Air Hammer to Remove Bearing Races ?

[fordy]

...............I purchased a heavy duty , tandem axle utility trailer back in March ! I must get this trailer inspected with brakes on one axle before I can put tags on it . I've pulled both 12 inch hubs off the 6,000 lb. drop axle and need to remove the old races from each hub so I can add new races and bearings . The races refuse to move , as I've tried a hammer and punch . So , I had considered buying a small air hammer with a punch installed to try and knock them out of the hub . My air compressor is a small , 2hp. unit with the tanks stacked on each other and it pumps up to 130 psi , but doesn't have much volume . So , not much volume but I thought maybe enough pulse emergency to remove the races . Comments ? , fordy

[Deleted]

Heat! If you don't have a real torch, go buy a MAPP gas torch ($10~15) It will work fine

[ksfarmer]

Find someone with an acetylene torch and knows how to use it.

[Deleted]

If you're comfortable with your grip, drill a series of small holes into the bearing race to crack it, and then hit it with a chisel and break the race.

Or Sawzall.

[Deleted]

Any time something does not want to move I give a good drenching with wd-40 or pb blaster, hit a few time a day over a couple days.

Any way to improvise a puller?

all you need is 1" all thread with a nut and appropriate sized washer on one end and some thing like the U channel with a hole and nut welded on,then a T handle.

or if you have a decent size piece of round stock, or similar, support the hub up far enough for the bearings to exit, place your round stock on the bearing and use a bottle jack and the bumper of a truck, or similar heavy equipment, to improvise a press.

[hermitjohn]

A hydraulic press would be handy. I finally bought one of those cheap 20 ton HF shop presses to do ball joints on my 4wd F250. Didnt see buying some specialty tool that just worked on ball joints. Shop press quite handy for lot of things, and been wanting one and didnt want spend time making one from scratch. Wouldnt have bought it just to do ball joints.

Or use a Dremel with carbide cutoff wheels and cut slot across the races. Then use the punch. Thats about only thing that would touch that kind of hardened steel, yet small enough to get into that space. I have done that when replacing driveshaft carrier bearings. Oddly never had problem punching out wheel bearing races.

There are also various specialty pullers and such, though I resist buying something I am going to use once every 30 years unless its super cheap.

[sawmilljim]

May 5, 2015 0:06:36 GMT @fixitguy said:

Heat! If you don't have a real torch, go buy a MAPP gas torch ($10~15) It will work fine

Or a bigger hammer 

[bigjon]

sawmilljim is right.heat will expand races and allow them to slide off.