Is there a good Red Neck way of Pressing Axle Bearings?:

[mopar 3 B]

Log chain, steel plate and hydraulic jack will also put them on. Safe maybe not but it worked.

 

[SgtLee511]

Red neck but it works, cut the old outer race with a cut off disc in a die grinder, remove the rollers, cut almost through the inner race and split it off the axle with a chisel in the groove you cut. To install, raise the flange end off the floor woth a piece of wood so you don't drive the wheel studs out and drive the bearing and retainer on with a piece of tubing or exhaust pipe and a hammer. Get a piece just bigger than the axle so it drives off the inner race.

Sounds Like a good idea, Im working till noon today Im gonna see if I cant come up with a straight pipe long enough to try that, I already have the bearings off, and I did as you described.

 

[Badvert65]

Years ago (in the 80's) I saw a guy at a repair shop use one of those heavy metal fence post drivers, the ones used to manually drive steel fence posts into the ground. This one was slightly modified to drive the bearings onto axles. I never thought much about it then (it was before 'red neck' was a verb), but it worked.

 

[bm02tj]

to make it easier but axle in freezer and bearing in oven at 200 f
and keep tapping to keep tight till it equalizes in temp after install

 

[SgtLee511]

to make it easier but axle in freezer and bearing in oven at 200 f
and keep tapping to keep tight till it equalizes in temp after install

Hope my wife don't see me put the axle in freezer, I gotta way with curing the manifolds at 400 degrees in her oven while she was out.............

 

[moper]

Yup, cut of wheel and chisel to get them off, and some tubing and bfh to get them on. Now i use my air over hydraulic press to install. Back in the day the tubing did work.