76Stinger

OK ladies and gents - I am at a crossroads. I have put so much into this beast that I am finding it hard to justify sinking more money into this. I love the car but just don't have the cash to continue.

I listened to your suggestions about wheel bearings and did a little research - damn those things are expensive, especially if you have to have someone else put them in. I am almost positive the bearings are going in the rear as the car grumbles and grinds and has on one occasion seemed like it tried to seize as if the brakes had grabbed. Research tells me that once you start, you need to look at spindles, TA's and all that other stuff I know absolutely nothing about.

Would it be cheaper just to find a complete axle :cry Any pointers or help or cash would be appreciated.

By the way and off topic - the :reddevil with France. :flag They are ticking me off.

STW
Robert
76Stinger

Avette4me

We all have an opinion so I'll give mine - Just do it!

Once you're over the pain of the disappearing money it's well worth it. I did new brakes (calipers, line, etc) and every bushing and bearing, front and rear, and new tires for around $2300. It hurt a little (OK, a lot) at first, but it's pretty nice to drive with confidence.

Just my .02 :D

Jvette73

Rear wheel bearings ane a C3 are a tough job for the layman. I tackled mine alone and it wasnt easy. I guess you could say I did a bubba job on em. Its turned out good and theyre holding tight. They were a little loose when I started so all I did was dis-assemble, clean and re-pack, then removed one of the shims and replaced it with one slightly thicker. And when I say slightly, I mean ever so slightly. The finished product was free spinning and no slack. Guess you could say this bubba got lucky this time. The hardest part was knocking the spindle out. I did it with a spindle knocker tool and a big hammer. I used the spindle nut along with a thinner washer to pull them back in. Then removed the nut and thinner washer and put the original washer back on and then the nut for the final time. Believe me I was sweatin bullits thinkin I ruined it all but it turned out good. I had the trailing arms off at the time for a bushing change.

As far as France is concerned..they never liked us. I bet they have provided recent technology to Iraq and are worried what we might find should we have to go in. I hope Iraq gives in. I would rather not see it get nasty. But sometimes you gotta do...what you gotta do.

Avette4me

:iagree: Rear wheel bearing are one thing I paid to have done. Took the trailing arms in and pleaded for help.

GTR1999

Robert I think you only have a few choices here.
1- Have them rebuilt by an experienced corvette mechanic, the local repair guys may cost a lot more in the long run.
2- Rebuild them yourself - This requires tools, measuring equipment, and experience setting up bearings,not especially automotive bearings. If you're only going to do this once,without the tools - sent them out. Bair's or Van Steel. Maybe a vette club has a member who can help?Too bad you weren't closer, I'd help you do them.
3- Cut your losses and sell the car. You'll probably lose a good dollar doing this. I don't know what the mid 70's are going for in your area, but around here $3,000- $8,000 is the range.
If you have bearing wear then they could over heat and snap a spindle under load. This would/could be life threatening. If just the bearing are bad then you can reuse the spindles,T arms and replace the bushings and parking brake hardware. Be aware, as I'm sure you are, these won't be the last things to go on a vette!
Good luck,
Gary


[Modified by gtr1999, 6:51 PM 2/18/2003]

phoenix

It's small money to assure yourself that the bearings won't seize on the road. I just finished installing my new trailing arms with all new parts. Having wasted money in the past trying to "get by for now", I finally realized that in the long run the security of the new parts, warranty and the cost of an emergency breakdown far outway the monetary cost in this situation.

Take a bunch of photos, look at the T-arm.... as Gary said above, if you don't need new spindles and T-arms, you can spend a lot less than getting everything done like I did.

Look at the Van Steel website for instructions on how to remove the bearing. Call them and they will even look at photos of your T-arm to give you a guide as to what areas may need attention. (Not as good as sending them in, but they are willing to do what they can)

:) Good luck and remember that it is supposed to be fun... Now If I can just convice my wife of that. ;)

76Stinger

Well - I can't bring myself to sell it, at least for what I might get for it considering what may need to be done. I'm not going to try and dump it on some unsuspecting soul who was like me and after that first Vette.

This weekend, if it stops raining, out come the jack stands and the Vette goes on the carport. Unfortunately - I don't have one of those garages that cost more than my house. I will crawl under it, take pictures, and pray I can find a mechanic that knows what he is doing and won't rip me off. I will probably opt for complete replacement of the whole shebang. Just got to start saving again. It sat for 18 months once while awaiting enough to do a rewiring and interior job - guess I can bear it once more. Bad part is I will be driving my 8 MPG Ramcharger - won't be taking many trips in that bad boy.

