On this past weekend’s show (5/19/2013) one of the callers wanted to know if he could replace his own front wheel bearing. The car is a VW Golf, so the wheel bearing, at least part of it, is pressed into the steering knuckle. Ray said there’s also an involvment with the hub (the part with the lugs sticking out that the wheel bolts to with the lug nuts), which is pressed into something, or something is pressed onto it. I don’t have a clear picture of how all the parts fit together I guess. But that’s neither here nor there.
What I’m wondering is the Gilligan’s Island question. Could a shade tree mechanic on Gilligan’s Island replace a front wheel bearing himself, with just the tools a shade tree mechanic has at hand, like sockets, a vice, screwdrivers, pullers, files, boxes filled w/misc junk parts like bailing wire, screws and bolts and nuts, pieces of metal, things found while on walk-a-bouts around the neighborhood, wood, plywood, coconuts, bananas, etc? This Gilligan’s Island mechanic, he’s allowed to improvise. He can make some tool he doesn’t have, even if it is only rugged enough for a one time use, provided of course it can be made with tools he does have.
I know when I replace a U-joint in my Ford truck, the right way to do it is to press it into the drive shaft using a shop press. But I just lay the drive shaft on the ground, put an appropriately sized socket on the U-joint, and hammer it home, and it always seem to work. Never has damaged the U-joint.
I guess the first thing, does anyone have a graphic link of how all the bearing-bits fit together with a front drive-wheel pressed on bearing?
I suppose you could, but why? All you have to do is hop into your home made dugout with the parts, paddle over to the shop on the next island, have them press out the old one and press in the new one for a (usually in my experience) nominal fee, paddle back to your own isle, and reassemble the parts. (This is what I did for both front hubs on my 2001 Regal.)
I tried to help out a friend once who needed brake work done on an old truck. Removing the old brake rotor (which fit over the bearing), I realized, and said, I was in over my head. He drove it anyway, and it locked up. Thankfully, nobody was hurt.
MacGyver could do it with a selection of flat plates, large bolts and various sizes of steel tubing, but if there is a shop with a press nearby, its well worth using it.
Contestant #1- I can change that bearing with only 3 tools.
Contestant #2- I can change that bearing with only 2 tools.
Contestant #3- I can change that bearing with only ONE tool!
Emcee- Contestant #3, name that tool.
Contestant #3- Credit card…
For someone that made a radio from a coconut, the professor doing R&R on a wheel bearing would be child’s play by comparison.
MacGyver could do it with a selection of flat plates, large bolts and various sizes of steel tubing, but if there is a shop with a press nearby, its well worth using it.
MacGyver could do it with a paperclip and chewing gum. The rest of us would either need to get/make a bearing press, or replace parts surrounding the bearing with a complete assembly.
I think the answer is in the question. Anyone who calls two wisecracking radio hosts on the phone to ask them whether or not they can change their own front wheel bearing…CAN’T!
@TwinTurbo all I know is, someone was leaving the island to get ingredients for MaryAnn’s pies. I suspect the Skipper and Gilligan grew tired of their bachelor existence and conveniently “stranded” themselves on an island with 2 beautiful women.
I suggest removing the hub from each side. Find the new bearings for the hubs. find a shop that will R&R the hub bearings. Pay for that work. Take the hubs back to vehicle and reinstall saving yourself some labor $ probably enough to pay for the parts.
I was always suspicious of that Skipper/Gilligan relationship, but that’s a whole 'nother thing entirely! I’m not going there!
Back to the problem at hand. From the thread comments, a lot of clever, inventive folks here. Ok, I’m not suggesting anyone would attempt this without a press if all they had to do is remove the knuckle/hub ass’y and take it over to any nearby machine or well-equipped auto shop and have them do the pressing parts. But what if that wasn’t possible?
I’m thinking a hydraulic bottle jack would work. What if you had one of those hydraulic bottle jacks on hand with you there on the island? It’s possible. I keep one in the spare parts and repair tools cardboard box I keep behind the seat in my truck in fact. It’s seems like with a little bit on ingenuity, that could be made into something that would press a bearing into the steering knuckle. But before you can put the new one in, you have to take the old one out. Could the bottle jack be made into something that would remove the bearing too?
It seems there are several steps. I mean after you have the axel-hub/knuckle ass’y on your bench. Removing the axel-hub from the knuckle, removing the bearing from the knuckle, then the inner and outer races.
So I wonder, what’s the hardest part of this problem? In other words, if you could come up with a way to do one single thing, the rest would be easy. What would that single thing be?
