removing the spindle assembly from the arm, yes it can be done. You remove the spindle nut, flange, and parking shoes to get to the 4 nuts holding the support to the arm. Rust will hold it in place so 2x4 and hammer may be needed. Again I recommend removing the arms.

I think I have a thread on here dealing with arms, also on DC. May even have an old one on CF.

Bottom line, the only way to be sure about the grease is to rebuild them since they have to come apart.

Let me know if you have questions or just give me a call.
 
DSC_0656.jpg

Here's some with a "fix" (i.e., grease nipple). I saved money buying two complete ta's and found this when they were torn down. Ended up tig welding some plugs in.
 
I have plugged dozens of supports over the years. That just doesn't work. One that came in was drilled, probably with a diamond, through the race!
 
I have plugged dozens of supports over the years. That just doesn't work. One that came in was drilled, probably with a diamond, through the race!

Only diamond drilling I do is with a neighbor who saves his wine bottles, drills them for Christmas tree lights put inside for a display.....never heard of diamond drilling on steel.....:p:beer:
 
I have plugged dozens of supports over the years. That just doesn't work. One that came in was drilled, probably with a diamond, through the race!

Only diamond drilling I do is with a neighbor who saves his wine bottles, drills them for Christmas tree lights put inside for a display.....never heard of diamond drilling on steel.....:p:beer:

No home owners association, I bet! :wink:
 
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I have plugged dozens of supports over the years. That just doesn't work. One that came in was drilled, probably with a diamond, through the race!

Good, glad to hear that. It looked like a low stress area, and I kept the heat down. Those housings are expensive if you buy them new or nos.
 
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