Thanks for the advice and info and I am still accepting donations and tools, advice, etc. :yesnod:

STW :seeya
Robert
76Stinger

Dalannex

Speaking of wheel bearings and spindles and things I just ordered all of the above. I ordered two spindles and two nuts from Tom's and the bearings and seals from Rik's, and a bearing setup tool and spindle install tool from Mid America. Once that gets here I am ready to install the Vette Brakes GT kit and do the rear wheel bearings. :D

GTR1999, You'll probably be hearing from me once I get into this wheel bearing job. :cheers: I'll probably need some advice and direction. :yesnod:

-Justin

Widgett

To be honest, I didn't find it very difficult at all to do the actual rebuild. As far as tools go, I did buy the dial indicator and bearing installation tool. I used a very very large bolt and nut as a setup tool to check the clearance specs. It is definitely easiet to remove the entire TA to rebuild rather than leaving the TA attached. I did the first one with the TA attached because I didn't want to bleed the brakes, this is the wrong way. The other side, I removed and it was so much easier. Also I found that the original shim washer was still correct to meet the specs. I had bought the various shim sizes at the local GM parts counter, but I ended up returning all of them.

rebuild

iI have a professionally rebuilt trailing arm Van Steel With bushings rotor aligned and stainless stell parking brake kit never be used. Ready to bolt on if u r interested.

78whtshark

I tackle the wheel bearing job last summer. I was going to farm it out but estimates were high. So I spend $50 on good reference books (chilton and haynes). Then gather my tools and did it.

First I took the rear bearing assembles off (Trailing arm bushing were already replaced) and took them to East Tennessee Vette. Then got the assembles back fully rebuilt, one had a bad spline and was out $400.

It's a knuckle busting job, so wear gloves. But in 4 weeks (20 hours of labor) when I could, I got the car back on the road. As for special tools, 4 good jack stands, a rear brake tool, shock mount knocker, and some brass punch, and a ball-pean hammer.

Good luck. :rolleyes:

blue72lt4sc

any of you do it your self guys who still have all the "right" tools for rebuilding and setting up the assemblies, let me know if you want to seel those tools...im looking to get a good deal on and extra set or 2 of these tools
my shop is gettin busy these days and the more stations i can have going the better

76Stinger

Yo - Rebuild. Drop me a line at RDWardell@aol.com. Be gentle and let me know what you might want. Is it RH or LH or does it make a difference? What do I know :confused:

STW
Robert
76Stinger

Bob Fisher

I did my rear bearings myself with no special tools other than a knock-off tool from Bairs to get the spindles out from the hub assy. Of course it's best with the trailing arms off first - if they've never been off, it's a good opportunity to get the front bushings done aswell, along with S/S shims for track adjustment - a good 'junior' hacksaw and plenty of spare blades may be needed to cut the bolt out (ouch!). As long as your spindles are OK, the hard job is getting the outer bearing off the spindle, which you can use a bearing extractor for, or the Bubba method with extreme care with a good cold chisel to pry it up a small amount gradually before being able to lever it off. I Rebuilt with my original shim(s), but just a tiny amount of grease, without attaching the outer oil seal. Measured the end float carefully with a feeler gauge between the inner side of the spindle flange and one of the parking brake shoes, using appropriate packing (a good flat spanner), checking and re-checking to get it right. Once I determined the right amount to remove from the shim, I stripped it out, took it down to a local machine shop and had it ground to the correct dimensions (they aren't that available in many sizes here in the UK!). Rebuilt with full packing of grease and job done.... til next time!

honaker

There is a guy here in town that will do it for $100. All you have to do is buy the bearings from Auto Zone, get the Timpkin ones plus the seals. Not much dought there. You'll have to take everything apart your self, not to hard. I live only a few miles from you, i can help you out. you drop off your new bears and seals with all the parts and the guy will put them all back together, both sides and do all the run outs etc. Awesome guy, has been doing this for years. He did the ones on mine. give me a call, i sent you an email. :thumbs:

norvalwilhelm

The trailing arm does not have to be removed to work on the axles on the work bench.
Remove the calipers and rotors. Remove the 4 bolts from the axle flange to drop the 1/2 shafts. Remove the nut from the end of the axles then remove the splined axle flange.
Remove the 4 nuts located behind the axle flange and then the whole axle carrier with the axles still assembled can be removed and worked on on the bench. They can also be reinstalled after assembly in the reverse order.